The puzzle is divided into two parts. In the first part, each line corresponds to a pun on a brain-related word. The task is to identify the word, then identify the cranial nerve that the part in parentheses is referencing. The second half of the puzzle includes definitions of the words that are punned. To solve the puzzle, correctly identify each neuro word and the corresponding cranial nerve, and use the cranial nerve # to index into the brain word. Once you do this, the clue phrase reads "OF SOUND MIND FOUR LETTERS." The answer to this puzzle is therefore SANE.
Neuro word clue | Nerve clue | Letter |
---|---|---|
Flower holder subjugatin' vase oppressin' → vasopressin |
*depresses and intorts eyeball* 4 (superior oblique muscle) |
O |
Sly animal fox → falx |
*senses smell* 1 (olfactory) |
F |
Chancellor Angela vends merkel sells → Merkel cells |
*shrugs* 11 (trapezius muscle) |
S |
En passant chess pieces pawns → pons |
*views* 2 (visual system) |
O |
School for hungry animals hippo campus → hippocampus |
*vocalizes* 10 (innervates voicebox) |
U |
Give steroids to Idi dope amin → dopamine |
*tasted a lot* 7 (facial nerve) |
N |
Vehicle decayed car rotted → carotid |
*smiles* 7 (facial nerve) |
D |
Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer maya lin → myelin |
*smells cherry blossoms* 1 (olfactory) |
M |
Mrs. Palin liftin' weights sarah tonin' → serotonin |
*loses balance* 8 (innervates vestibular system/balance) |
I |
Spoken filler from a 1984 gold medalist gymnast retton uh → retina |
*closes jaw* 5 (muscles of mastication) |
N |
Anemic-looking speech filler pallid um → pallidum |
*looks sideways* 6 (abducens) |
D |
Purposed as prayer ender for Amen → foramen |
*is nosy* 1 (olfactory) |
F |
Expert had a stannum deficiency pro lacked tin → prolactin |
*shrinks pupils* 3 (pupillary constriction reflex) |
O |
Rejection of clutter from a preppy retail store Gap junk shun → gap junction |
*talks* 5 (jaw innervation) |
U |
Manger amendment crib reform → cribriform |
*lifts voicebox* 9 |
R |
Talons play guitar claws strum → claustrum |
*takes in the scene* 2 (optic tract) |
L |
Mr. Paul post-makeover new Ron → neuron |
*beholds* 2 (optic tract) |
E |
Fare charged to outcasts pariah toll → parietal |
*synchronizes eye movements* 6 (abducens) |
T |
Disorder in the coldest place in Tunisia Thala muss → thalamus |
*detects odor* 1 (olfactory) |
T |
Whitefish consumed cod ate → caudate |
*cried tears of joy* 7 |
E |
Copernicus, Jonas, Cage, and Tesla four Nicks → fornix |
*eyelids droop* 3 (function of oculomotor nerve) |
R |
"Gluttony" and "Sloth" for iPhone sin apps → synapse |
*turns out eyeballs* 6 (abduction of the eyeball) |
S |