The Hamburg Hydra, from the Thesaurus of Albertus Seba. A stuffed hydra owned by the mayor of Hamburg; in 1735 it was examined by Carl Linnaeus and determined to be a combination of weasels and snake skins
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Sunday, April 10, 2011
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon / Edited by Will Shortz
This Sunday’s marvelous, slightly macabre acrostic draws a quotation from Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy by Melissa Milgrom.
For many, taxidermy summons images of wildlife frozen in menacing poses, teeth bared in an eternal rictus; or maybe it's the lamented family cat, forever curled in purr-less slumber. With Still Life, Melissa Milgrom peels the skin back on Norman Bates's favorite pastime, dutifully tracking taxidermy from its 19th-century heyday… she moves through an underworld of auctions, artisans, scientists, and the ultra competitive… ultimately trying a queasy hand at squirrel-stuffing herself. … an entertaining and illuminating adventure. ~ Jon Foro, Amazon.com Review
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The quotation: THE LOBBY… WAS A VERITABLE NOAH’S ARK ON LUGGAGE CARTS. A TAXIDERMIST FROM NEBRASKA CARTED A PRAIRIE CHICKEN AND A MINK… . COUGARS, GECKOS,… MARMOTS,… AND… TURTLES WERE ALL BEING WHEELED THIS WAY AND THAT… IN THE… CONVENTION HOTEL… .
The author’s name and the title of the work: MELISSA MILGROM, STILL LIFE
The quotation: THE LOBBY… WAS A VERITABLE NOAH’S ARK ON LUGGAGE CARTS. A TAXIDERMIST FROM NEBRASKA CARTED A PRAIRIE CHICKEN AND A MINK… . COUGARS, GECKOS,… MARMOTS,… AND… TURTLES WERE ALL BEING WHEELED THIS WAY AND THAT… IN THE… CONVENTION HOTEL… .
The author’s name and the title of the work: MELISSA MILGROM, STILL LIFE
The defined words:
A. Plant whose root is used in magic rituals, MANDRAKE
B. Display stand for curious, whatnot, ETAGERRE
C. Shari Lewis’s ovine sock puppet (2 wds.), LAMB CHOP
D. Film with talking smilodons and sloths (2 wds.), ICE AGE
E. Scalpel wielder, slangily, SAWBONES
G. Fur from young lambs named for a Russian city, ASTRAKHAN
H. Fish often spanning 20 feet or more (2 wds.), MANTA RAY
I. Given tangible form, embodied, INCARNATE
J. Like a deer’s head, colorwise (2 wds.), LIGHT BROWN
K. Process whereby scores are given, GRADING
L. Phoenix event occurring every 500 years or so, REBIRTHM. Davy Crockett’s rifle (2 wds.), OLD BETSY
N. Like the range of many green parakeets and Gila monsters, MEXICAN
O. Reconnected, as in surgery, SUTURED
P. Size up the situation (2 wds.), TAKE STOCK
Q. Wolf down, get a whiff, INHALE
R. One soon to be supplanted (2 wds.), LAME DUCK
S. Biblical sea monster, LEVIATHAN
T. Not seen in quite a while (hyph.), LONG-LOST
U. Via an artificial environment outside a living organism (2 wds.), IN VITRO
V. Distinctive features of the primitive reptilian archaeopteryx, FEATHERS
W. Admit to being wrong (2 wds.), EAT CROW
The New York Times, Books of The Times review by Dwight Garner titled Beady Eyes That Just Can’t Help It, published March 9, 2010, HERE.
The full paragraph of the quotation: The lobby of the Crowne Plaza was a veritable Noah’s ark on luggage carts. A taxidermist from Nebraska carted a prairie chicken and a mink; a competitor from Pittsburgh had a black squirrel and a freeze-dried snowshoe hare. Green sandpipers, cougars, geckos, a Bengal tiger, brant geese, chum salmon, marmots, rattlesnakes, and snapping turtles were all being wheeled this way and that in the eccentric migration. The bellhops stood by and watched. They had nothing to do, really, because only a slacker would hand over a mount that he had been preserving for a year or more to the untrained hotel staff.
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Click on image to enlarge.
Puzzle available on the internet at
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