Science: Spaced Out and Obfuscated

Question

Although very short on time, I wanted to participate in the Fortnightly Challenge so I have recycled a format that I had intended to retire. Hopefully, it has not entirely worn out its welcome.

Following the rules established here, I have combined the last names of four famous scientists in a spaced out and obfuscated format. Have fun!

Lass one willingly type of weasel women's mag attitude present mug

The above was the original version of the problem solved, amazingly, by Gareth McCaughan and dan1111 despite an error on my part. Those wishing to work through it after the fact may prefer the following version:

Lass one lucky Viking type of weasel women's mag attitude present mug

Gareth McCaughan · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-08T14:47:41.813

4

OK, so I got #4, then dan1111 got #3 and #2, and then I got #1. There really needs to be a way to share checkmarks between two people.

It's

GAL I LEIF ERMINE W TONE IN STEIN

or

GALILEI FERMI NEWTON EINSTEIN.

Here

LEIF is an older and rarer variant of LIEF. I originally had LEOF (an older but I think slightly less obscure variant) and GALILEO, but the question asked for surnames.

edited Jun 08 '16 at 14:47

answered Jun 08 '16 at 11:54

Gareth McCaughan

119,120
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Nice! some more characters. – Jun 08 '16 at 13:06
What is a LEOF? – Dan Russell Jun 08 '16 at 13:35
A tick and an apology. I was thinking Galilei (his last name) and I got all dyslexic regarding the name Leif and the noun lief (which of course come from the same root as leof). I hadn't meant to introduce Chaucerian vocabulary. Well done! – Hugh Meyers Jun 08 '16 at 13:43
Heh. And I in turn must apologize because it quite slipped my mind that you were looking for surnames and I gave you Galileo's first name. Never mind, it all works out OK overall. – Gareth McCaughan Jun 08 '16 at 14:45
1

Dan, LEOF is a variant of LIEF. But actually LEIF is good too (though perhaps a more obscure variant even than LEOF) and I shall amend my answer accordingly. (I hope this comment will make its predecessors not to confusing to others after the change.) – Gareth McCaughan Jun 08 '16 at 14:46

score 4 · Answer 2 · 2016-06-08T13:05:05.303

4

Building on Gareth McCaughan's answer:

willingly

lief

weasel type

ermine

women's mag

W

attitude

tone

present

in

mug

stein

Which gives:

Fermi Newton Einstein

edited Jun 08 '16 at 13:05

answered Jun 08 '16 at 12:53

Oo, that works. – Gareth McCaughan Jun 08 '16 at 12:55
Though I'm not wild about that as a synonym for "attitude" and none of the weasel-types I can identify looks like it works as the end of a famous scientist's name. Maybe it's a metaphorical weasel. – Gareth McCaughan Jun 08 '16 at 12:57
@GarethMcCaughan found another magazine that may help... – Jun 08 '16 at 13:02
Yes! I know who scientist #2 is, then. – Gareth McCaughan Jun 08 '16 at 13:03
(and it looks like one of my proposals for "willingly" is right) – Gareth McCaughan Jun 08 '16 at 13:03
1

(I see you agree :-).) – Gareth McCaughan Jun 08 '16 at 13:04
ah, got it. Variant spelling. – Gareth McCaughan Jun 08 '16 at 13:04

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 08 '16 at 11:33

Partial answer (brainstorm):

Lass

Maid, Maiden, Female, Damsel, Miss, Lady

One willingly

Possibly one word, possible two:
freely, voluntarily, cheerfully, agreeably, fairly, at will, openly,

Type of weasel

Stoat, Steppe, Least, Polecat, Ferret, Mink.

Women's mag

Presuming it's 'women's magazine'... Too many to list at the moment.

Attitude

bias, mood, sass, opinion, angle, view, belief, stance

Present

Current, modern, ad hoc, being

Mug

Assault, bash, beat, bash.

Conclusion: No idea at the moment

Science: Spaced Out and Obfuscated

3 Answers3