Fireball Contest — May 17, 2023

Peter A. Collins’ Fireball contest, “Table Game” — Conrad’s writeup

This month, we are asked, What five-letter word is hinted at by this puzzle? There were five long theme entries, each containing an element:

FB Contest – 05.17.2023 – Solution

• [Accessories for SUVs]: C(ARGON)ETS
• [Last city in which the entire CSA government met]: GREENS(BORON)C
• [Shakespeare’s “Thy pity may deserve to pitied be” contains one]: SPLI(TIN)FINITIVE
• [TV role for Masi Oka opposite Hayden Panettiere’s Claire Bennet]: H(IRON)AKAMURA
• [South Lawn chopper]: MARI(NEON)E

The atomic number of each element mapped to a letter in the grid, here they are in grid order:

• BORON: 5 -> A
• NEON: 10 -> T
• ARGON: 18 -> O
• IRON: 26 -> M
• TIN: 50 -> S

The mapped squares spell ATOMS, our contest solution. I enjoy a periodic table-themed meta; the most recent that I remember is Mike Shenk’s Under the Table, which used a different mechanism. Solvers: please share your thoughts.