03.06.11 — Memory — the Acrostic

The Gate of Memory, 1857, Dante Gabriel Rossetti

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Sunday, March 6, 2011

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

This Sunday’s challenging acrostic draws a quotation from Vladimir Nabokov’s “Strong Opinions”

Strong Opinions - a collection of Nabokov's articles, interviews, letters to editors, and fugitive book reviews - is a marvel of malicious glee, deft phrases, and iconoclastic absurdities. His literary judgments, in particular, are deliciously haywire, as if a lunatic had been reading too much of Oscar Wilde. ~ amazon.com

The quotation: I AM AN ARDEN MEMOIRIST WITH A ROTTEN MEMORY … . WITH ABSOLUTE LUCIDITY I RECALL LANDSCAPES, GESTURES, INTONATIONS, BUT NAMES AND NUMBERS TOPPLE INTO OBLIVION WITH ABSURD ABANDON LIKE LITTLE BLIND MEN IN FILE FROM A PIER.

The author’s name and the title of the work: NAVOKOV, STRONG OPINIONS

The defined words:

A. Intense homesickness or longing for the past, NOSTOMANIA
B. Synthetic organism in a human guise, ANDROID
C. Hector, bully, intimidate, BROWBEAT
D. Nighmarishly oppressive, as in dystopia, ORWELLIAN
E. Fuzzy brown edible export of New Zealand, KIWIFRUIT
F. Top painters, especially of pre-1800 Europe (2 wds.), OLD MASTERS
G. Knowers of the proverbial ropes, VETERANS
H. Miss, in Aussie slang, SHEILA
I. Situation that’s bound to get volatile (2 wds.), TIME BOMB
J. Portraitist of the 1600s based in Antwerp, RUBENS
K. Investigator and resolver of complaints, OMBUDSMAN
L. Expert on plants and animals, NATURALIST
M. Material for curling stones, GRANITE
N. As far from ignorant as you can get, OMNISCIENT
O. Germ fighter whose name is based on the Latin for “paintbrush”, PENICILLIN
P. Made a fool by the power of love, INFATUATED
Q. Sort of people who tend to have titles, NOBILITY
R. Bold, brash, cheeky, saucy, IMPUDENT
S. Marked with eyespots, as a peacock’s tail, OCELLATED
T. Man obsessed with a Lolita, NYMPHOLEPT
U. Go as some of the apodal go, SLITHER

The full paragraph of the quotation in answer to “Do you keep a journal or seek documentary reminders?” — I am an ardent memoirist with a rotten memory; a drowsy king’s absentminded remembrancer. With absolute lucidity I recall landscapes, gestures, intonations, a million sensuous details, but names and numbers topple into oblivion with absurd abandon like little blind men in file from a pier.

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Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.