And the winner is... Announcing the lucky winner of the physics crossword contest
Last March APS News announced a contest for the best physics crossword puzzle. Our panel of experts took into account both the intrinsic merit of the puzzle and the amount of physics content, and has come up with three prize-winning puzzles. Top prize goes to Gary Hodes of the Weizmann Institute in Israel, whose puzzle is reproduced on this page. The other prize-winning puzzles were submitted by Michael A. Pelizzari and Stephen Irons. All three will receive a copy of the book “Physics in the Twentieth Century.” Readers are cautioned that (a) Hodes's puzzle is very hard (it is in the style of a “cryptic crossword”); and (b) the numbering system is unconventional, since in many places numbers are repeated, once for across and once for down. Answers to the puzzle appear with the online version of this issue.
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| Readers are cautioned that (a) Hodes's puzzle is very hard (it is in the style of a “cryptic crossword”); and (b) the numbering system is unconventional, since in many places numbers are repeated, once for across and once for down |
CLUES
| Across | Down | ||
| 2 | This is an actual difference | 1 | A curious element |
| 3 | A useful place to send papers | 2 | A very short length of wood |
| 4 | Unidirectional flow | 3 | Distance |
| 5 | Reversed voltage drop | 4 | 45 down of 45 across |
| 6 | What you need for this puzzle | 5 | Below this value, things really move |
| 7 | Straight from the wall | 6 | Male cats are made of these |
| 14 | Charges sometimes do this | 7 | Can be noisy |
| 15 | He’s on the level | 8 | Occurs in physics but not in commerce |
| 16 | This has one in the form of a band | 9 | Not quite microwaves |
| 18 | A striptease at the atomic level | 10 | Energy of an electron gas |
| 19 | Low temperature resistance unit? | 11 | Not positive about this abbreviation |
| 20 | An increasingly common referee comment | 12 | Complement of red |
| 21 | French Canadian research council | 13 | Think sharply |
| 22 | This word is in the correct position | 14 | A positive outcome of a crusade |
| 23 | This term becomes less common because of email | 15 | A heavy leader |
| 24 | Flows - at the moment | 16 | Go to great lengths to amass some time |
| 25 | Type of number | 17 | 2 by 24 across |
| 26 | Rotates | 18 | A lamp inherited from ones central American forefathers |
| 27 | Opposite of 23 down | 19 | Handbook of Chemistry and Physics |
| 28 | Scatter-brained scientist | 20 | This technique resonates with many users |
| 29 | Basic electrical properties | 21 | A stupid mixup over a molten element |
| 30 | Transpond NSF | 22 | Unit of energy |
| 31 | One of the most important components of a Gordon conference | 23 | An archaic form of 20 across |
| 32 | Force | 25 | High level proceedings |
| 33 | A chemist’s answer for a biological mishap to physicists | 26 | Energy – even for laymen |
| 34 | Will force you to eat | 27 | Environmentally friendly way of getting down to detail |
| 35 | Elves might use this technique | 28 | Some physicists prefer to work on this |
| 36 | It’s both a solid and a gas. | 29 | Grind |
| 37 | A weighty term | 30 | A law to boast about |
| 38 | You’ll find a horse here in equilibrium | 31 | Transports by four wheels, not two |
| 39 | A Roman lab coat? | 32 | Not heavy but intermittent |
| 40 | Only one electron at a time | 39 | Directional |
| 41 | These are positively left behind | 40 | This club is for some physicists |
| 45 | Philanthropic species | 41 | 16 across has one of these |
| 46 | A Gaussian system of units for slow people | 42 | An Oxford university address |
| 47 | A more international system | 43 | Like 20 down |
| 48 | Has a well-defined internal crystal structure | 44 | Having eyes that are charged |
| 49 | Narrowly fluoresces | 45 | A lot of people live there |
| 50 | A particular family | 46 | A current limiter |
| 51 | A very small unknown object | 47 | Spread by an urge to dive |
| 52 | Popular length units | 48 | Most got their first physics lessons here |
| 53 | Eyes see backwards | 49 | Not the most interesting of scientists |
| 54 | A certain type of pot does this | 50 | For a particle, this could be either a little or a lot of energy |
| 55 | Violet | 51 | A unit of time |
| 56 | A unit of 24 across | 52 | Logic circuit |
| 57 | Captain’s ruling springs to mind | 53 | Another version of 51 down |
| 58 | This will mess things up | 54 | Increasing potential energy |
| 59 | A unit you can't resist | 55 | Not as far as 9 down |
| 60 | This outshines 15 down | 56 | A few cases of this published in reputable journals |
| 61 | This guy is still on the up – for the moment | ||
| 62 | Sticky particles | ||
| 63 | 392 Hz or some multiple | ||
| 64 | Letters useful also for public relations | ||
| 65 | A junction | ||
| 66 | Spin fast to get away from the smell | ||
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Contributing Editor: Jennifer Ouellette
Staff Writer: Ernie Tretkoff
November 2006 (Volume 15, Number 10)
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