Antarctic Expedition of Robert Scott on Ice with Ship "Terra Nova" Anchored in Background
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Sunday, January 3, 2009
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
Alfred Lord Tennyson, from Ulysses
Today’s acrostic draws it’s quotation from Chapter One, The Big White of Sara Wheeler’s Terra Incognita, Travels in Antarctica.
Journalist Wheeler (Travels in a Thin Country, on Chile) spent more than two years researching and organizing a seven-month journey to Antarctica, becoming the first foreigner to join the American National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists' and Writers' Program. Her wry, lucid account of that journey juxtaposes the epic exploits of heroic early Antarctic explorers (Robert Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amunden, Douglas Mawson, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, et al.) with her own adventures. -- Publishers Weekly (This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.)
The quotation: ROBERT SCOTT ERNEST SHACKLETON ROALD AMUNDSEN AND DOUGLAS MAWSON WERE THE HEROES OF A GENERATION OF CHILDREN WHO PORED OVER IMAGES OF BERGS TOWERING ABOVE WOODEN SHIPS AND MEN AND DOGS STRAINING IN FRONT OF SLEDGES
The author’s name and title of the work: SARA WHEELER TERRA INCOGNITA
The defined words:
A. Goal reached on Dec. 14, 1911 (2 wds.), SOUTH POLE
B. Just free of the bottom, AWEIGH
C. Body of water next to Marie Byrd Land (2 wds.), ROSS SEA
D. Heading for a poop, ASTERN
E. Prominent features of seals, WHISKERS
F. Reason to change tacks, HEADWIND
G. Endeavor, exertion, travail, EFFORT
H. Ill-fated vessel that was the subject of a 2000 documentary, ENDURANCE
I. Author of the 1908 story “To Build a Fire” , LONDON
J. New Zealand’s EGMONT National Park, built around a volcano
K. Visible algal blooms in the summer (2 wds.), RED SNOW
L. Carrier involved in a rapid descent, TOBOGGAN
M. The biggest among penguins, EMPEROR
N. Colonialist who said “I would annex the planets if I could”, RHODES
O. Craft for a shore party, ROWBOAT
P. Positioned for docking, ALONGSIDE
Q. Perch for a skua or Adelie (2 wds.), ICE FLOE
R. Norwegian explorer Fridtjof NANSEN, who won the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize
S. “Avast!” or “Belay!”, COMMAND
T. Unawares; errant; not in a safe spot? (2 wds.), OFF BASE
U. Gear for blizzard conditions, GOGGLES
V. Guide in finding a true azimuth (2 wds.), NORTH STAR
W. Like a distress-signaling flag, in olden times, INVERTED
X. Frozen fare (2 wds.), TV DINNER
Y. Parting word in Tierra del Fuego, ADIOS
The Endurance crushed with dogs looking on © Royal Geographical Society
In context: The Heroic Age began at the Sixth International Geographical Congress at London's Imperial Institute in 1895. On August 3 those present passed a resolution "that this Congress record its opinion that the exploration of the Antarctic regions is the greatest piece of geographical exploration still to be undertaken," and went on to urge scientific societies throughout the world to start planning. Six years later, on a balmy summer's day in 1901 in the middle of a glittering high-society yacht week off the south coast of England, a smiling King Edward VII stepped aboard Discovery and pinned the insignia of Member of the Victorian Order on the chest of her barely known young captain, Robert Falcon Scott, wishing him Godspeed on his journey to the ice. The period drew to a close little more than two decades later, on January 5, 1922, when Sir Ernest Shackleton clutched his heart and died in the cramped cabin of his last ship, Quest, off the lonely island of South Georgia.
Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and Douglas Mawson: the Big Four. These were the heroes of a generation of children who pored over images of bergs towering above wooden ships and men and dogs straining in front of sledges. Queen Victoria had been dead only six months when Discovery steamed away from the Isle of Wight, and the twentieth century hadn't yet gathered momentum; when it did, it would steamroller these and many other dreams.
Click on image to enlarge.
Puzzle available on the internet at
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