This week, we have…

• A fun fact inspired by Chronogram

• Answers to last week's games

• Reader survey

Alexander Hamilton didn’t rap but he did play dirty

Drama isn't new to American politics – in fact, the nation's earliest leaders made today's Twitter feuds look tame by comparison. The most explosive rivalry involved the first Secretary of the Treasury and a sitting Vice President who literally tried to kill each other.

Alexander Hamilton (Chronogram guest #815) and Aaron Burr's animosity reached its peak in 1804 when their war of words escalated to an actual duel. Hamilton had spent years publicly questioning Burr's character, calling him "a dangerous man" who shouldn't be trusted with public office. When Burr demanded satisfaction for these insults, Hamilton accepted the challenge despite opposing duelling on moral grounds.

But Hamilton wasn't the only founder throwing verbal punches. Thomas Jefferson hired a journalist named James Callender to write scandalous attacks on Hamilton, accusing him of financial corruption and adultery. When Callender later turned on Jefferson and revealed his relationship with Sally Hemings, the mudslinging reached new heights.

John Adams and Hamilton's feud was equally bitter. Adams called Hamilton "the bastard brat of a Scotch pedlar," while Hamilton published a scathing pamphlet questioning Adams's fitness for office, describing him as having "great and intrinsic defects in his character."

These weren't private disagreements – they played out in newspapers, pamphlets, and public letters. The founders weaponized the press against each other with a viciousness that would make modern political consultants blush. Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical "Hamilton" dramatized these feuds through rap battles and heated exchanges, but the real-life versions were arguably even more savage. Their personal vendettas shaped early American politics and proved that even the most revered leaders were remarkably human in their petty rivalries.

Learn more: National Park Service, Monticello Encyclopedia, University of Michigan Evans Collection

Trivia

Answers to last week's games

Monday, June 23 to Sunday, June 29.

Linxicon

The following are the shortest paths from last week:

• #496 choose → considers → interprets → interpretation

• #497 everywhere → locate → locater → researcher → scholar

• #498 watch → watchful → perceptive → personality

• #499 first → third → three → few → somewhat

• #500 cost → money → terrorism → terrorist

• #501 shrug → shrugging → shoulder → organ → internal → external

• #502 solar → astronomy → astrology → relationship → relate

• #503 Play now!

Elemingle

• #152 Gadolinium

• #153 Tellurium

• #154 Scandium

• #155 Americium

• #156 Mercury

• #157 Tungsten

• #158 Holmium

• #159 Play now!

Forgeous

Play Forgeous for June 30