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Nerdfest!

  • Writer: Priyanshu Pandey
    Priyanshu Pandey
  • Dec 22, 2022
  • 2 min read

Updated: Dec 23, 2022

Thursday, December 22, 2022

The periodic table of elements

Happy Solstice! What can possibly be nerdier than a crossword? A crossword full of nerd clues! Haha, pardon me my 5D but in all seriousness, this puzzle lacks a most crucial tenet of a well-rounded crossword: It leans heavily towards pop-culture references that some solvers might struggle with if they aren't familiar with the anime or the TV show, but the fun thing about puzzles like this one is that geeks (MEE!) love them. I smile every time I see something like this in a crossword. Fortunately, I have this blog to write about those pesky entries.


Tricky Clues

1A: The sole reason I tolerated this entry was the initialism resembled the "American" of the clue, albeit briefly. The corporation we are looking for is AMR which went defunct some ten years ago ​ 4A: M-DOGs are military doggos trained to locate buried mines. Ever since I learnt the word, I tried shoving it in every puzzle I attempted constructing. I finally succeeded. But at what cost!? T_T I was forced to include OBRA for 6D, which is Spanish for "work," or "construction." I despise alternate languages in my crosswords, especially if they aren't particularly well known. ​ 17A: CTHULHU is an adorable word! It's that weird monster from a Lovecraft story that the Gen-Z would know better from the Rick and Morty opening sequence that kept fans waiting for the beast to make an actual episode appearance. The makers cleverly handed us pacifiers by a short cameo in the latest season, speaking of which I have to catch up with the new episodes. ​ 9A: Ytterby is a tiny island in Sweden and has lent it's name to four elements in the periodic table: Ytterbium, Yttrium, Terbium and the one we're looking for, ERBIUM. ​ 23D could be otro, or in this case, OTRA, depending on the gender but then with otro, Lake BoIKAL won't make sense in 35A. ​ 2D: Today I learnt that MYRRH is a resin used in fragrances and glues, funnily 'cause it's literally the glue holding my north-west corner in place ​ This should be more than the headstart you'd need to get the ball rolling. Happy solving! ​ --Priya

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