A Galapagos Sea Lion swims through a large school of Black-striped Salem off Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands
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Sunday, October 21, 2012
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon
Edited by Will Shortz
This Sunday’s admirable acrostic draws a fragmented quotation from Chapter 1 of Galapagos at the Crossroads: Pirates, Biologists, Tourists, and Creationists Battle for Darwin's Cradle of Evolution by Carol Ann Bassett.
As eloquent as it is alarming, Carol Ann Bassett’s portrait of today’s Galápagos depicts a deadly collision of economics, politics, and the environment that may destroy one of the world’s last Edens.
For millions, the Galápagos Islands represent nature at its most unspoiled, an inviolate place famed for its rare flora and fauna. But soon today’s 30,000 human residents could surpass 50,000. Add invasive species, floods of tourists, and unresolved conflicts between Ecuadorian laws and local concerns, and it’s easy to see why the Galápagos were recently added to UNESCO’s World Heritage in Danger list.
Each chapter in this provocative, perceptive book focuses on a specific person or group with a stake in the Galápagos’ natural resources—from tour companies whose activities are often illegal and not always green, to creationist guides who lead tours with no mention of evolution, from fishermen up in arms over lobster quotas, to modern-day pirates who poach endangered marine species.
Bassett presents a perspective as readable as it is sensible. Told with wit, passion, and grace, the Galápagos story serves as a miniature model of Earth itself, a perfect example of how an environment can be destroyed-- and what is being done to preserve these islands before it's too late. ~ amazon.com
The quotation: BIZARRE LIFE-FORMS … EVOLVED THERE: … IGUANAS ABLE TO HOLD THEIR BREATH UNDER WATER …, CORMORANTS THAT NO LONGER NEED WINGS …, VAMPIRE FINCHES THAT SURVIVE ON THE BLOOD OF … BOOBIES, DAISIES THAT HAVE MORPHED INTO GIANT TREES.
The author’s name and the title of the work: CAROL ANN BASSETT GALAPAGOS
The author’s name and the title of the work: CAROL ANN BASSETT GALAPAGOS
The defined words:
B. No. 1 among evildoers, ARCHFIEND
C. Bad guy often masked, ROBBER
D. Much bigger than normal, OVERSIZE
G. Belladonna or bittersweet, NIGHTSHADE
H. Cryptic cry in a haunting 1845 account, NEVERMORE
J. Physostigmine vis-à-vis belladonna, ANTIDOTE
K. One working on a graveyard shift?, SHOVELER
L. Reaction to a ghost shouting “Boo!”, START
M. Place in a Gothic setting?, ENTOMB
P. Develop as the star-nosed mole has (2 wds.), GO BLIND
Q. Shape shifter, AMOEBA
S. Set to receive trick-or-treaters, say (2 wds.), AT HOME
T. Sign of calamity in the wind, PORTENT
U. Conveyor of a sanguine sort, AORTA
V. Like something out of “Night of the Living Dead”, GHOULISH
W. Strange things, ODDITIES
X. Evidence of horror, SHIVERS
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