[PapaBear3625]

“Boffin” roughly equivalates to “nerd,” in the Queen’s English.

Boffin is more accurately "a very smart technical expert", a scientist or engineer, without the "socially awkward" connotation of "nerd".

[1rudeboy]

But! If the Mail wished to use the term “technical expert,” or some such permutation, it would’ve done so. Thus follows the “nerd” implication.