The Science Friday Crossword Puzzle, Solved

Find out the answers—and backstories—to the SciFri-themed crossword puzzle.

Last week, we posted a Science Friday Crossword Puzzle Challenge, complete with clues related to Science Friday.

Click here for the solutions. (If you want to solve the puzzle, click here for a blank version.)

Related Article

Solve the Science Friday Crossword Puzzle!

The puzzle also offered a final clue, which could be answered by combining the letters in the boxes containing circles. The clue was: Science Friday guest who’s appeared in both hours of the show, discussing different topics. (Spoiler alert! Answer below!)

Related Article

Inside the Box: Crossword Puzzle Constructing in the Computer Age

The answer: CAMERON, as in the filmmaker James Cameron. On April 20, 2012, Cameron appeared in “Exploring the Deepest, Darkest Spots on Earth,” as well as “How Movie Makers Use Science to Make Magic.”

Here are the rest of the SciFri-related clues, and their solutions.

ACROSS
1: Science Friday guest who said that “the brain is the most complex object in the known universe”
Solution: (Christof) KOCH
More at SciFri: Decoding the Most Complex Object in the Universe

5: Network that featured Ira in a popular TV sitcom
Solution: CBS
More at SciFri: Backstage at The Big Bang Theory

25: Ira’s recent co-host
Solution: (Bill) NYE
More at SciFri: Your Summer Science Book List

34: Kay’s of Scotland shapes a fine one for curling, according to Science Friday article
Solution: STONE
More at SciFri: Getting to the Core of Olympic Curling Stones

52: Fox dad who attempted a counterexample to Fermat’s Last Theorem, mentioned on Science Friday
Solution: HOMER (Simpson)
More at SciFri: The Simpsons‘ Secret? It’s Written By Math Geeks

53: Science Friday guest, and potent Musk?
Solution: ELON (Musk)
More at SciFri: Hyperloop: Hype or Future Transportation?

76: Richard Holmes’s airy subject, discussed on SciFri
Solution: BALLOON
More at SciFri: Early Balloonists Took Science Up, Up, and Away

78: Space crooner and SciFri guest ___ Hadfield
Solution: CHRIS (Hadfield)
More at SciFri: Chris Hadfield’s Lessons From Life in Orbit

DOWN
1: German graphic designer who compared the body to a factory, portrayed in Science Friday SciArts article
Solution: (Fritz) KAHN
More at SciFri: Fritz Kahn’s Fantastical Journey Through the Body

2: Tear-jerker, discussed in a Science Friday segment on alliums
Solution: ONION

4: Science Friday guest Al Gore is familiar with the ___ seat
Solution: HOT
More at SciFri: Al Gore Envisions the Future

5: Science Friday guest who’s a Darwin relative
Solution: (Matthew) CHAPMAN

8: Physics can explain his holiday feats, according to SciFri segment
Solution: SANTA

10: Science Friday-friendly cubist
Solution: (Erno) RUBIK

14: The robot was the brainchild of Czech playwrght ___ Capek, according to SciFri segment
Solution: KAREL (Capek)

28: Science Friday guest Michael Sims wrote about this author’s experiences in nature
Solution: (E.B.) WHITE

34: First Ride into space?
Solution: SALLY (Ride)

37: Science Friday guest known as “her deepness”
Solution: (Sylvia) EARLE

40: Will.i.am’s nerdy buddy, and Science Friday guest
Solution: (Dean) KAMEN
More at SciFri: Technology’s Odd Couple Teams Up for Science

47: Science Friday carrier starting in 2014
Solution: PRI
More at SciFri: A New Beginning: Science Friday Partners With PRI

61: Theme for Science Friday’s inaugural Science Club challenge: ___ art
Solution: MACHINE (Art)
More at SciFri: Make an Art Machine

68: Science Friday “You Do What” subject who brings voices back from the dead
Solution: (Carl) HABER
More at SciFri: A Physicist Conjures Sounds From the Past

70: Dan Durda, ___ portraitist and SciFri “You Do What?” subject
Solution: PLUTO
More at SciFri: Out of This World

72: He told Science Friday that science doesn’t disprove God
Solution: (Amir) ACZEL
More at SciFri: Amir Aczel: Why Science Does Not Disprove God

74: Walter White cribs notes from ___ Nelson, according to SciFri article
Solution: DONNA (Nelson)
More at SciFri: 10 Questions for Donna Nelson, Breaking Bad‘s Science Muse

75: Giant squid-loving psychiatrist and repeat SciFri guest Oliver ___
Solution: (Oliver) SACKS
More at SciFri: Oliver Sacks and the Search for the Giant Squid

81: Bonobos seem to have a French version, according to SciFri segment
Solution: KISS

Meet the Writer

About Julie Leibach

Julie Leibach is a freelance science journalist and the former managing editor of online content for Science Friday.

Explore More

Solve the Science Friday Crossword Puzzle!

Test your Science Friday knowledge with this crossword puzzle challenge by constructor Fred Piscop.

Read More

Inside the Box: Crossword Puzzle Constructing in the Computer Age

Computer software and word databases are changing the crossword puzzle game.

Read More