lasherism n.
[Harvard] A program that solves a standard problem (such as
the Eight Queens puzzle or implementing the life algorithm) in a deliberately nonstandard
way. Distinguished from a crock or
kluge by the fact that the programmer
did it on purpose as a mental exercise. Such constructions are
quite popular in exercises such as the Obfuscated C Contest, and
occasionally in retrocomputing. Lew Lasher was a
student at Harvard around 1980 who became notorious for such
behavior.