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by Andrew Lin and Emily Morgan

Answers, in specified order:

1. CARPAL
2. THE SOUTH
3. STERNO
4. BYLINE
5. SO CLOSE
6. BUFFOON
7. VESTIGE

Each answer can be parsed uniquely into symbols from the periodic table. Furthermore, each set of symbols comes exclusively from one row (period) or column (group), with one exception:

1. CARPAL (C Ar P Al, row 3 + C)
2. THE SOUTH (Th Es O U Th, actinides + O)
3. STERNO (S Te Rn O, group VIA + Rn)
4. BYLINE (B Y Li Ne, row 2 + Y)
5. SO CLOSE (S O Cl O Se, group VIA + Cl)
6. BUFFOON (B U F F O O N, row 2 + U)
7. VESTIGE (V Es Ti Ge, row 4 + Es)

Read the exceptions to find an answer befitting a mash-up of Oklaholma and Sherlock Holmes: C O Rn Y Cl U Es = CORNY CLUES.