OT: Word Search - Nine Planets

[SplitPersonality1]

Thanks to Quiksand, I’ve been fiddling around with these “build-your-own-word-search” puzzles and I’ve got a new one for the group. How about this: take the names of the nine planets in our solar system, and fit them into the smallest word search possible, measured by rectangular area.

7x8 was fairly simple to solve. 7x7 took me a bit longer to do. 6x8 is marginally better and I’m sure one of the great puzzle minds in FOFC will come up with a solution. Anything smaller and I would be extremely impressed.

I like the “minimum length of 4” rule to keep the spirit of the game. Good luck.

[sabotai]

Don't mean to nitpick....but there are only 8 planets. Pluto got demoted to a Kuiper Belt Object a few years ago....Ok, I do mean to nitpick. :)

But, an interesting puzzle. I will have to give it a try.

[Draft Dodger]

I thought we had 10 planets now.

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally posted by sabotai
Don't mean to nitpick....but there are only 8 planets. Pluto got demoted to a Kuiper Belt Object a few years ago....Ok, I do mean to nitpick. :)


Butthead. ;)

For the record, I used the following planets (and object):

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

[SplitPersonality1]

bump

[ColtCrazy]

Pluto's still in my outdated 3rd grade Science book. Will it confuse them if I tell them its a Kupier Belt Object? :)

[Fritz]

Originally posted by sabotai
Don't mean to nitpick....but there are only 8 planets. Pluto got demoted to a Kiper Scalp Object a few years ago....Ok, I do mean to nitpick.

That does it. ESPN has gotten WAY too big.

[sterlingice]

Don't mean to nitpick....but there are only 8 planets. Pluto got demoted to a Kuiper Belt Object a few years ago....Ok, I do mean to nitpick.

If you're going to nitpick, nitpick correctly:

(begin sarcasm brackets)
YOU ARE WRONG! Pluto retained its planet status even if probaly is a Kuiper Belt Object. There are 9 planets and quit trying to fill these poor people's minds with revisionist astronomy. As my astonomy prof at ku said, "you have a position in this argument whether you know it or not" because Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto, has lots of ties to KU and we celebrate Clyde Day here every year (less than a month ago; it's in Feb). So while heathens like you were trying to screw up everyone's 9 planet pneumonic devices with your silly revisionist science, NASA maintained that Pluto is still a planet (see below)
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/features/planets/planetsfeat.html
"Long considered to be the smallest, coldest, and most distant planet from the Sun, Pluto may also be the largest of a group of objects that orbit in a disk-like zone of beyond the orbit of Neptune called the Kuiper Belt."
(end sarcasm brackets)

Seriously, tho, Pluto is still a planet and rumors of its demotion are greatly exaggerated.
SI

[sterlingice]

I thought we had 10 planets now.

Quaoar, which was discovered last year is one of those KBOs mentioned above. It's another billion miles beyond Pluto (Pluto is 3 billion miles away) and is about half as big so it was decided it was not a planet.

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/features/planets/kbos/kbos.html


SI

[QuikSand]

Split P, for what it's worth, this was my next installment... I fiddled with this a few days ago as well. I got nine planets into a 7x7 without any real trouble... but never went beyond that.

[sabotai]

Hmm.

I specifically remember reading several articles (from astronomy websites and magazines) that said Pluto was demoted. I guess they gave it 'planet' status back.

[SplitPersonality1]

Here is my 7x7 solution


r e t i p u j
m e r c u r y
p l u t o a v
n e p t u n e
e a r t h u n
n r u t a s u
* * * m a r s


Note: If we demote Mars to a Kuiper Belt Object this becomes a 6x7 :)