explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Category:Large drawings

2025-07-27T12:29:52Z

2001:4450:8178:2200:5D26:DCAB:509F:A483:

*From time to time, [[Randall]] creates drawings that don't fit neatly on one screen.
**'''Note''': this category is for large singular images, not for long comics that contain a large number of panels.
**See also: [[:Category:Dynamic comics]].
**'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed explanation:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
==Explanation==
*There are three fundamentally different types of drawings that merit inclusion in the large drawing category.
**Several really large drawings will only show a reduced-size image on the link at xkcd.
***By clicking on this image the full-size image will be loaded enabling the viewer to zoom in on the tiny details not visible in the reduced front page image.
***Often this full image will be at the same address but with a ''/large/'' added after the comic number.
****Here taking [[657: Movie Narrative Charts]] as an example:
****[http://www.xkcd.com/657/ 657]
****[https://xkcd.com/657/large/ 657/large/]
*****This was the first comic to use this ''/large/'' directory, but the two following this used ''_large'' added to the number, then most of the rest use the directory.
*****The first comic [[Online Communities]] used ''_small'' instead but on the original version shown on xkcd and added to the name not the number.
*****[[Money]] used ''_huge'' also added to the name not the number.
*****And [[Bad Map Projection: Time Zones]] used a ''2x'' to indicate the size also added to the name not the number.
****See more below in the list of large drawings.
***The largest of these (and for certain the one with most details) is [[980: Money]], which had three different images, the last being unique to this comic:
****Small: [http://www.xkcd.com/980/ Front page]
****Large: [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/money_huge.png Huge]
****Interactive: [http://xkcd.com/980/huge/#x=-6432&y=-8416&z=2 Huge zoomable].
**Another set of large drawings can be viewed directly as they are, but they are instead very long and you have to pan and scroll down from some time to see the entire extent of the image.
***The most famous these until recently was [[482: Height]], which was the longest for many years.
***But that has been topped in 2016 with the [[1732#Popularity_of_comic|already famous]] (also outside xkcd) [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]], which is by far the longest of this type of xkcd comics.
****(And probably also the longest when compared to the "height" of any of the other huge drawings).
***All of these have the following inserted at the top of their explanation inside the heading under the "title" line:
****<nowiki>| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]</nowiki>
***But not all comics with this "skip line" is a large drawings, as they could instead be a "normal" type comic but with several small panels like these here:
****[[1052: Every Major's Terrible]]
****[[1305: Undocumented Feature]]
***Or one long page, but with several small drawings (like maps) and text on it like this:
****[[977: Map Projections]]
***Or not really a drawing like this:
****[[1311: 2014]]
***Finally there are even one of the large drawings where even the small version is still so long as to have this included:
****[[1127: Congress]]
***The other with this line are all included here.
**The last type or large drawings only number three, but they are also the largest drawings so far.
***They are interactive comics where the user can navigate through a huge image, while either all the time only viewing a small part in an interactive panel, or only being able to really see anything when zooming far in on the large image.
***The comics are:
****[[1110: Click and Drag]]
****[[1608: Hoverboard]]
****[[2067: Challengers]]

===Type===
#Large drawings:
##[[256: Online Communities]] - [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities.png Large drawing] – The only large drawing that used the name rather than the number without adding a size indication. In this one it was the [[https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities_small.png one shown on xkcd] that had ''_small'' added to the title.
##[[657: Movie Narrative Charts]] - [https://xkcd.com/657/large/ Large drawing] - The first to use the ###/large/ directory, where the number goes before the first slash.
##[[681: Gravity Wells]] - [https://xkcd.com/681_large/ Large drawing] – Only two comics did not to use the large directory but rather add a "_large" to the number. This and the next one.
##[[802: Online Communities 2]] - [https://xkcd.com/802_large/ Large drawing] - The other (in a row) to use the _large. See above.
##[[980: Money]] - [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/money_huge.png Large drawing] - The only one to use the''_huge'' addition to indicate size and the only second that used the name rather than number for the filename. Money also had an [http://xkcd.com/980/huge/ interactive version]
##[[1000: 1000 Comics]] - [https://xkcd.com/1000/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1040: Lakes and Oceans]] - [https://xkcd.com/1040/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1071: Exoplanets]] - [https://xkcd.com/1071/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1079: United Shapes]] - [https://xkcd.com/1079/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1080: Visual Field]] - [https://xkcd.com/1080/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1127: Congress]] - [https://xkcd.com/1127/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1196: Subways]] - [https://xkcd.com/1196/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1256: Questions]] - [https://xkcd.com/1256/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1298: Exoplanet Neighborhood]] - [https://xkcd.com/1298/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1389: Surface Area]] - [https://xkcd.com//large/ Large drawing]
##[[1392: Dominant Players]] - [https://xkcd.com/1392/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1461: Payloads]] - [https://xkcd.com/1461/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1491: Stories of the Past and Future]] - [https://xkcd.com/1491/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1688: Map Age Guide]] - [https://xkcd.com/1688/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones]] - [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bad_map_projection_time_zones_2x.png Large drawing] - Not really a large drawing on xkcd as it does not use the large but only has the normal 2x version.
##[[1939: 2016 Election Map]] - [https://xkcd.com/1939/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1970: Name Dominoes]] - [https://xkcd.com/1970/large/ Large drawing]
##[[3036: Chess Zoo]] - [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/chess_zoo_2x.png Large drawing] - Not really a large drawing on xkcd as it does not use the large but only has the normal 2x version. But clicking the comic on xkcd opens the 2x picture, which is not the normal behaviour.
##[[Radiation]] – [https://xkcd.com/radiation/ Large drawing] – As this was not released as a comic there were only a [https://i0.wp.com/imgs.xkcd.com/blag/radiation_450.png tiny version] in a [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/03/19/radiation-chart/ blag post]. That is not the "small" version shown here on xkcd.
##[[The Rise of Open Access]] – [http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/scicomm/infographic.jpg Large Drawig] – This was never released on xkcd.
#Tall drawings:
##[[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]]
##[[482: Height]]
##[[485: Depth]]
##[[887: Future Timeline]]
##[[1047: Approximations]]
##[[1133: Up Goer Five]]
##[[1649: Pipelines]]
##[[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]]
##[[2155: Swimming]]
##[[2425: mRNA Vaccine]]
#Click and Drag like drawings:
##[[1110: Click and Drag]] - [http://victorz.ca/xkcd_map/#8/1.100/0.200 Full zoomable map]
##[[1608: Hoverboard]] - [http://1101b.com/xkcd1608/ Full zoomable map]
##[[2067: Challengers]]
===List===
{{incomplete|add explanations for comics, add links for comics}}
*24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey
*256: Online Communities
*482: Height
*485: Depth
*657: Movie Narrative Charts
*681: Gravity Wells
*802: Online Communities 2
*832: Tic-Tac-Toe
*887: Future Timeline
*977: Map Projections
*980: Money
*1000: 1000 Comics
*1040: Lakes and Oceans
*1047: Approximations
*1071: Exoplanets
*1079: United Shapes
*1080: Visual Field
*1127: Congress
*1133: Up Goer Five
*1196: Subways
*1256: Questions
*1298: Exoplanet Neighborhood
*1389: Surface Area
*1392: Dominant Players
*1461: Payloads
*1491: Stories of the Past and Future
*1555: Exoplanet Names 2
*1649: Pipelines
*1688: Map Age Guide
*1732: Earth Temperature Timeline
*1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones
*1939: 2016 Election Map
*1970: Name Dominoes
*2067: Challengers
*2155: Swimming
*2399: 2020 Election Map
*Radiation
*The Rise of Open Access
</div>
 
[[Category:Distinctive comics]]

Category:Large drawings

2025-07-27T12:29:16Z

2001:4450:8178:2200:5D26:DCAB:509F:A483:

*From time to time, [[Randall]] creates drawings that don't fit neatly on one screen.
**'''Note''': this category is for large singular images, not for long comics that contain a large number of panels.
**See also: [[:Category:Dynamic comics]].
**'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed explanation:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
==Explanation==
*There are three fundamentally different types of drawings that merit inclusion in the large drawing category.
**Several really large drawings will only show a reduced-size image on the link at xkcd.
***By clicking on this image the full-size image will be loaded enabling the viewer to zoom in on the tiny details not visible in the reduced front page image.
***Often this full image will be at the same address but with a ''/large/'' added after the comic number.
****Here taking [[657: Movie Narrative Charts]] as an example:
****[http://www.xkcd.com/657/ 657]
****[https://xkcd.com/657/large/ 657/large/]
*****This was the first comic to use this ''/large/'' directory, but the two following this used ''_large'' added to the number, then most of the rest use the directory.
*****The first comic [[Online Communities]] used ''_small'' instead but on the original version shown on xkcd and added to the name not the number.
*****[[Money]] used ''_huge'' also added to the name not the number.
*****And [[Bad Map Projection: Time Zones]] used a ''2x'' to indicate the size also added to the name not the number.
****See more below in the list of large drawings.
***The largest of these (and for certain the one with most details) is [[980: Money]], which had three different images, the last being unique to this comic:
****Small: [http://www.xkcd.com/980/ Front page]
****Large: [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/money_huge.png Huge]
****Interactive: [http://xkcd.com/980/huge/#x=-6432&y=-8416&z=2 Huge zoomable].
**Another set of large drawings can be viewed directly as they are, but they are instead very long and you have to pan and scroll down from some time to see the entire extent of the image.
***The most famous these until recently was [[482: Height]], which was the longest for many years.
***But that has been topped in 2016 with the [[1732#Popularity_of_comic|already famous]] (also outside xkcd) [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]], which is by far the longest of this type of xkcd comics.
****(And probably also the longest when compared to the "height" of any of the other huge drawings).
***All of these have the following inserted at the top of their explanation inside the heading under the "title" line:
****<nowiki>| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]</nowiki>
***But not all comics with this "skip line" is a large drawings, as they could instead be a "normal" type comic but with several small panels like these here:
****[[1052: Every Major's Terrible]]
****[[1305: Undocumented Feature]]
***Or one long page, but with several small drawings (like maps) and text on it like this:
****[[977: Map Projections]]
***Or not really a drawing like this:
****[[1311: 2014]]
***Finally there are even one of the large drawings where even the small version is still so long as to have this included:
****[[1127: Congress]]
***The other with this line are all included here.
**The last type or large drawings only number three, but they are also the largest drawings so far.
***They are interactive comics where the user can navigate through a huge image, while either all the time only viewing a small part in an interactive panel, or only being able to really see anything when zooming far in on the large image.
***The comics are:
****[[1110: Click and Drag]]
****[[1608: Hoverboard]]
****[[2067: Challengers]]

===Type===
#Large drawings:
##[[256: Online Communities]] - [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities.png Large drawing] – The only large drawing that used the name rather than the number without adding a size indication. In this one it was the [[https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities_small.png one shown on xkcd] that had ''_small'' added to the title.
##[[657: Movie Narrative Charts]] - [https://xkcd.com/657/large/ Large drawing] - The first to use the ###/large/ directory, where the number goes before the first slash.
##[[681: Gravity Wells]] - [https://xkcd.com/681_large/ Large drawing] – Only two comics did not to use the large directory but rather add a "_large" to the number. This and the next one.
##[[802: Online Communities 2]] - [https://xkcd.com/802_large/ Large drawing] - The other (in a row) to use the _large. See above.
##[[980: Money]] - [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/money_huge.png Large drawing] - The only one to use the''_huge'' addition to indicate size and the only second that used the name rather than number for the filename. Money also had an [http://xkcd.com/980/huge/ interactive version]
##[[1000: 1000 Comics]] - [https://xkcd.com/1000/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1040: Lakes and Oceans]] - [https://xkcd.com/1040/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1071: Exoplanets]] - [https://xkcd.com/1071/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1079: United Shapes]] - [https://xkcd.com/1079/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1080: Visual Field]] - [https://xkcd.com/1080/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1127: Congress]] - [https://xkcd.com/1127/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1196: Subways]] - [https://xkcd.com/1196/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1256: Questions]] - [https://xkcd.com/1256/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1298: Exoplanet Neighborhood]] - [https://xkcd.com/1298/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1389: Surface Area]] - [https://xkcd.com//large/ Large drawing]
##[[1392: Dominant Players]] - [https://xkcd.com/1392/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1461: Payloads]] - [https://xkcd.com/1461/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1491: Stories of the Past and Future]] - [https://xkcd.com/1491/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1688: Map Age Guide]] - [https://xkcd.com/1688/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones]] - [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bad_map_projection_time_zones_2x.png Large drawing] - Not really a large drawing on xkcd as it does not use the large but only has the normal 2x version.
##[[1939: 2016 Election Map]] - [https://xkcd.com/1939/large/ Large drawing]
##[[1970: Name Dominoes]] - [https://xkcd.com/1970/large/ Large drawing]
##[[3036: Chess Zoo]] - [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/chess_zoo_2x.png Large drawing] - Not really a large drawing on xkcd as it does not use the large but only has the normal 2x version. But clicking the comic on xkcd opens the 2x picture, which is not the normal behaviour.
##[[Radiation]] – [https://xkcd.com/radiation/ Large drawing] – As this was not released as a comic there were only a [https://i0.wp.com/imgs.xkcd.com/blag/radiation_450.png tiny version] in a [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/03/19/radiation-chart/ blag post]. That is not the "small" version shown here on xkcd.
##[[The Rise of Open Access]] – [http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/scicomm/infographic.jpg Large Drawig] – This was never released on xkcd.
#Tall drawings:
##[[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]]
##[[482: Height]]
##[[485: Depth]]
##[[887: Future Timeline]]
##[[1047: Approximations]]
##[[1133: Up Goer Five]]
##[[1649: Pipelines]]
##[[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]]
##[[2155: Swimming]]
##[[2425: mRNA Vaccine]]
#Click and Drag like drawings:
##[[1110: Click and Drag]] - [http://victorz.ca/xkcd_map/#8/1.100/0.200 Full zoomable map]
##[[1608: Hoverboard]] - [http://1101b.com/xkcd1608/ Full zoomable map]
##[[2067: Challengers]]
</div>
 
===List===
{{incomplete|add explanations for comics, add links for comics}}
*24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey
*256: Online Communities
*482: Height
*485: Depth
*657: Movie Narrative Charts
*681: Gravity Wells
*802: Online Communities 2
*832: Tic-Tac-Toe
*887: Future Timeline
*977: Map Projections
*980: Money
*1000: 1000 Comics
*1040: Lakes and Oceans
*1047: Approximations
*1071: Exoplanets
*1079: United Shapes
*1080: Visual Field
*1127: Congress
*1133: Up Goer Five
*1196: Subways
*1256: Questions
*1298: Exoplanet Neighborhood
*1389: Surface Area
*1392: Dominant Players
*1461: Payloads
*1491: Stories of the Past and Future
*1555: Exoplanet Names 2
*1649: Pipelines
*1688: Map Age Guide
*1732: Earth Temperature Timeline
*1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones
*1939: 2016 Election Map
*1970: Name Dominoes
*2067: Challengers
*2155: Swimming
*2399: 2020 Election Map
*Radiation
*The Rise of Open Access

[[Category:Distinctive comics]]

2957: A Crossword Puzzle

2025-07-27T12:21:51Z

2001:4450:8178:2200:5D26:DCAB:509F:A483:

{{comic
| number = 2957
| date = July 10, 2024
| title = A Crossword Puzzle
| image = a_crossword_puzzle_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x937px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hint: If you ever encounter this puzzle in a crossword app, just [term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality].
}}

==Explanation==
{{spoiler|The crossword clues comprise a single hidden joke, which you can figure out on your own. If you keep reading, you won't get the chance of discovering the joke yourself!}}
This crossword may seem extremely difficult, with questions covering a wide variety of trivia, linguistics, mathematics in various forms, alongside wordplay typical of crossword puzzles. But the joke is that every single letter of every single answer is "A". The name of this comic, "A Crossword Puzzle", is a {{w|double entendre}} which could, in itself, be considered a cryptic clue; the "A" can be interpreted both as the indefinite article "a" and as an identifier saying that this crossword puzzle is specifically an "A" puzzle, due to the answer being all "A"s.

The title text is a play on a "type A" personality. The term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality is "Type A". In the context of the title text, this answer is a hint that the entire puzzle can be completed in a crossword-solving app by typing the letter A repeatedly.

===Across===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: auto"
! # !! Clue !! Explanation !! Squares
|-
| 1 || Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote || Reference to the {{w|Wilhelm scream}}, a widely used stock sound effect. || 10
|-
| 11 || {{w|IPv6}} address record || An IPv4 record is an "A" record; an IPv6 record is four times the length and is designated an "AAAA" record. || 4
|-
| 15 || "CIPHERTEXT" decrypted with Vigenère key "CIPHERTEXT" || A "{{w|Vigenère Cipher}}" translates the original text by the distance from A from the key, letter by letter. For instance, if the plaintext is "XK" and the key is "CD", the C shifts X 2 forward to become Z, and the D shifts K 3 forward to become N, yielding a ciphertext of "ZN". Since the ciphertext and the key are the same in this case, decryption just shifts all the letters back to A, akin to subtracting a number from itself and getting 0. || 10
|-
| 16 || 8mm diameter battery || An {{w|AAAA battery}} is a 1.5 V battery that measures 8.3 mm in diameter, 2.2 mm smaller than the more common AAA battery. || 4
|-
| 17 || "Warthog" attack aircraft || The {{w|A-10 Warthog}} is an attack aircraft. Here, A-10 has been turned into AAAAAAAAAA (ten As). || 10
|-
| 18 || '''E'''ve'''r'''y t'''h'''ir'''d''' le'''t'''te'''r''' in the word for "inability to visualize" || {{w|Aphantasia}} is the inability to experience mental images. Following the example of the pattern in the clue, taking the first letter and every third one after (rather than just every third letter) we determine that '''A'''ph'''a'''nt'''a'''si'''a''' gives us the word "aaaa". This clue is particularly mean because of how it instructs you to visualize the letters highlighted within the word in order to get the answer. || 4
|-
| 19 || An {{w|acrostic}} hidden on the first page of the dictionary || The first page of the dictionary (if you ignore the copyright page and the index) is the list of words starting with A. An acrostic of this page, taking the first letter of each line and arranging them in order, would just be a sequence of As. || 15
|-
| 21 || Default paper size in Europe || {{w|A4 paper}} (here written as AAAA) is the default size in Europe. At 210×297 mm, it is approximately 0.24″ narrower and 0.71″ longer than the 8.5″×11″ paper used in the United States, and due to having an aspect ratio of 1:sqrt(2), can be cut or folded in half to create two half-sized sheets (A5) with exactly the same aspect ratio. A4 is, itself, also a halving of A3 and of identical ratio, as is the case with all A-sizes higher and lower in the sequence up to A0, which has an area of exactly 1 square meter.|| 4
|-
| 22 || First four unary strings || A unary number system represents numbers using just one symbol. For example, 7 in unary would be 1111111. The first four strings in unary, if you used A as the first (and only) symbol, would be A, AA, AAA, AAAA. || 10
|-
| 23 || Lysine codon || {{w|Lysine}} is an amino acid, with codons AAA and AAG. || 3
|-
| 24 || 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution || [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-63/subpart-AAAAAAA?toc=1 "40 CFR Part 63"] refers to federal air pollutant regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations. The subpart for "asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing" is AAAAAAA (also part LLLLL). || 7
|-
| 25 || Top bond credit rating || The highest {{w|credit rating}} for bonds is AAA. || 3
|-
| 26 || Audi coupe || First of three Audi references. {{w|List_of_Audi_vehicles|Audi's car models}} range from A1 (subcompact hatchback) to A8 (full-size luxury sedan); the A5, the one referenced here, is a compact executive {{w|coupe}}. || 5
|-
| 27 || A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted || Two {{w|AAA_battery|AAA}} batteries, which are often used to power remote controls for domestic devices. These have been combined to give AAAAAA — "Inserted" is often a cryptic hint that one word should surround another, although such a cryptic clue would normally also contain a more direct clue (albeit ambiguously) to the full answer. || 6
|-
| 29 || Unofficial Howard Dean slogan || A reference to Howard Dean, an American Democrat who ran for the party's nomination in 2004. He famously [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0 yelled at a rally] in a way that was thought to be bizarre and which, it is thought, doomed his campaign. || 7
|-
| 32 || A 4.0 report card || A 4.0 GPA, at least {{w|Academic_grading_in_the_United_States|in the USA}}, is all As. This clue assumes seven classes. || 7
|-
| 33 || The "Harlem Globetrotters of baseball" (vowels only) || The {{w|Savannah Bananas}}, the vowels for whom are aaaaaa. The {{w|Harlem Globetrotters}} are an exhibition basketball team, with the Savannah Bananas following a similar formula in baseball. || 6
|-
| 34 || 2018 Kiefer song || "[https://genius.com/Kiefer-aaaaa-lyrics AAAAA]". This is the only five-letter song title in Kiefer's 2018 album ''Happysad''. || 5
|-
| 35 || Top Minor League tier || The top {{w|Minor League Baseball}} tier is AAA. || 3
|-
| 36 || Reply elicited by a dentist || With your mouth open at the Dentist, the only reply a dentist can elicit from a patient is AAAAAAA || 7
|-
| 38 || Anaa’s airport || {{w|Anaa}} is an atoll in the {{w|Tuamotu archipelago}} of {{w|French Polynesia}}. AAA is the {{w|IATA}} code for its airport. || 3
|-
| 41 || Macaulay Culkin’s review of aftershave || In the movie ''{{w|Home Alone}}'', Kevin (played by {{w|Macaulay Culkin}}) puts on his father's aftershave lotion. The eight-year-old boy is not used to the lotion's antiseptic and screams as the stinging sensation kicks in. || 10
|-
| 43 || Marketing agency trade grp. || The {{w|American Association of Advertising Agencies}}, also called the 4As (here AAAA). An abbreviated word in a clue, here "grp.", is a common way to signal that the answer also should also be written as its abbreviation. || 4
|-
| 44 || Soaring climax of Linda Eder’s ''Man of La Mancha'' || Refers to [https://youtu.be/BWP7l0OTXJI?t=130 the 18-second-long wordless passage in Eder's opus], or possibly the final high note in the song "The Impossible Dream". || 15
|-
| 46 || Military flight community org. || The {{w|Army Aviation Association of America}}, or AAAA. || 4
|-
| 47 || Iconic line from ''Tarzan'' || Tarzan has a famous {{w|Tarzan yell|war cry}} he shouts, usually when swinging from a vine. || 10
|-
| 48 || '''E'''v'''e'''r'''y''' o'''t'''h'''e'''r letter of Jimmy Wales’s birth state || The birth state of {{w|Jimmy Wales}}, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is Alabama. Taking every other letter of '''A'''l'''a'''b'''a'''m'''a''' gives "Aaaa". || 4
|-
| 49 || Warthog’s postscript after "They call me ''mister'' pig!" || Pumba in ''{{w|The Lion King}}'' yells "aaaaaaaaaa" while charging at the hyenas who insulted him. || 10
|-
| 50 || Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2'' || The call which Elsa hears in ''{{w|Frozen 2}}'' is a sequence of four notes which resemble the requiem music "{{w|Dies Irae#Music|Dies irae}}". The sequence is sung entirely with an open rounded vowel sound, or a soft "a" sound. || 4
|-
| 51 || Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run'' || In ''{{w|Run Lola Run}}'', Lola ({{w|Franka Potente}}) [https://youtu.be/OTSz1w-cuZM?si=2vc51WCWvn20Hjoo&t=116 screams loud enough to affect the outcome] of a roulette wheel where she has just bet all her money on Black 20. The scream could be transcribed as "AAAAAAAAAA" || 10
|}

===Down===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
! # !! Clue !! Explanation !! Squares
|-
| 1 || Game featuring "a reckless disregard for gravity" || ''{{w|AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity}}'' - notably the title is commonly extended in promotional material beyond 6 As. || 6
|-
| 2 || 1010101010101010101010102→16 || 10101010 10101010 10101010 in binary is equivalent to "AAAAAA" in hexadecimal. || 6
|-
| 3 || Google phone released July ’22 || The {{w|Pixel 6a}} was released in July 22. Stylized in this puzzle as "AAAAAA" ('A'×6) || 6
|-
| 4 || It’s five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce || Five times better than {{w|A1 steak sauce}} would be A5, stylized in this puzzle as AAAAA. || 5
|-
| 5 || ToHex(43690) || The decimal number 43690 converted to hexadecimal is AAAA. || 4
|-
| 6 || Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure'' || A drawn-out 'Aaaaahhhh' rising in pitch, from a song by Queen and David Bowie. || 15
|-
| 7 || Full-size Audi luxury sedan || Second of three Audi references. As mentioned previously, the A8 referenced here is their full-size luxury sedan. || 8
|-
| 8 || Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey || The "fast path" is just to select the first option over and over again. Usually the options are labeled A, B, C, and D (or more) - choosing the first option for every question would be answering entirely with As. || 7
|-
| 9 || 12356631 in base 26 || Randall is expressing base 26 using the letters of the alphabet with 1=A, in which case 1235663110 = AAAAAA26. (It's unclear how one would express the digit 026 this way.) || 6
|-
| 10 || Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus || A reference to the music video for Kirin J Callinan's song "{{w|Big Enough}}", which features rocker {{w|Jimmy Barnes}} in a cowboy hat screaming "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" while in the sky over mountain scenes. || 15
|-
| 11 || Ruby Rhod catchphrase || Ruby Rhod is a radio host in the film ''{{w|The Fifth Element}}''; he has a scene with a memorable scream. || 5
|-
| 12 || badbeef + 9efcebbb || In hexadecimal, badbeef and 9efcebbb add together to equal AAAAAAAA (195,935,983, 2,667,375,547, and 2,863,311,530 in decimal respectively). || 8
|-
| 13 || In Wet Leg’s ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing || In the song "{{w|Ur Mum}}" by {{w|Wet Leg}}, the bridge starts with "Okay, I've been practicing my longest and loudest scream", which is apparently eight As long. || 8
|-
| 14 || Refrain from Nora Reed bot || The "Endless Scream" bot on social media, made by Nora Reed, posts "AAAAAAAAAAA" (with or without an h) at varying lengths. || 8
|-
| 20 || Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith’s walls || In ''Mario'' games you typically use the A button to jump. In games where you don't press a button to move (e.g., games with a joystick), then the button presses required to ascend a vertical structure would probably all be A. This clue might have been inspired by the {{w|Pannenkoek2012#A-button challenge|A-Button Challenge}} / [https://ukikipedia.net/wiki/A_Button_Challenge A Button Challenge], which tallies the number of A presses needed to beat ''Super Mario 64''. Additionally, {{w|Minas Tirith}} is a fictional city in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' with seven concentric rings, each with a wall around it and higher than the last ring. Presumably, it takes seven jumps to get to the highest area of the city, so the answer is "AAAAAAA". || 7
|-
| 24 || Vermont historic route north from Bennington || {{w|Vermont Route 7A}}, or AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 26 || High-budget video game || A high-budget video game is usually referred to as a Triple-A game, or AAA. || 3
|-
| 28 || Unorthodox Tic-tac-toe win || {{w|Tic-tac-toe}} is usually won by getting either three Xs or three Os in a row, making XXX and OOO normal Tic-tac-toe wins. One could achieve a win of AAA by making the unorthodox choice of playing with the letter A instead of X or O. Alternatively, Randall is envisaging the grid as defined by rows 1, 2, 3, and columns A, B, C, so an AAA win would be simply playing in the first column each time - a strategy which should be obvious and easy to stop, even for young children who have not yet worked out that ''any'' route to winning can be blocked. || 3
|-
| 29 || String whose SHA-256 hash ends "…689510285e212385" || <code>printf AAAAAAAA <nowiki>|</nowiki> sha256sum</code> outputs <code>c34ab6abb7b2bb595bc25c3b388c872fd1d575819a8f55cc689510285e212385</code>.
Note that this 'clue' would be normally be ''particularly'' difficult, in isolation, as the nature of a {{w|hash function}} means that it is possible for multiple inputs to produce a given output, and that finding any of these (and definitely identifying ''all'' of them, to ensure you have the correct original) would require a {{w|brute-force attack}}; i.e. a test of all possible initial states to discover which of them might be viable candidates. Even more problematic is that we are only given a partial hash string, meaning we are possibly talking of a multiple of full hashes, each of them with a possible multiplicity of original plaintexts behind them. However, given the context of this puzzle, it's reasonable to guess that a sequence of 8 As might be the answer, and indeed its hash does match the clue given.
 The number of possible hashes in the clue is 1664/1616, i.e. 1648, or approximately 6x1054, although there really is no reason (aside from the fundamental impracticality) to try to solve this problem from each and every 'hash end'. Instead you would 'only' check every combination of 8 letters (presuming no digits, punctuation or whitespace would be inserted, that no "foreign"/accented characters are present and that uppercase is universally presumed, is 268; i.e. ~208 {{w|billion|short-scale billion}} possibilities) and discover which (one?) of these sufficiently matches the hash fragment given. Testing a hundred of these every second, it would take a little over 66 ''years'' to complete the task of checking every single possibility (rather than stopping at the first confirmed answer, which might well be the initial one in this particular case).
 In the context of a crossword such as this, however, you can significantly reduce this search by having established (or at least sufficiently narrowed down) the answers to the various across-clues which intersect with ever character of it (this form of crossword grid being of the {{w|Crossword#American-style crosswords|dense type}}, with no singly-clued spaces as with the more open lattice-types), reducing the necessary checks drastically. This could mean, having solved at least some of the perpendicular answers, that you have enough information to 'guess' at some likely answer, and then merely need to ''confirm'' that whatever guess(es) you make will resolve themselves into the clue-answer provided. (Much as you might with a more normally difficult clue, where you merely have to satisfy yourself that the surprise answer is at least justified as resulting from the original hint.)
| 8
|-
| 30 || Arnold’s remark to the Predator || A reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFYPVxHKdc this scene] from ''{{w|Predator (film)|Predator}}'', starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. || 8
|-
| 31 || The vowels in the fire salamander’s binomial name || The vowels in {{w|Salamandra salamandra}} are aaaaaaaa. || 8
|-
| 32 || Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line || The iconic scene in ''{{w|Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho}}'' is the shower scene, in which {{w|Janet Leigh}} gives a long piercing scream as she is murdered. This can be written as 8 As if one wishes. || 8
|-
| 34 || Seven 440Hz pulses || A sound with a frequency of 440 Hz is a middle "A" note. Seven such pulses would be AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 37 || Audi luxury sports sedan || Third of three Audi references. The A6, the one referenced here, is their executive car. Actually, the A7, their executive liftback sedan, would fit the prompt of "luxury sports sedan" better, but 37 only has room for six As. || 6
|-
| 38 || A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks || Eggs can be [https://www.saudereggs.com/blog/egg-grading-system/ "graded on a variety of aspects"], with grades B, A, or AA. Eggs with a reasonably firm yolk are graded A, so having half a dozen of them gives you AAAAAA eggs. || 6
|-
| 39 || 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad || A "{{w|multi-tap|multitap keyboard}}" is a text entry system for mobile phones. Most numbers are associated with three letters, and tapping the same number multiple times in rapid succession selects the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd letter. 2 is "A", 22 is "B", 222 is "C", 3 is "D", etc. 2-2-2-2-2-2 translates to "AAAAAA". (If pressed quickly enough, this input may accidentally wrap around the letter list twice and simply result in a "C".) || 6
|-
| 40 || .- .- .- .- .- .- || .- is {{w|Morse Code}} for A. It reads out as AAAAAA. || 6
|-
| 42 || Rating for China’s best tourist attractions || China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism provides ratings for many tourist attractions in China on a scale from A to AAAAA, with AAAAA being the best. Examples of well-known tourist attractions with the AAAAA rating include the {{w|Forbidden City}}, sections of the {{w|Great Wall of China}}, and the {{w|Terracotta Army}}. || 5
|-
| 43 || Standard drumstick size || 5A is a common, middle-range size for drumsticks (the sticks used to play drums, not the drumsticks that get eaten). Here, it's written as AAAAA. || 5
|-
| 45 || "The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain" rhyme scheme || An AAAA {{w|rhyme scheme}} means each of the four lines ends with the same sound. Furthermore, the sound in question is the standard vocalization of the letter A. {{w|The Rain in Spain}} is a song from the musical {{w|My Fair Lady}}. || 4
|}

==Transcript==
:[A square 15x15 crossword puzzle is shown. Only 21 of the 225 squares are black. The black squares are in a pattern that are 180 degree rotationally symmetrical. Three black squares down from the 11th column and similarly three black squares up from the 5th column. Three black squares out from the right in row 7 and then two more black squares diagonally up from the end. Similarly three black squares out from the left in row 9 with two more black squares diagonally down from the end. A single black square is three above the first black square on the diagonal going down to the right and similarly there is a black square three under the first of the diagonal squares going down to the left. (Row 6 column 12 and Row 10 column 4). Finally there are three black squares on a diagonal crossing over the central point by going up from the left through the central point (Row 8 column 8). There are numbers at the top of every column (except the one that is a black square) and similarly at the left edge of all rows (except the one that is a black square). There are also numbers at the bottom of every black segment (except the one that reaches the bottom) and all rows after black segments except the one that reaches the right edge. In total all numbers from 1 to 51 are written. They are written in reading order from 1 to 51.]
:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

:[Below the square there are two columns of clues for each number that belongs to across (rows) and to the right there is one column of clues for each number that belongs to down (columns). Both segments have an underlined and bold title above the clues. ]
:<big>'''Across'''</big>
:1. Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote
:11. IPv6 address record
:15. "CIPHERTEXT" decrypted with Vigenère key "CIPHERTEXT"
:16. 8mm diameter battery
:17. "Warthog" attack aircraft
:18. '''E'''ve'''r'''y t'''h'''ir'''d''' le'''t'''te'''r''' in the word for "inability to visualize"
:19. An acrostic hidden on the first page of the dictionary
:21. Default paper size in Europe
:22. First four unary strings
:23. Lysine codon
:24. 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution
:25. Top bond credit rating
:26. Audi coupe
:27. A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted
:29. Unofficial Howard Dean slogan
:32. A 4.0 report card
:33. The "Harlem Globetrotters of baseball" (vowels only)
:34. 2018 Kiefer song
:35. Top Minor League tier
:36. Reply elicited by a dentist
:38. ANAA's airport
:41. Macaulay Culkin's review of aftershave
:43. Marketing agency trade grp.
:44. Soaring climax of Linda Eder's ''Man of La Mancha''
:46. Military flight community org.
:47. Iconic line from ''Tarzan''
:48. '''E''''''v''''''e''''''r''''''y'''''' o''''''t''''''h''''''e''''''r''' letter of Jimmy Wales's birth state
:49. Warthog's postscript after "They call me ''mister'' pig!"
:50. Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2''
:51. Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run''

:<big>'''Down'''</big>
:1. Game featuring "a reckless disregard for gravity"
:2. 1010101010101010101010102→16
:3. Google phone released July '22
:4. It's five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce
:5. ToHex(43690)
:6. Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure''
:7. Full-size Audi luxury sedan
:8. Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey
:9. 12356631 in base 26
:10. Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus
:11. Ruby Rhod catchphrase
:12. badbeef + 9efcebbb
:13. In Wet Leg's ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing
:14. Refrain from Nora Reed bot
:20. Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith's walls
:24. Vermont historic route north from Bennington
:26. High-budget video game
:28. Unorthodox Tic-Tac-Toe win
:29. String whose SHA-256 hash ends "...689510285e212385"
:30. Arnold's remark to the Predator
:31. The vowels in the fire salamander's binomial name
:32. Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line
:34. Seven 440Hz pulses
:37. Audi luxury sports sedan
:38. A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks
:39. 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad
:40. .- .- .- .- .- .-
:42. Rating for China's best tourist attractions
:43. Standard drumstick size
:45. "The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain" rhyme scheme

==Trivia==
*This comic got a [[Header_text#A_Crossword_Puzzle|comic-specific header text]] after the first day it was up.
**This was because one of the comics Randall lists as one of those he enjoys, [https://www.buttersafe.com/ Buttersafe], had already posted a similar comic back in 2011: [https://www.buttersafe.com/2011/02/17/crosswords/ Crosswords].
**Randall had forgotten this, but now pays tribute to this, stating that he must have been accidentally inspired by that comic.
*[[User:Elfakyn|Elfakyn]] posted a link to a picture of the solved crossword puzzle in the [[Talk:2957:_A_Crossword_Puzzle#Solved_puzzle_picture|comments]] and allowed it to be included here:
[[File:2957_A-Crossword_Puzzle-Solved.png|500px|center]]
*All the black squares are in a symmetrical pattern, which is generally the case for crossword puzzles in the US and UK. See description of the pattern in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
*Crosswords have been mentioned previously in [[2896: Crossword Constructors]].
*Out of 60 clues in the puzzle, 10 are references to screaming or yelling, making the puzzle approximately 17% screams.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:A]]

3054: Scream Cipher

2025-07-27T12:20:54Z

2001:4450:8178:2200:5D26:DCAB:509F:A483:

{{comic
| number = 3054
| date = February 21, 2025
| title = Scream Cipher
| image = scream_cipher_2x.png
| imagesize = 287x416px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = AAAAAA A ÃA̧AȂA̦ ǍÅÂÃĀÁȂ AAAAAAA!
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|Cipher}} is a method of encryption, where characters, or sometimes words, are substituted for other characters in a set pattern, allowing for arbitrary strings to be enciphered using it. The complexity and strength of ciphers varies, from {{w|one-time pads}} and (historically) {{w|enigma machine|Enigma}} as stronger and more complex, to {{w|substitution ciphers}} as some of the weakest and least complex, where each character is simply given a set different symbol to represent it in the cipher.

This comic uses a substitution cipher, where all the letters of the English Alphabet are represented using the letter "A", with different {{w|diacritical marks}} to define the differences. See details about the 25 marks in the [[#Trivia|Trivia section]] below. This kind of cipher is often used on a recreational basis by children or casual enthusiasts, the similarity of the letters increasing the obscurity of the content and the skill or technology required for use, but there is also significant impracticality, as not only are substitution ciphers the easiest to break, but also the similarities in the letters do make the cipher hard to read and easy to misread, and the detail in the diacritical marks makes it easy to draw the "A"s incorrectly or ambiguously, potentially leading to [[3003: Sandwich Helix|part of the message being lost]]. This was our experience in the comments section of this very article, where one person implemented translator functions alongside another person crafting a message that failed to translate. However, the logic behind the code is mostly visual similarity, and if attentive to connecting concepts between the Latin and scream cipher alphabet, it could be quickly learned and translated in a glance.

It's named "Scream Cipher" (as a pun on {{w|stream cipher}}s, commonly used in computing) because the written form of a scream is often a long string of As, possibly with some other characters at the beginning or the end (and often an exclamation point for emphasis), such as "Yyaaaaaww!” or “Aaaaaah!" or "Aaaaaaagh!". The name may or may not be a reference to IBM's {{w|Scream_(cipher)|Scream cipher}} published in 2002.

In the comic, [[Cueball]] texts the ciphered version for the plaintext "HELLO", and [[Megan]] responds with that for "HI". The title text deciphers to "AAAAAA A SCARY MONSTER AAAAAAA!". Another comic featuring all "A"s was [[2957: A Crossword Puzzle]]. Diacritics was also the main theme in [[1647: Diacritics]], was previously also mentioned in [[1209: Encoding]] and in [[1857: Emoji Movie]], where they have an important part of the pun, and is mentioned in one point of the list in [[1957: 2018 CVE List]].

===Worked example===
Say we want to encode "Scream" in the Scream Cipher. First we would need to split out word into the letters, so S, C, R, E, A, M. The first letter is S, so if we go to S in the table S is shown to become to Ã, C similarly becomes A̧, R becomes Ȃ, E corresponds to Á, A is the main letter so A is unchanged to A, and M becomes Ǎ. If we then write them again in order, we find SCREAM becomes ÃA̧ȂÁAǍ. To turn cipher text back into normal text, the process is repeated in reverse. To translate A̧ẢA̯A̰ÁȂ, we go to A̧ in the table and find A̧ becomes C. Ả similarly becomes I, A̯ becomes P, A̰ becomes H, Á becomes E, and Ȃ becomes R. If we write the letters in order, we see that A̧ẢA̯A̰ÁȂ becomes CIPHER.

Text can be automatically translated using any of the following community implimentations:
* The first known translator hosted on [https://github.com/Reginald-Gillespie/ScreamCipher GitHub Pages].
* A more bare-bones [https://github.com/matthewpwatkins/scream-cipher/ implementation] hosted on netlify.
* A terminal [https://github.com/klanderfri/ScreamCipher/ implementation].

==Transcript==
:[The top of the panel has the 26 letters of the alphabet written, each followed by a hyphen and the letter "A" with a unique diacritical mark for each. "A - A" is the only letter in the top row, and the only one where that A on the right side doesn't have a diacritic. The next 25 is sorted in a 5 by 5 grid, with the first five letters after A in the first column, then the next 5 in the second column and so on:]
:{|
|A - A
|-
|B - Ȧ
|G - A̋
|L - Ă
|Q - A̤
|V - À
|-
|C - A̧
|H - A̰
|M - Ǎ
|R - Ȃ
|W - Ȁ
|-
|D - A̱
|I - Ả
|N - Â
|S - Ã
|X - A̽
|-
|E - Á
|J - A̓
|O - Å
|T - Ā
|Y - A̦
|-
|F - A̮
|K - Ạ
|P - A̯
|U - Ä
|Z - Ⱥ
|}
:[Beneath these letters we see Cueball and Megan typing on their phones, Cueball with two hands and Megan with one hand, small lines indicating the movement of their hands. Cueball and Megan is turned towards each other but with more separation than if they were engaged in normal discussion. They both look down at their phones not towards each other. The text they type is shown above their phone with a line starting in a starburst at the top of their phones going up the to the text.]
:Cueball's phone: A̰ÁĂĂÅ
:Megan's phone: A̰Ả

:[Caption below the panel:]
:In the '''''Scream Cipher''''', messages consist of all As, with different letters distinguished using diacritics.

==Trivia==
The {{w|Unicode}} names of the characters in the cipher are as follows:

{|class="wikitable"
! colspan=2 | Input !! colspan=3 | Substitution
|-
! Plain !! Unicode description !! Cipher !! Unicode description(s) !! Notes
|-
| A || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A || {{w|A}} || '''U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A || Unadorned base character
|-
| B || U+0042 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B || {{w|Ȧ}} || '''U+0226 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH {{w|Dot (diacritic)|DOT}} ABOVE || A with one dot over it, which can indicate a single change in math and science. Phonetic symbol for low central vowel.
|-
| C || U+0043 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C || A̧ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+0327 {{w|Combining Diacritical Marks|COMBINING}} {{w|Cedilla|CEDILLA}}''' || Cedilla is often attached to a 'c', as in "français", as well as starting with 'c' itself. Appears similar to Ą (U+0104, A with ogonek) used in many language to denote a nasal a sound and in Polish to denote a nasal o sound, however the two can be distinguished by the direction of the diacritic.
|-
| D || U+0044 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D || A̱ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+0331 COMBINING MACRON BELOW''' || Some see the lower bar as similar to the lower edge of the D.
|-
| E || U+0045 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E || {{w|Á}} || '''U+00C1 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH ACUTE || Many words have an acute e, as in "fiancé".
|-
| F || U+0046 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER F || A̮ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+032E COMBINING BREVE BELOW''' || The breve adds a second line to the A, much like how an F has two lines.
|-
| G || U+0047 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER G || A̋ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+030B COMBINING {{w|Double acute accent|DOUBLE ACUTE}} ACCENT''' || Adds two acutes to a letter.
|-
| H || U+0048 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER H || A̰ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+0330 COMBINING TILDE BELOW''' || The low tilde has horizontal ink in the middle that moves vertical toward the sides, like an H.
|-
| I || U+0049 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I || {{w|Ả}} || '''U+1EA2 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH HOOK ABOVE || The hook almost looks like half of a circle, and the lowercase letter I (i) has a circular shape (known as a tittle) above it.
|-
| J || U+004A LATIN CAPITAL LETTER J || A̓ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+0313 COMBINING COMMA ABOVE''' || The comma symbol looks like a small letter 'J' in some fonts
|-
| K || U+004B LATIN CAPITAL LETTER K || Ạ || '''U+1EA0 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH DOT BELOW || 
|-
| L || U+004C LATIN CAPITAL LETTER L || {{w|Ă}} || '''U+0102 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH {{w|Breve|BREVE}} ||
|-
| M || U+004D LATIN CAPITAL LETTER M || Ǎ || '''U+01CD LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH {{w|caron|CARON}} || The top-centered caron is the same shape as the top center of the M.
|-
| N || U+004E LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N || {{w|Â}} || '''U+00C2 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX || The lowercase letter 'n' also looks like a circumflex in some scripts. The circumflex peak mirrors the peak at the top left of the N.
|-
| O || U+004F LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O || {{w|Å}} || '''U+00C5 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE || The symbol contains the letter 'O'. In Scandinavian languages like Swedish, this combination of 'O' and 'A' is a letter unto itself, mostly used in words where a long 'a' sound has acquired a more 'o'-like sound.
|-
| P || U+0050 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER P || A̯ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+032F COMBINING INVERTED BREVE BELOW''' || Refer to R: P also has a curve at the top center, but is encoded with one below.
|-
| Q || U+0051 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Q || A̤ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+0324 COMBINING DIAERESIS BELOW''' || The two dots below the baseline reflect the two times Randall's Q touch the baseline. In the Orthographies of Spanish, Catalan, French and Galician, the grapheme 'qu' normally represents a single sound, before vowels 'e' and 'i'. In the few exceptions where the 'u' is pronounced, a diaeresis is added to it.
|-
| R || U+0052 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER R || Ȃ || '''U+0202 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH {{w|Inverted breve|INVERTED BREVE}} ||
The inverted centered top curve mirrors the curve at the top center of an R.
|-
| S || U+0053 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER S || {{w|Ã}} || '''U+00C3 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH TILDE || Tilde looks like a sideways 'S'.
|-
| T || U+0054 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER T || {{w|Ā}} || '''U+0100 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH {{w|Macron (diacritic)|MACRON}} || The macron looks like the top horizontal line in the letter 'T'
|-
| U || U+0055 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U || {{w|Ä}} || '''U+00C4 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS || The {{wiktionary|trema#Noun|two dot mark}} is used in many words in languages like German, Finnish and Swedish, with 'Ä' used as in "{{w|Die_Ärzte|Ärzte}}". As a true {{wiktionary|diaeresis#Usage notes|diaresis}}, it often indicates a vowel that is distinct from neighbouring vowels, rather than part of a {{w|Digraph (orthography)|digraph}} or longer phoneme. As a modifier of the vowel itself, as with the germanic/nordic languages, it is more properly called an 'umlaut' and may change a back vowel into a front vowel, though the two terms are often used interchangably.
|-
| V || U+0056 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER V || {{w|À}} || '''U+00C0 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH GRAVE || Grave has the letter 'V' in it, as well as being half of its shape.
|-
| W || U+0057 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER W || Ȁ || '''U+0200 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH {{w|Double grave accent|DOUBLE GRAVE}} || The letter 'W' is visually two copies of the letter 'V'
|-
| X || U+0058 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER X || A̽ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+033D COMBINING X ABOVE''' || The symbol contains the letter 'X'.
|-
| Y || U+0059 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y || A̦ || U+0041 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, '''U+0326 COMBINING COMMA BELOW''' || The comma mimics the vertical "tail" of the Y.
|-
| Z || U+005A LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Z || {{w|Saanich_dialect#Writing_system|Ⱥ}} || '''U+023A LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH STROKE || The stroke through the letter A resembles the diagonal stroke of a capital "Z"
|}

{{comic discussion}}

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3120: Geologic Periods

2025-07-27T12:15:04Z

2001:4450:8178:2200:5D26:DCAB:509F:A483:

{{comic
| number = 3120
| date = July 25, 2025
| title = Geologic Periods
| image = geologic_periods_2x.png
| imagesize = 611x557px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Geologists claim it's because the earlier Cenozoic used to be called the Tertiary, but that's just a ruse to hide the secret third geologic period, between the Neogene and the Quaternary, that they won't tell us about.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|
*The article is missing a {{w|lead paragraph}}.

*This page was created by a Cretaceous raptor.

*The title text is missing}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Period
!Date range ({{abbr|{{w|Million years ago|MYA}}|Millions of years ago}})
!Randall's favorite part
!Randall's biggest complaint
!Explanation
|-
! Precambrian
|4500⁠–⁠539
|Life develops
|Snowball Earth episodes
|The {{w|Precambrian}} (italicized in the comic since it's not a {{w|Period (geology)|geologic period}}) is the first 88% of Earth's history, including the time 4.1 to 3.4 billion years ago when life on Earth began. The {{w|Snowball Earth}} hypothesis says that during some time spans in the past, Earth became nearly or entirely frozen, with no liquid water on the surface. It's related to the idea of the {{w|Greenhouse_and_icehouse_Earth#Icehouse_Earth|icehouse Earth}}, times when the planet fluctuates between glacial and interglacial periods (such as now).
|-
! {{w|Cambrian}}
|539⁠–⁠487
|Trilobites!
|Evolution could stand to calm down a little
|The {{w|Cambrian explosion}} was a sudden radiation of complex life forms when nearly all important animal phyla, or precursors to them, appeared. {{w|Trilobite|Trilobites}}, a lineage of {{w|Arthropod|arthropods}} (related to present-day insects and spiders), was one of the groups that appeared during the Cambrian. Fossil trilobite specimens are abundant and charismatic, and attract the attention of amateur and professional enthusiasts.
|-
! {{w|Ordovician}}
|487⁠–⁠443
|Earth might have had rings
|Scary volcanic eruption in North America
|Due to the non-random location of impact of one type of meteorite, {{w|Rings_of_Earth|it is proposed}} that those have formed a planetary ring system around Earth before colliding with it. The volcanic eruption(s) that deposited the {{w|Deicke_and_Millbrig_bentonite_layers|Deicke and Millbrig ashfall layers}} during the Late Ordovician are thought to have been among the largest in the last 600 million years of Earth history. The volcano(es) involved may have been among those formed during the mountain-building event in what is now northeastern North America that is called the {{w|Taconic_orogeny|Taconic orogeny}}.
|-
! {{w|Silurian}}
|443⁠–⁠420
|First land animals
|Earth's newfound mold problem
|Green plants first became established on land during the Ordovician period, after having evolved ways to protect themselves from desiccation and ultraviolet light. During the Silurian, land animals (mostly arthropods resembling {{w|Kampecaris|millipedes}}) followed the plants and mycelial fungi ("mold") evolved to attack them and decompose their remains.
|-
! {{w|Devonian}}
|420⁠–⁠359
|Big mountains in Boston
|Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was ''armor''
|A series of mountain-building events, during the middle to late Devonian, that are collectively termed the {{w|Acadian orogeny}} resulted in a section of the present-day Appalachian Range from the Canadian maritimes to the Carolinas, including what is now the Boston area of Massachusetts. (At the time, Boston was in the tropics, just south of the equator.) {{w|Placoderm}} fishes, which were common in but did not survive the Devonian, were characterized by plates of {{w|Dermal_bone|dermal bone}} in the head and thoracic portions of the body. Not all placoderms were giants, or apex predators. The best guess as to why placoderm fishes had these bony plates is that they helped protect the fishes from predation by other placoderms.
|-
! {{w|Carboniferous}}
|359⁠–⁠299
|Cool forests
|Bugs too big
|The {{w|Carboniferous#Terrestrial_invertebrates|'bugs' in this period}} included the largest-ever known land invertebrate, a {{w|Arthropleura|2.6 m (8.5 ft) millipede-like animal}}; the largest-ever known flying insect, resembling a {{w|Meganeura|dragonfly with a wingspan of ~75 cm (30 in)}}; and a {{w|Pulmonoscorpius|70 cm (2 ft 4 in) scorpion}}.
|-
! {{w|Permian}}
|299⁠–⁠252
|Pangea
|Google "The Great Dying"
|{{w|Pangaea}} was the most recent supercontinent containing nearly all of Earth's landmass. The Great Dying, more formally known as the {{w|Permian-Triassic extinction event}}, occurred at the end of the Permian and is the most severe of Earth's {{w|Extinction_event#The_"Big_Five"_mass_extinctions|'Big Five' mass extinction events}}. In it, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species were wiped out.
|-
! {{w|Triassic}}
|252⁠–⁠201
|Tanystropheus
|Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan
|{{w|Tanystropheus}} was a basal archosaur (not a dinosaur) with a disproportionally long neck. {{w|Manicouagan Reservoir}} is a ring-shaped lake, the remains of the crater caused by a 5 km (3 mi) asteroid hitting {{w|Quebec}}.
|-
! {{w|Jurassic}}
|201⁠–⁠143
|Birds
|Parasitoid wasps
|Birds are cool.{{Citation needed}} Parasitoid wasps are not; their reproduction cycle is such a grisly process that it caused a {{w|Ichneumonidae#Darwin_and_the_Ichneumonidae|crisis of faith}} among 19th-century European scholars.
|-
! {{w|Cretaceous}}
|143⁠–⁠66
|Raptors
|Raptors
|[[:Category:Velociraptors|Raptors]]
|-
! {{w|Paleogene}}
|66⁠–⁠23
|Pretty horseys!!!
|Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum
|The {{w|Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum}} was a time where the global average temperature rose by around 5-8 °C in a relatively short period of time.
|-
! {{w|Neogene}}
|23⁠–⁠2.6
|Forests of Dracaena dragonblood trees
|Zanclean flood
|{{w|Dracaena draco}} and {{w|Dracaena cinnabari}} trees are a source of {{w|dragon's blood}}, a naturally occurring bright red resin with uses including as a varnish and a dye.
The {{w|Zanclean flood}} is theorized to be the flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea.
|-
! {{w|Quaternary}}
|2.6⁠–⁠present
|Burrito invented
|Whoever picked the name for the third period of the Cenozoic
|Randall jokes that, in the last 2.6 million years, his favorite moment was the invention of the {{w|burrito}}, rather than many other, much more significant discoveries. The precise origin of the burrito is not known, but the {{w|Maya civilization}} used to make food resembling burritos as early as 1500 BC.
The third period of the {{w|Cenozoic}} Era is the Quaternary era, named by Jules Desnoyers in 1829. This naming is controversial; the {{w|International Commission on Stratigraphy}} is proposing to abolish it.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Period
!Date range ({{abbr|{{w|Million years ago|MYA}}|Millions of years ago}})
!Randall's favorite part
!Randall's biggest complaint
!Explanation
|-
! Precambrian
|4500⁠–⁠539
|Life develops
|Snowball Earth episodes
|The {{w|Precambrian}} (italicized in the comic since it's not a {{w|Period (geology)|geologic period}}) is the first 88% of Earth's history, including the time 4.1 to 3.4 billion years ago when life on Earth began. The {{w|Snowball Earth}} hypothesis says that during some time spans in the past, Earth became nearly or entirely frozen, with no liquid water on the surface. It's related to the idea of the {{w|Greenhouse_and_icehouse_Earth#Icehouse_Earth|icehouse Earth}}, times when the planet fluctuates between glacial and interglacial periods (such as now).
|-
! {{w|Cambrian}}
|539⁠–⁠487
|Trilobites!
|Evolution could stand to calm down a little
|The {{w|Cambrian explosion}} was a sudden radiation of complex life forms when nearly all important animal phyla, or precursors to them, appeared. {{w|Trilobite|Trilobites}}, a lineage of {{w|Arthropod|arthropods}} (related to present-day insects and spiders), was one of the groups that appeared during the Cambrian. Fossil trilobite specimens are abundant and charismatic, and attract the attention of amateur and professional enthusiasts.
|-
! {{w|Ordovician}}
|487⁠–⁠443
|Earth might have had rings
|Scary volcanic eruption in North America
|Due to the non-random location of impact of one type of meteorite, {{w|Rings_of_Earth|it is proposed}} that those have formed a planetary ring system around Earth before colliding with it. The volcanic eruption(s) that deposited the {{w|Deicke_and_Millbrig_bentonite_layers|Deicke and Millbrig ashfall layers}} during the Late Ordovician are thought to have been among the largest in the last 600 million years of Earth history. The volcano(es) involved may have been among those formed during the mountain-building event in what is now northeastern North America that is called the {{w|Taconic_orogeny|Taconic orogeny}}.
|-
! {{w|Silurian}}
|443⁠–⁠420
|First land animals
|Earth's newfound mold problem
|Green plants first became established on land during the Ordovician period, after having evolved ways to protect themselves from desiccation and ultraviolet light. During the Silurian, land animals (mostly arthropods resembling {{w|Kampecaris|millipedes}}) followed the plants and mycelial fungi ("mold") evolved to attack them and decompose their remains.
|-
! {{w|Devonian}}
|420⁠–⁠359
|Big mountains in Boston
|Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was ''armor''
|A series of mountain-building events, during the middle to late Devonian, that are collectively termed the {{w|Acadian orogeny}} resulted in a section of the present-day Appalachian Range from the Canadian maritimes to the Carolinas, including what is now the Boston area of Massachusetts. (At the time, Boston was in the tropics, just south of the equator.) {{w|Placoderm}} fishes, which were common in but did not survive the Devonian, were characterized by plates of {{w|Dermal_bone|dermal bone}} in the head and thoracic portions of the body. Not all placoderms were giants, or apex predators. The best guess as to why placoderm fishes had these bony plates is that they helped protect the fishes from predation by other placoderms.
|-
! {{w|Carboniferous}}
|359⁠–⁠299
|Cool forests
|Bugs too big
|The {{w|Carboniferous#Terrestrial_invertebrates|'bugs' in this period}} included the largest-ever known land invertebrate, a {{w|Arthropleura|2.6 m (8.5 ft) millipede-like animal}}; the largest-ever known flying insect, resembling a {{w|Meganeura|dragonfly with a wingspan of ~75 cm (30 in)}}; and a {{w|Pulmonoscorpius|70 cm (2 ft 4 in) scorpion}}.
|-
! {{w|Permian}}
|299⁠–⁠252
|Pangea
|Google "The Great Dying"
|{{w|Pangaea}} was the most recent supercontinent containing nearly all of Earth's landmass. The Great Dying, more formally known as the {{w|Permian-Triassic extinction event}}, occurred at the end of the Permian and is the most severe of Earth's {{w|Extinction_event#The_"Big_Five"_mass_extinctions|'Big Five' mass extinction events}}. In it, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species were wiped out.
|-
! {{w|Triassic}}
|252⁠–⁠201
|Tanystropheus
|Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan
|{{w|Tanystropheus}} was a basal archosaur (not a dinosaur) with a disproportionally long neck. {{w|Manicouagan Reservoir}} is a ring-shaped lake, the remains of the crater caused by a 5 km (3 mi) asteroid hitting {{w|Quebec}}.
|-
! {{w|Jurassic}}
|201⁠–⁠143
|Birds
|Parasitoid wasps
|Birds are cool.{{Citation needed}} Parasitoid wasps are not; their reproduction cycle is such a grisly process that it caused a {{w|Ichneumonidae#Darwin_and_the_Ichneumonidae|crisis of faith}} among 19th-century European scholars.
|-
! {{w|Cretaceous}}
|143⁠–⁠66
|Raptors
|Raptors
|[[:Category:Velociraptors|Raptors]]
|-
! {{w|Paleogene}}
|66⁠–⁠23
|Pretty horseys!!!
|Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum
|The {{w|Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum}} was a time where the global average temperature rose by around 5-8 °C in a relatively short period of time.
|-
! {{w|Neogene}}
|23⁠–⁠2.6
|Forests of Dracaena dragonblood trees
|Zanclean flood
|{{w|Dracaena draco}} and {{w|Dracaena cinnabari}} trees are a source of {{w|dragon's blood}}, a naturally occurring bright red resin with uses including as a varnish and a dye.
The {{w|Zanclean flood}} is theorized to be the flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea.
|-
! {{w|Quaternary}}
|2.6⁠–⁠present
|Burrito invented
|Whoever picked the name for the third period of the Cenozoic
|Randall jokes that, in the last 2.6 million years, his favorite moment was the invention of the {{w|burrito}}, rather than many other, much more significant discoveries. The precise origin of the burrito is not known, but the {{w|Maya civilization}} used to make food resembling burritos as early as 1500 BC.
The third period of the {{w|Cenozoic}} Era is the Quaternary era, named by Jules Desnoyers in 1829. This naming is controversial; the {{w|International Commission on Stratigraphy}} is proposing to abolish it.
|}

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