08.17.08 -- Winner! -- the Acrostic

Sunday, August 17, 2008

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz

Today’s quotation is from The Courage of Turtles, the first chapter of the section on Animals of Hoagland on Nature by Edward Coolbaugh Hoagland.

The Sunday Times treats the solver to yet another quotation from a highly worthwhile publication resulting in another terrific acrostic -- certainly more than worth the time, and if one is unaware of the source, a welcome introduction to the work by Hoagland.

The quotation: THEY CAN STRETCH OUT THEIR NECKS LIKE A GIRAFFE OR LOOM UNDERWATER LIKE AN APOCRYPHAL HIPPO THEY HAVE A PENGUINS ALERTNESS COMBINED WITH A BUILD LIKE A BRONTOSAURUS THEY HUNCH AND PONDEROUSLY LUNGE LIKE A GRIZZLY.

The author’s name and the title of the work: HOAGLAND COURAGE OF TURTLES

The defined words: HAWKSBILL (A. Endangered sea creature that is the primary source for tortoiseshell); OVERKILL (B. Hitting a gnat with a sledgehammer, say); ANARCHY (C. State often induced on-screen by the Marx Brothers); GEODUCK (D. World’s largest burrowing lam); LIZARD (E. Skink, gecko or Komodo dragon); ACHILLES (F. Friend to Patroclus in Homer’s “Iliad”); NOTHING (G. What Cordelia offers King Lear in Act I); DUTIES (H. Specifications of a job or office); CHELONIAN (I. Like the animal described in this puzzle’s quote); OZONELAYER (J. Location of a hazardous hole [2 wds.]); UPFORGRABS (K. Available to be seized and claimed [3 wds.]); ROADMAP (L. Plan for where you’re going [2 wds.]); ANTHER (M. Structure often borne on a stalk); GHERKIN (N. Small pickle); EYEBROW (O. This may be raised upon hearing a lie); ONSITE (P. How building inspections take place [hyph.]); FUCHSIA (Q. Purplish red flower loved by hummingbirds); TURNKEY (R. Keeper of a pen); UNHAPPY (S. Like a family in the first sentence of “Anna Karenina”); REPTILE (T. Kind of beast whose name comes from Latin “to crawl”); TITHE (U. Levy leaving you 90%); LAYETTE (V. Outfit for a new arrival); ENHANCED (W. Raised to a higher degree, magnified); SUMPTUOUS (X. Far from cheap; far from skimpy).

The full paragraph of the quotation reads: "Turtles cough, burp, whistle, grunt and hiss, and produce social judgments. They put their heads together amicably enough, but then one drives the other back with the suddenness of two dogs who have been conversing in tones too low for an onlooker to hear. They pee in fear when they’re first caught, but exercise both pluck and optimism in trying to escape, walking for hundreds of yards within the confines of their pen, carrying the weight of that cumbersome box on legs which are cruelly positioned for walking. They don't feel that the contest is unfair; they keep plugging, rolling like sailorly souls -- a bobbing, infirm gait, a brave, sea-legged momentum -- stopping occasionally to study the lay of the land. For me, anyway, they manage to contain the rest of the animal world. They can stretch out their necks like a giraffe, or loom underwater like an apocryphal hippo. They browse on lettuce thrown on the water like a cow moose which is partly submerged. They have a penguin’s alertness, combined with a build like a Brontosaurus when they rise up on tiptoe. Then they hunch and ponderously lunge like a grizzly going forward."

The Times acrostic continually provides the solver with a maximum reward for time spent upon one of the most solitary of activities -- would it be so with the standard trivial fare of so many tepid crossword puzzles that have the temerity to post a by-line. With the Times acrostics, and the regular team of Cox, Rathvon & Shortz, puzzledom becomes an art filled with gratifying discovery and insight.

The highly competitive hare may be on the fast track, but the plodding tortoise has the inside story and is always a winner!

Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

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