DIRECTORY (Click on date/title to view complete post):
11.08.09 -- The Accidental Tourist -- the Acrostic...
10.25.09 -- Ghouls -- the Acrostic
10.11.09 -- Biotechnology -- the Acrostic
09.27.09 -- Mytacism -- the Acrostic
09.13.09 -- A Piece of My Mind -- the Acrostic
08.30.09 -- Farewell to New Orleans -- the Acrostic
07.19.09 -- Manners From Heaven -- the Acrostic07.05.09 -- Baghdad Sketches -- the Acrostic
06.21.09 -- Electronic Acrostic
06.07.08 -- Beam Me Up! -- the Acrostic
05.24.09 -- Discovery -- the Acrostic
05.10.09 -- Mother -- the Acrostic
04.26.09 -- Central Park in the Dark -- the Acrostic
04.12.09 -- Lullaby -- the Acrostic
03.29.09 -- Crash! -- the Acrostic
03.15.09 -- Are You Somebody? -- the Acrostic
03.01.09 -- Traffic -- the Acrostic
02.15.09 -- Smile! -- the Acrostic01.25.09 -- Extraction -- the Acrostic
01.18.09 -- Americans -- the Acrostic
01.04.09 -- Infinity -- the Acrostic
12.21.08 -- Blank -- the Acrostic
12.07.08 -- Dust Thou Art... -- the Acrostic
11.23.08 -- 杂碎 -- the Acrostic
11.09.08 -- In Search of Paradise -- the Acrostic
10.12.08 -- Columbus Day -- the Acrostic
09.28.08 -- Vanity -- the Acrostic 09.14.08 -- Wilde, the Acrostic
08.31.08 -- The First Lady of the Theatre -- the Acrostic
08.17.08 -- Winner! -- the Acrostic
08.03.08 -- A Writer's Notebook -- the Acrostic
07.20.08 -- Cryptology -- the Acrostic
07.06.08 -- Edna Ferber -- the Acrostic06.22.08 -- Chess -- the Acrostic
06.08.08 -- The Darwin Awards -- the Acrostic
05.25.08 -- In England -- The Acrostic
05.11.08 -- Into the Rose Garden -- the Acrostic
04.27.08 -- Dog Show -- the Acrostic
04.13.08 -- Rules for Staying Young -- the Acrostic03.30.08 -- Fool -- the Acrostic
03.16.08 -- Solitaire -- the Acrostic
03.02.08 -- Hieroglyphics and Acrostics
02.17.08 -- Say "Cheese!" -- the Acrostic
02.03.08 -- Mardi Gras -- the Acrostic
01.20.08 -- In a Word... -- the Acrostic01.06.08 -- Cross-Examination -- the Acrostic
Sunday, January 6, 2008
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
“Never, never, never, on cross-examination ask a question you don’t already know the answer to, was a tenet I absorbed with my baby-food. Do it, and you’ll often get an answer you don’t want, an answer that might wreck your case.” -- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (J. B. Lippincott Co. 1960, page 188.)The defined words: A. Traditional preparation in a casserole or hot pot (2 wds.), LAMBSTEW; B. Moving with the jet stream, EASTBOUND; C. All fired up, gung-ho, ENTHUSED; D. Film starring a pull-string cowboy (2 wds.), TOYSTORY; E. Beaten by brainwork, OUTFOXED; F. Sweaters, socks, bootees, etc., KNITWEAR; G. Daughter in a Spanish or Portuguese royal family, INFANTA; H. Mechanical replacement for a flock of sheep? (2 wds.), LAWNMOWER; I. Utterly destroy, ravage (2 wds.), LAYWASTE; J. Recipient of a transfer of rights or property, ASSIGNEE; K. Vine also called “creeping Jenny”, MONEYWORT; L. Oft-covered 1963 Drifters hit about New York (2 wds.), ONBROADWAY; M. Subject of interest to a cosmogonist, CREATION; N. Site of 1974’s Ali/Foreman Rumble in the Jungle, KINSHASA; O. Shown exactly as said (2 wds.), INQUOTES; P. Highly publicized dud, NONEVENT; Q. Stop functioning in a dramatic way (2 wds.), GOHAYWIRE; R. Marina, BOATYARD; S. Desk accessory for Bartlesby the Scrivener, INKSTAND; T. Make an overture (2 wds.), REACHOUT; U. Melancholic, woebegone, DOWNCAST.
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12.23.07 -- Cosmos -- the Acrostic
Sunday, December 23, 2007
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
A little ham on wry for the Holiday -- the quote:HOW DID THE COSMOS ORIGINATE HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN AROUND DID IT BEGIN WITH AN EXPLOSION OR BY THE WORD OF GOD IF THE LATTER COULD HE NOT HAVE BEGUN IT TWO WEEKS EARLIER TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOME OF THE WARMER WEATHER.
The author’s name and the title of the work:
WOODY ALLEN SIDE EFFECTS
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12.09.07 -- Rara Avis -- the Acrostic
Sunday, December 9, 2007
ACROSTIC by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
A rare treat of poets and poetry in various states of humor lavishes a lusty luxuriance of long-lost laughter upon this excellent Sunday acrostic. Included in the delightful construction of sense and nonsense are the poets, T. S. Eliot, Edward Lear, Robert Frost, Lewis Carroll, the Rig Veda, a touch of Shakespeare, and a hint of a Limerick. The quotation as it appears in the acrostic:EDWARD LEARS NONSENSE IS NOT VACUITY OF SENSE IT IS PARODY OF SENSE THE JUMBLIES IS A POEM OF ADVENTURE AND NOSTALGIA THE YONGHY-BONGHY-BO AND THE DONG WITH A LUMINOUS NOSE ARE OF UNREQUITED PASSION BLUES IN FACT.
The author and the work are T S ELIOT THE MUSIC OF POETRY
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11.25.07 -- BULL -- the Acrostic
Sunday, November25, 2007
ACROSTIC Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
Today’s acrostic features a quotation from Personal Pleasures, a collection of essays by Rose Macaulay.The quotation as it appears in the acrostic:
HOW AGREEABLE TO WATCH FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HIGH STILE THIS MIGHTY BULL SNORTING CHAMPING PAWING THE EARTH LASTING THE TAIL BREATHING DEFIANCE AT HEAVEN AND ME HIS HEART HOT WITH HATE UNABLE TO CLIMB A STILE
The author of the quote and the title: MACAULAY PERSONAL PLEASURES
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11.11.07 -- Turkey -- the Acrostic
Sunday, November 11, 2007
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and today’s acrostic is buttering up the bird for that occasion with a quote from the late left-wing journalist Cassandra (William Connor) -- which can be found in “Brewer's Cabinet of Curiosities” by Ian Crofton under the chapter “The Glories of Gluttony”.
TURKEY A FRAUD -- “What a shocking fraud the turkey is. In life preposterous, insulting -- that foolish noise they make to scare you away! In death -- unpalatable. The turkey has practically no taste except a dry fibrous flavour reminiscent of a mixture of warmed-up plaster-of-Paris and horsehair. The texture is like wet sawdust and the whole vast feathered swindle has the piquancy of a boiled mattress.” -- Cassandra (William Connor), in the Daily Mirror, 24 December 1953.
The quotation as it appears in today’s acrostic:
TURKEY HAS PRACTICALLY NO TASTE EXCEPT A DRY FIBROUS FLAVOR REMINISCENT OF WARMED-UP PLASTER AND HORSE HAIR THE TEXTURE IS LIKE WET SAWDUST AND THE WHOLE VAST FEATHERED SWINDLE HAS THE PIQUANCY OF A BOILED MATTRESS.
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10.28.07 -- Saints Alive! -- the Acrostic
Sunday, October 28, 2007
ACROSTIC by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
It‘s the end of October, bringing Halloween and the first day of November which is All Saint‘s Day, and this Sunday’s acrostic puzzle quotation is timely.“…the wonderful thing about saints is that they were human. They lost their tempers, got angry, scolded God, were egotistical or testy or impatient in their turns, made mistakes and regretted them. Still they went on doggedly blundering toward heaven.” -- Phyllis McGinley, “Saint Watching”
There is some alteration to this quote in today’s acrostic, most notably a substitution of the word “hungry” for “angry”, and the usual omissions for the purpose of their use in the acrostic:
The quotation: THE WONDERFUL THING ABOUT SAINTS IS THAT THEY WERE HUMAN THEY LOST THEIR TEMPERS GOT HUNGRY SCOLDED GOD WERE EGOTISTICAL OR TESTY MADE MISTAKES AND REGRETTED THEM STILL THEY WENT ON DOGGEDLY BLUNDERING TOWARD HEAVEN
The author's name and the title of the work: PMCGINLEYSAINTWATCHING
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10.14.07 -- New York -- the Acrostic
Sunday, October 14, 2007
ACROSTIC by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
Today‘s acrostic contains a quotation from E. B. WHITE’s essay “HERE IS NEW YORK” -- “ALTHOUGH NEW YORK OFTEN IMPARTS A FEELING OF GREAT FORLORNNESS OR FORSAKENESS, it seldom seems dead or unresourceful, and YOU ALWAYS FEEL THAT BY either SHIFTING YOUR LOCATION TEN BLOCKS OR BY REDUCING YOUR FORTUNE BY FIVE DOLLARS YOU CAN EXPERIENCE REJUVENATION."-----------------
Invitation to the Dance -- the Acrostic
Sunday, September 30, 2007
ACROSTIC Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
Today‘s acrostic contains a quotation from DORIS Kearns GOODWIN‘s “TEAM OF RIVALS“ -- “The story is told of Lincoln's first meeting with Mary at a festive party. CAPITVATED BY HER LIVELY MANNER, INTELLIGENT FACE, CLEAR BLUE EYES, AND DIMPLED SMILE, LINCOLN REPORTEDLY SAID, "I WANT TO DANCE WITH YOU IN THE WORST WAY." AND, MARY LAUGHINGLY TOLD HER COUSIN LATER that night, "HE CERTAINLY DID."
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Electronic Acrostic
Sunday, September 16, 2007
ACROSTIC Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
Today’s acrostic contains a quotation from “Masks of the Universe: Changing Ideas on the Nature of the Cosmos” by Edward Robert Harrison. The selected portion of the quotation is in capital letters in the paragraph that follows: “We have taken the first big step; the atom consists of a heavyweight tiny nucleus surrounded by a cloud of lightweight electrons -- a step accompanied by many misconceptions. It was once the custom to imagine the atom as a miniature solar system in which electrons encircled the nucleus like planets orbiting a star. This idea still persists in popular literature. But ELECTRONS DO NOT MOVE IN CLEAR-CUT ORBITS LIKE orbiting CELESTIAL BODIES. Instead, THEY DANCE AND THE ATOM IS A BALLROOM. THEY PERFORM STATELY WALTZES, WEAVE CURVACEOUS TANGOS, JITTER IN SPASMODIC QUICKSTEPS, AND ROCK TO FRENETIC RHYTHMS. They are waves dancing to a choreography different for each kind of atom.”------------------
09.02.07 -- Cock-a-Doodle-Doo! -- the Acrostic
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
It has always seemed to me that if one could get at least four or five of the defined words of an acrostic, that there was a chance for a solution, however laborious. Today, on a first time read-through of the defined words, I got one -- that’s right, one!However, this tough fossilized egg of a puzzle finally hatched. The quotation is from The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald, first published in 1945, a memoir about her adventures and travails as a young wife on a chicken farm in Washington state. It was a blockbuster success as a novel, was adapted into a movie, starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert, and was the inspiration for a series of ten Ma and Pa Kettle movies starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.
If it weren’t for my personal experiences (as a boy, living on farms, raising chickens, seeing the films mentioned, etc.), and having walked by Teddy Roosevelt’s birthplace in New York -- the only defined word I knew at first -- I would have thrown up my arms and flown the coop. I hope it was as tough for everyone as it was for me. It’s a personal matter between the ego and I.
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08.19.07 -- Mississippi -- the Acrostic
Sunday, August 19, 2007
ACROSTIC Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
Author of quote: Charles DICKENS, AMERICAN NOTESQuotation: But WHAT WORDS SHALL DESCRIBE THE MISSISSIPPI, great father of rivers, who (praise be to Heaven) has no young children like him! AN ENORMOUS DITCH, SOMETIMES two or THREE MILES WIDE, RUNNING LIQUID MUD, six miles an hour: ITS strong and FROTHY CURRENT CHOKED and obstructed EVERYWHERE BY HUGE LOGS AND WHOLE FOREST TREES: now twining themselves together in great rafts, from the interstices of which a sedgy, lazy foam works up, to float upon the water’s top; now ROLLING PAST LIKE MONSTROUS BODIES, their tangled roots showing like matted hair; now glancing singly by like giant leeches; and now writhing round and round in the vortex of some small whirlpool, like wounded snakes. The banks low, the trees dwarfish, the marshes swarming with frogs, the wretched cabins few and far apart, their inmates hollow-cheeked and pale, the weather very hot, mosquitoes penetrating into every crack and crevice of the boat, mud and slime on everything: nothing pleasant in its aspect, but the harmless lightning which flickers every night upon the dark horizon. --- Paragraph from Chapter 12, American Notes by Charles Dickens
For defined words and commentary, click on above title for complete post.
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08.05.07 -- TIME -- the Acrostic
Sunday, August 5, 2007
ACROSTIC -- Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon -- Edited by Will Shortz
Today’s quotation (appearing at the end of this commentary in the acrostic grid) is from “Close to Home”, a collection of Ellen Goodman’s newspaper columns published in 1979. For quote, defined words and commentary, click on above title for complete post.
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07.22.07 -- Thermodynamics
Sunday, July 22, 2007
ACROSTIC by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
Natalie Angier's "The Canon" -- "The second law of thermodynamics guarantees a certain degree of chaos and mishap in your life no matter how compulsively you plan your schedule and triple-check every report... to err is not just human, it's divined." is this Sunday science and sociology stumper's quotation -- a recentlly published work reviewed in The New York Times -- HERE.For commentary and defined words, click on the above title for complete post.
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07.08.07 -- Possessions
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Acrostic by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
This was, for me at least, a tough one; but the quotation is well worth the the solve. It is always a pleasure to find such a highly amusing truth! Agnes Repllier is not only quite the wit, but a voice from the past who speaks yet today!
The quotation:
THE PLEASURE OF POSSESSION WHETHER WE POSSESS TRINKETS OR OFFSPRING OR BOOKS OR PRINTS OR CHESSMEN OR POSTAGE STAMPS LIES IN SHOWING THESE THINGS TO FRIENDS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING NO IMMMEDIATE URGE TO LOOK AT THEM
The author’s name and title of the work:
REPPLIERTIMESANDTENDENCIES
For commentary and defined words, click on title above for complete post.
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06.24.07 -- Death in C Sharp Minor
Acrostic by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will ShortzThe quotation: RACHMANINOV AS EVERYONE KNOWS USED TO GET MAD WITH PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT HIS C SHARP MINOR PRELUDE DESCRIBED A MAN NAILED INTO HIS COFFIN ON INSUFFICIENT MEDICAL EVIDENCE WHO KEPT BANGING ON THE LID TO ATTRACT PASSERSBY
The author’s name and the title of the work:
BOOTHROYD CAN YOU READ MUSIC
For commentary and defined words, click on title above for link to original post.
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06.10.07 -- Martinis and Miscellaneous
Acrostic by Emily Cox & Henry RathvonThe quotation: FEW QUESTIONS HAVE SO VEXED DRINKERS AS WHETHER TO SHAKE OR STIR A MARTINI ... SHAKING CREATES A COLDER DRINK BUT RISKS DILUTING THE INGREDIENTS ... JAMES BOND ADDED INSULT TO UNCERTAINTY BY ESCHEWING GIN IN FAVOR OF VODKA
The author’s name and the title of the work: BEN SCHOTT FOOD AND DRINK
For commentary and defined words, click on title above for link to original post.
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05.27.07 -- STAGE FRIGHT
Sunday, May 27, 2007
By Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon
The indicated links provide information on the entries I found of interest. The quote itself is so true -- but no one has ever said the likes to me as I’d die rather than let anyone know I was nervous. Speaking of death, it is tragic that Eloise Ristad met her end early in a canoe.RISTAD, A SOPRANO ON HER HEAD
IT IS IN PERFORMANCE THAT WE COURT THE VERY EXPERIENCE THAT TERRIFIES US. A WELL-MEANING FRIEND SAYS THERE’S NOTHING TO GET NERVOUS ABOUT AND IT ALMOST HELPS BECAUSE THE DESIRE TO STRANGLE DISTRACTS US FOR THE MOMENT.
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05.13.07 -- Motherhood & Creation
Sunday, May 13, 2007
by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
If you are an aficionado of the acrostic puzzle then you must know that Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon are the Betty Comden and Adolph Green of the genre. The quotation of this acrostic takes us deep into the secrets of the sea where a father protects his newborn in the only way that is possible. The defined words give us birth and babies, mother and father, male and female, daughters and sons, wives and husbands, kings and madness, temptresses and tragedy -- from the sea came we all by our creator who would have us rest on the Sabbath -- this Mother’s Day. This is a masterpiece!--------------------
04.29.07 -- Spinning
By Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
This Sunday New York Times Acrostic covers a good bit of the cloth-making world. The final quote is an amusing one from Holly Welker’ “Satin Worship” (see the quote in puzzle form below). The quote utilizes the difference between spinning and quilting and a good half of the “words defined” are cloth related, which is a good average -- not as impressive as the Sunday, April 15th acrostic, in which all of the “defined words” were topical to the quotation -- but good enough!-----------------
04.15.07 -- Highwaymen
By Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
This Sunday, Ms. Cox & Mr. Rathvon, who conspired to present us the infamous Ides of March assassination of Julius Caesar two weeks ago in the “every-other-week“ New York Times Acrostic, on this occasion give us an acrostic on the odious Ides of April, e.g., tax-filing-deadline day. The quotation -- UNDER THE NEW TAX SYSTEM YOU’LL GET UNINTELLIGIBLE FORMS FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUT OFF DOING ANYTHING UNTIL MID-APRIL MISS A LOT OF DEDUCTIONS AND WORRY ABOUT BEING AUDITED OTHER THINGS WILL REMAIN PRETTY MUCH THE SAME, a quote from DAVE BARRY’s book “GREATEST HITS” in reference to the Federal income tax. What I find remarkable about this particular construction is that in addition to the quotation, the author’s name and the title of the book, all of the defined words are related either by clue or by answer to monetary matters. The solving was very akin to doing one’s taxes -- which, if one is in a last-minute rush to file taxes on this day, would be a double burden! Not having to worry in that regard, I felt very much at ease, set my mind to accountant mode and did the "bookkeeping" required to file this report. A tax-free gem!04.01.07 -- Sunday, Bloody Sunday
By Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
The ides of March has come and gone this year, but this Sunday, Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon have conspired to present us with an EXCURSUS (defined word entry P. 72, 159, 105, 58, 2, 90, 45, 136) for Palm Sunday -- a bloody affair known as the assassination of Julius Caesar. Acrostics are a lot of "bookkeeping", so to speak. Much of one's time in solving is consumed transferring letter by letter, alphabetically and numerically, from line to square or from square to line. To add to this difficulty, the newspaper allows the most meager area in which to enter answers for the defined words, listed alphabetically. Nevertheless, the acrostics is a puzzle I admire when considering the difficulty in construction that it must entail. Not only do we get a quote of some worth (in most cases) but also the author of the quote's name and the title of the publication (via the first letter of the defined words). Guessing a word from the majority of letters achieved in the grid is not always possible and sometimes very misleading due to the fact that many of these constructions utilize odd quotations -- as in this case, we have (in part) "HAD HE SAID HW WX EUXWH INSTEAD..." Now that's an answer that slays me! Sunday, bloody Sunday!.
