01.04.09 -- Infinity -- the Acrostic
“Infinity“ by Sven Geier
----------------- Sunday, January 4, 2009 ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz Today’s acrostic draws its’ quotation from Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity by David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) who was an American author of novels, essays and short-stores. He was best known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest. Wallace committed suicide on September 12, 2008.
The Quotation: THE MENTALLY ILL MATHEMATICIAN SEEMS NOW TO BE WHAT THE KNIGHT ERRANT TORTURED ARTIST AND MAD SCIENTIST HAVE BEEN FOR OTHER ERAS OUR PROMETHEUS WHO GOES TO FORBIDDEN PLACES AND RETURNS WITH GIFTS HE ALONE PAYS FOR The author’s name and the title of the work: WALLACE EVERYTHING AND MORE The defined words: A. “Some people are afraid of heights. I’m afraid of WIDTHS.” (Steven Wright); B. What’s copied by succeeding models, ARCHETYPE; C. Dog breed developed to guard monasteries (2 wds.), LHASAAPSO; D. Breed of chicken named for an Italian city, LEGHORN; E. Where Heineken was founded, AMSTERDAM; G. Realm in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Tehanu”, EARTHSEA; H. Opposite of undeserving, ENTITLED; I. Russian measure equal to 3,500 feet, VERST; J. God born of Chaos, per Hesiod, EROS; K. Herder named for a German town, ROTTWEILER; L Sarcastic reply to an obvious statement (2 wds.), YOUTHINK; M. Result of a compromise (hyph.), TRADEOFF; N. Occasion for much fiddling, HOEDOWN; O. Motivation that’s hard to override, INSTINCT; P. Leave completely puzzled, NONPLUS; Q. Space under a pitched roof, GARRET; R. Person who acts like a robot, AUTOMATON; S. Underworld region of mist and cold, in Norse myth, NIFLHEIM; T. Something you go down to DEFEAT; U. Sermon on the Mount source, MATTHEW; V. One making long round trips, ORBITER; W. What Steinbeck’s Lennie Small dreams of raising, RABBITS; X. “Uncle!”, ENOUGH. The exact quotation: "The cases of great mathematicians with mental illness have enormous resonance for modern pop writers and filmmakers. This has to do mostly with the writers’/directors’ own prejudices and receptivities, which in turn are functions of what you could call our era’s particular archetypal template. It goes without saying that these templates change over time. The Mentally Ill Mathematician seems now in some ways to be what the Knight Errant, Mortified Saint, Tortured Artist, and Mad Scientist have been for other eras: sort of our Prometheus, the one who goes to forbidden places and returns with gifts we all can use but he alone pays for." See HERE. The New York Times acrostic authors have once again rewarded the solver with a both a brilliant quote and puzzle. 
Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan, Dirck van Baburen, 1623
Click on image to enlarge. Puzzle available on the internet at THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games
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“Infinity“ by Sven Geier 
The Quotation: THE MENTALLY ILL MATHEMATICIAN SEEMS NOW TO BE WHAT THE KNIGHT ERRANT TORTURED ARTIST AND MAD SCIENTIST HAVE BEEN FOR OTHER ERAS OUR PROMETHEUS WHO GOES TO FORBIDDEN PLACES AND RETURNS WITH GIFTS HE ALONE PAYS FOR The author’s name and the title of the work: WALLACE EVERYTHING AND MORE The defined words: A. “Some people are afraid of heights. I’m afraid of WIDTHS.” (Steven Wright); B. What’s copied by succeeding models, ARCHETYPE; C. Dog breed developed to guard monasteries (2 wds.), LHASAAPSO; D. Breed of chicken named for an Italian city, LEGHORN; E. Where Heineken was founded, AMSTERDAM; G. Realm in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Tehanu”, EARTHSEA; H. Opposite of undeserving, ENTITLED; I. Russian measure equal to 3,500 feet, VERST; J. God born of Chaos, per Hesiod, EROS; K. Herder named for a German town, ROTTWEILER; L Sarcastic reply to an obvious statement (2 wds.), YOUTHINK; M. Result of a compromise (hyph.), TRADEOFF; N. Occasion for much fiddling, HOEDOWN; O. Motivation that’s hard to override, INSTINCT; P. Leave completely puzzled, NONPLUS; Q. Space under a pitched roof, GARRET; R. Person who acts like a robot, AUTOMATON; S. Underworld region of mist and cold, in Norse myth, NIFLHEIM; T. Something you go down to DEFEAT; U. Sermon on the Mount source, MATTHEW; V. One making long round trips, ORBITER; W. What Steinbeck’s Lennie Small dreams of raising, RABBITS; X. “Uncle!”, ENOUGH. The exact quotation: "The cases of great mathematicians with mental illness have enormous resonance for modern pop writers and filmmakers. This has to do mostly with the writers’/directors’ own prejudices and receptivities, which in turn are functions of what you could call our era’s particular archetypal template. It goes without saying that these templates change over time. The Mentally Ill Mathematician seems now in some ways to be what the Knight Errant, Mortified Saint, Tortured Artist, and Mad Scientist have been for other eras: sort of our Prometheus, the one who goes to forbidden places and returns with gifts we all can use but he alone pays for." See HERE. The New York Times acrostic authors have once again rewarded the solver with a both a brilliant quote and puzzle. 
_-_A_Young_Girl_Defending_Herself_Against_Eros_(1880).jpg/417px-William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_(1825-1905)_-_A_Young_Girl_Defending_Herself_Against_Eros_(1880).jpg){kind=link}
Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan, Dirck van Baburen, 1623 
Click on image to enlarge. Puzzle available on the internet at THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games
Nice write-up. Great link to the Everything and More excerpt. The only leghorn I know is Foghorn Leghorn.
ReplyDeleteLeon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Foghorn Leghorn link -- that's the one I remember too!
Incidentally, I've had trouble putting a link in comments -- do you have instructions?
Thanks
An HTML Link
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Leon
html code.
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Leon
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BBQ Beer and Books
Leon
ReplyDeleteSuccess! Thanks!