R-E Puzzler
July 1967 Radio-Electronics

July 1967 Radio-Electronics [Table of Contents] Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio-Electronics, published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

I have to admit to never having heard of three of the terms (5, 6, and 13) here in this "R-E Puzzler" that appeared in the July 1967 issue of Radio-Electronics (R-E) magazine. I provided definitions for each at the bottom of the page in the Answers area. These R-E Puzzlers are a form of crossword puzzle, except no words cross. It is more of a "crossletter" puzzle because at least one letter in each row is common to another row. In some ways they are more difficult than a true crossword puzzle since not as many letters can be filled in from other clues to help figure out the unknown word. You'll need to print this out to fill in since web apps weren't a thing in 1967. Bon chance.

R-E Puzzler

By Edmund A. Braun

Try solving this puzzle based on electronic terminology. It shouldn't prove difficult except perhaps to someone who believes "heptode" is a bullfrog who's been around, or that "transformers" are worn under blouses! Each word is connected to the one above and below by a single letter. Get a pencil, make yourself comfortable, and begin!

1) Transformer combining primary and secondary as a single coil.

2) Material in which current flow is changed by light.

3) Involving both electrical and sound pressures.

4) Impurity added to a semiconductor to improve conductivity.

5) Three-terminal silicon semi-conductor device.

6) Electrostatically focused, beam-switching tube.

7) Signal detection.

8) Equipment that produces and modulates rf current and delivers to antenna.

9) The third order or rank, as a coil winding.

10) Small capacitor inserted in series with a main capacitor.

11) Type of spring clip with two meshing jaws.

12) Oriented intergrowth between two crystals.

13) Instrument that measures radiation.

14) Pertaining to emission of electrons by heat.

15) Early form of detector that works like a thermistor.

16) Quality, degree, state, or measure of color.

17) Doughnut or ring-shaped.

18) Flowing only in one way.

19) Fluctuation or irregularity in performance.

20) Having a common center, such as a circle within another circle.

21) In microelectronics, the physical material on which circuit is fabricated.

22) Its atomic number is 89; its atomic weight is 227.

23) Pertaining to af or rf generation.

24) Varistor in which current-voltage relation may be modified by light.

25) Variation of components of a complex wave by each other.

2024 and Beyond Crosswords Archive

Take a well-deserved break and try your hand at some of these goodies. Every word in the RF Cafe crossword puzzles is specifically related to engineering, mathematics, and science. There are no generic backfill words like many other puzzles give you, so you'll never see a clue asking for the name of a movie star or a mountain on the Russia-China border.

All of these crossword puzzles were created using the fabulous Crossword Express (now called "Magnum Opus") software.

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Cruciverbalist:

A cruciverbalist is a person who is skilled at creating or solving crossword puzzles. The term is a combination of "cruci-" from "crucifix," meaning cross, and "verbalist" from "verbal," indicating a person who deals with words. cruciverbalists are often responsible for designing crossword puzzles, and they possess a deep knowledge of wordplay, vocabulary, and the techniques used in constructing and solving crosswords. They aim to make puzzles that are both challenging and enjoyable for crossword enthusiasts.

March 1959 Radio & TV News

September 1967 Electronics World Crossword

July 1967 Radio-Electronics Puzzler

April 1969 Radio-Electronics Puzzler

May 1967 Radio-Electronics Puzzler

March 1967 Radio-Electronics Puzzler

February 18

February 11

February 4

January 28

January 21

January 14

January 7

Solution to RE Puzzler for July 1967

1) autotransformer

2) photoconductive

3) electroacoustic

4) dopant

5) trinistor - A Trinistor is a type of thyristor, which is a solid-state semiconductor device with four layers of alternating P- and N-type materials. It acts as a bistable switch, conducting when its gate receives a current trigger, and continues to conduct while forward-biased (i.e., until the current drops below a certain threshold).

6) additron - The Additron was an early vacuum tube computing component developed by the Canadian company Ferranti-Packard in the 1950s. It was designed as a high-speed switching device for digital computers, intended to improve upon traditional relays and cryotrons (early superconducting switches).

7) demodulation

8) transmitter

9) tertiary

10) padder

11) alligator

12) epitaxy

13) dosimeter

14) thermionic

15) barretter - A Barretter (also known as a ballast resistor) is an early electrical component used for current regulation in circuits. It operates based on the thermal properties of a fine wire, which changes resistance with temperature to stabilize current. Barretters were occasionally used in early radio detectors (e.g., "hot-wire detectors"), where RF signals heated the wire, causing resistance changes that could demodulate AM signals.

16) chromaticity

17) toroidal

18) unidirectional

19) instability

20) concentric

21) substrate

22) actinium

23) oscillation

24) photovaristor

25) intermodulation

Subtract 4 points for any part you didn't answer correctly. Perfect score is 100.

Your Rating:

60-64 Fair 

68-72 Fair to middlin'. 

76-84 Middlin'.

88-96 Good.

100 Perfect! Tell your wife to bake a cake and celebrate!

By Edmund A. Braun

Posted