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Solution to You've Got Some Nerve

Author: Sheeva Azma

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