03.25.12 — Word Fugitives — the Acrostic

The Fugitives, 1849-50, Honoré Daumier

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Sunday, March 25, 2012

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

“Word Fugitives: In Pursuit of Wanted Words” by Barbara Wallraff is the source for this Sunday's tricky and challenging acrostic mainly due to the quotation's strange linguistic coinages. "Despite the many thousands of dictionary words at our disposal, our language can be dismayingly inadequate. How many times have you searched for a word that means just what you want it to but failed to find anything suitable anywhere? Most of us, it turns out, lead lives rife with experiences, people, and things that have no names.”~ Google eBooks

The quotation: ARE TOUJOURS VU, NEWBIQUITOUS, AND COINCIDENSITY… WORDS? NO, NOT QUITE. THEY ARE THE VERBAL EQUIVALENTS OF… TINKER BELL, WHOSE LITTLE LIGHT WILL BE EXTINGUISHED IF WE DON’T BELIEVE IN HER. THEY ARE WORDS ONLY IF WE USE THEM.

The author’s name and the title of the work: 
WALLRAFF, WORD FUGITIVES

The defined words:

A. Online promo for a TV show, WEBISODE

B. Splitsville settlement, ALIMONY

C. Unsportsmanlike attack (2 wds.), LOW BLOW

D. Emulsifier in cooking sprays, LECITHIN

E. Prompt to pick up, RINGTONE

F. Digital gesture often denoting sarcasm (2 wds.), AIR QUOTES

G. Polishes off, wraps up, FINISHES

H. Do with a crest and short sides, FAUXHAWK

I. Casablanca’s English analogue (2 wds.), WHITE HOUSE

J. Censure or blame, disgrace or shame, OBLOQUY

K. Right-leaning place, since 2000 (2 wds.), RED STATE

L. Arbiter on acceptability of terms, DICTIONARY

M. Soldier of fortune, stalling tactic on the Hill, FILIBUSTER

N. Restore, as a computer file or e-mail, UNDELETE

O. Chowhound, gourmand, trencherman, GLUTTON

P. Neologistic, like “bloject” or “Tebowing”, INVENTED

Q. Follow-up such as “Goldfinger” or “Batman Forever”, THREEQUEL

R. Untamed, roaming free (3 wds.), IN THE WILD

S. Toxic and easily caught, VIRULENT

T. Locus for a fresh meme, it seems, EVERYWHERE

U. Apple-pitching Buddhist (2 wds.), STEVE JOBS

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The full paragraph of the quotation: That particular word fugitive (which you’ll find captured and discussed shortly) is worthy of note, because once you’re aware of it, if you begin rooting around in coined words, you’ll find it popping up maybe not everywhere but certainly hither and yon Essentially the same question is asked by the writer Lia Matera in the book In a Word; Matera suggests we call the experience toujours vu. Another book, Wanted Words 2, asks the question, too, and presents more than a dozen possible answers, including newbiquitious and coincidensity. Are toujous vu, new ubiquitous, and coincidensity really words? No, not quite. They are the verbal equivalents of trees that fall soundlessly if no one is listening. They are Tinker Bell, whose l ittle light will be extinguished if we don’t believe in her. They are words only if we use them. ~ Barbara Wallraff, Word Fugitives

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Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.