07.22.07 Acrostic

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.

A partial quote from a review by Amanda Schaffer of The Houston Chronicle states "...New York Times science writer and Pulitzer Prize-winner Natalie Angier offers up her own witty, idiosyncratic primer on the sciences — an exuberant Cliffs Notes for grown-ups that highlights core principles of physics, chemistry, evolutionary and molecular biology, geology and astronomy."

The quotation and defined words certainly spark an interest in this publication -- however, it's not easy for non-scientific specimens such as myself getting there! The defined words, for the most part, fit neatly into the scheme of things:

NEPHOLOGY (A. The study of clouds and their formation)
ANKYLOSAUR (B. Armor-plated club-tailed herbivore of the Cretaceous Period)
TRUFFAUT (C. Director of the 1966 sci-fi film "Fahrenheit 451")
ALPHAWAVES (D. Electromagnetic output of the brain [2 wds.])
LEYDENJAR (E. Early form of capacitor made of glass and tinfoil [2 wds.])
ICHTHYIC (F. Fish-related)
ENTROPY (G. Degradation of matter and energy)
ANSWERS (H. What researchers search for)
NYCTALOPIA (I. Night blindness)
GROUNDED (J. Like good AC wiring [or a bad teen?])
IMPERFECT (K. Falling short of the ideal state)
EVENEDOUT (L. Leveled off; became more uniform [2 wds.])
REDUCTIVE (M. Like reasoning from complex to simple)
TIDES (N. Gravity-caused fluctuations)
HAMMERHEAD (O. Predator whose eyes may be three feet apart)
ECHINODERMS (P. Sea urchins, sand dollars and their ilk)
COLORS (Q. Parts of the visible spectrum)
ATRIUM (R. A place in the heart)
NEUTRON (S. A little something that comes free of charge)
OSMOSIS (T. One way to get through a wall)
NEOLITHIC (U. From the last phase of the Stone Age)

A tough, but rewarding solve!


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