Sunday, July 17, 2011
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon
Edited by Will Shortz
The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick provides this Sunday acrostic’s quotation.
A review of the book in The New York Times by Geoffrey Nunberg published March 18, 2011 reads: The universe, the 18th-century mathematician and philosopher Jean Le Rond d’Alembert said, “would only be one fact and one great truth for whoever knew how to embrace it from a single point of view.” James Gleick has such a perspective, and signals it in the first word of the title of his new book, “The Information,” using the definite article we usually reserve for totalities like the universe, the ether — and the Internet. Information, he argues, is more than just the contents of our overflowing libraries and Web servers. It is “the blood and the fuel, the vital principle” of the world. Human consciousness, society, life on earth, the cosmos — it’s bits all the way down. More HERE.
The quotation: A NOTORIOUS EXAMPLE OF A MEME THAT COULD NOT HAVE EMERGED IN PRE-INTERNET CULTURE WAS THE PHRASE JUMPED THE SHARK TO JUMP THE SHARK MEANS TO PASS A PEAK OF QUALITY OR POPULARITY AND BEGIN AN IRREVERSIBLE DECLINE.
The author’s name and the title of the work: JAMES GLEICK THE INFORMATION
The defined words:
A. Current affair taking place at a high level? (2 wds.), JET STREAM
B. The best archer ever, to Hindus, ARJUNA
C. “All the world’s a stage,” e.g., METAPHOR
D. Clinton project kept well-locked (2 wds.), ERIE CANAL
E. "The SELFISH Gene” (influential biology book)
F. Backers of Nader in 200, GREENS
G. In baseball, a “rope”, LINER
H. Division between a period and an age, EPOCH
I. The Dow or the Nikkei 225, INDEX
J. Game in which a “bisque” is an extra shot, CROQUET
K. River through the Cascade Range, KLAMATH
L. Cap intended to cover a tip, THIMBLE
M. Sitcom on which a tough greaser went water-skiing (2 wds.), HAPPY DAYS
N. Prune on the way to a fair copy (2 wds.), EDIT OUT
O. Apple debut of 2001, ITUNES
P. Jr. or III, NAMESAKE
O. It’s often wrapped in a napkin, FLATWARE
R. Height with a view; miss, OVERLOOK
S. Manhandle (2 wds.), ROUGH UP
T. Got engaged, MESHED
U. Without much of a heads-up, ABRUPT
V. Member of a Jutland tribe put down by Rome in 102 B.C., TEUTON
W. Share, as a piece of information, IMPART
X. In theory rather than in practice (2 wds.), ON PAPER
Y. Sudden and unwanted career trajectory, NOSEDIVE
The full paragraph of the quotation: A notorious example of a meme that could not have emerged in pre-Internet culture was the phrase “jumped the shark.” Loopy self-reference characterized every phase of its existence. To jump the shark means to pass a peak of quality or popularity and begin an irreversible decline. The phrase was thought to have been used first in 1985 by a college student named Sean J. Connolly, in reference to an episode of the television series “Happy Days” in which the character Fonzie (Henry Winkler), on water skies, jumps over a shark. The origin of the phrase requires a certain amount of explanation without which it could not have been initially understood. Perhaps for that reason, there is no recorded usage until 1997, when Connolly’s roommate, Jon Hein, registered the domain name jumptheshark.com and created a web site devoted to its promotion. The web site soon featured a list of frequently asked questions.
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Click on image to enlarge.
Puzzle available on the internet at
P. Namesake
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