Radiation and Physicists

I Suck at the NYT Crossword Puzzle

I am the King of Mediocrity when it comes to doing crossword puzzles. Each day I discuss my trouble with the NY Times Crossword and compile a list of related words to try to get better.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Radiation and Physicists

Monday, Jan. 12, 2009

I tried to race against the clock on this one. Got it done in 16:49 with two mistakes.

41D: Radiation units. REMS. This one's pretty interesting.

1 RAD is 0.01 Joules per kilogram of tissue.

100 rads is 1 GRAY.

REM is the Rontgen equivalent in man. A Rontgen is the amount of radiation required to liberate 1 esu of charge per cubed centimeter in dry air.

1 SIEVERT is equal to 100 rems. As little as 1 to 2 sieverts can cause death.

So remember: RAD, REM, GRAY, RONTGEN and SIEVERT for radiation terms.

Once again, going through the current Supreme Court Justices paid off with 3D: Justice Samuel (ALITO).

I think I'll start this list and continue to add to it...

Words to Tattoo On Yourself for Crossword Puzzles

• ELYSE KEATON = Family Ties' mom
• RHODA = Mary Tyler Moore spinoff
• ALAN ALDA = M*A*S*H actor
• ETNA = Sicilian volcano

It seems like Nobel Prize physicists make it to the NY Times grid quite frequently. I'm going to try to memorize them all.