cackling egg-timer

Boiling eggs is one of the more delicate of culinary occupations, especially since the ideal consistency of a boiled egg can be the subject of quite heated discussions: the hard-boiled spurn soft hearts, and the difference is a matter of minutes. It is not surprising, therefore, that some fertile brain in the distant past came up with that highly practical invention: the egg-timer. Of recent years, electronics engineers have devoted a surprising amount of their time, ingenuity and eggspertise into the quest for an electronic version, and circuits are published at regular intervals. However, to the best of our knowledge, the circuit presented here is the first to cackle loudly when the timing period has elapsed!