by Jeff Roberts
The clues below can be filled in by “mashing up” two MIT student groups (recognized by the Association of Student Activities), omitting “MIT” and “club” and some other superfluous words in some cases. The Activities Midway is an annual event where first-year students can visit booths to find out more about these groups. The answers to the clues are:

Are you obsessed with the approximate population of Red Deer, Alberta? What about Chatham-Kent, Ontario? Or Delta, British Columbia? Want to put your skills to the test? Then you should think about joining the 100K CANADIANS COMPETITION club!

Do you know which hand is supposed to hold the doll, and which one holds the pins? Are you properly maintaining your gris-gris? You might have the knowledge, but how are you at the execution? Beginners and high priestesses alike are welcome to come to our meetings and sharpen their skills in VOO DOO TECHNIQUE!

Love oxtail stew? Ropa vieja? Jerk flank steak? We’ve got all that and more. Bring your long shorts and your appetite when you come to check out the CARIBBEAN BEEF club!

Some people prefer clay as a medium, others prefer grass. Not as many people go for Pledge, Guardsman, or even just good old mineral oil. Are you tired of hitting balls on the same old courts? Pack your racquet and get ready to lacquer as you try out for the TABLE POLISH TENNIS TEAM!

Sure, everybody knows Brutus and Cassius. Macbeth and Claudius too. But let’s not forget about the First and Second Murderer, not to mention the First, Second and Third Conspirators. We honor them all in the SHAKESPEARE ASSASSINS’ GUILD!

Well, what do you know? You also like to glide around places, saying things like “I'll be!” and “How interesting!” Are we being sincere or ironic? Only way to know for sure is to slide on over to the GO FIGURE SKATING club!

Who cares about winning? We say, the best part of any argument is the part where you give up and concede that the other side is right! Think you've got what it takes to be the best yielder? Then come try out for the DEBATE CAVING TEAM!

You might just call it “rain,” but we think it deserves more respect for what it really is. If you agree that the world is a bit too blasé about the wonders of precipitation, you should become a member of the FLYING WATER club!

The grids at the top of the puzzle include ASA ID numbers for many different MIT clubs (these can be looked up most easily online by browsing to “asa.mit.edu/[number]”). For each clue, plotting the locations of the mashed-up clubs reveals one other club “midway” between the two. The first midway point is shown as an example:
The first letters of these clubs (again, omitting “MIT”), read left-right then top-bottom in the grid, spell the answer WIDE EYED.
First Club First Club ID Second Club Second Club ID Midway Club Midway Club ID Extracted Letter
Shakespeare Ensemble 227 Assassins’ Guild 29 WMBR Radio 297 W
Voo Doo Magazine 294 Technique Yearbook 272 Imobilare 143 I
Caribbean-Club 60 mitBEEF 181 Dramashop 92 D
Debate Team 89 Caving Club 62 Egyptian Association 845 E
100K Competition 1 Canadians Club 57 Effective Altruism 2227 E
Go Club, MIT 119 Figure Skating Club 110 Yoga 24x7 859 Y
Table Tennis Team 262 Polish Club 1711 European Club 106 E
Flying Club 787 Water Club 2003 DanceTroupe 87 D