Mentions of hugs/cuddling are creepy/distasteful in large part because of their link to neckbeards.

I'm gonna start telling my female friends who throw massage parties and ask me to snuggle with them neckbeards. =)

Saying "just looking for something physical" is just setting the expectations

you seem much more likely to want at least SOME connection with someone (either intellectual or emotional)

Right. So how do you suggest one find that

a super fine line

of seeking short-term physical affection that is still not a sexual hookup with someone with whom they have intellectual and emotional resonance?

The problem I feel with

more than just a hook-up

implies that I want casual sex AND something in addition on top of that, whereas I don't really even want to mess with the sex part. Do you have any ideas on how to word that?

Google it

I did: "a man who is socially inept and physically unappealing, especially one who has an obsessive interest in computing." Not easily inferred from that bizarro meme subreddit.

Thanks again for all the detailed input!