02.24.13 — Why Does the World Exist? — the Acrostic

The star V838 Monocerotis's light echo

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

 

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

This Sunday’s acrostic draws a quotation from Why Does the World Exist?, An Existential Detective Story by Jim Holt.

“There could have been nothing. It might have been easier. Instead there is something. The universe exists, and we are here to ask about it. Why? In Why Does the World Exist?, Jim Holt, an elegant and witty writer comfortably at home in the problem’s weird interzone between philosophy and scientific cosmology, sets out in search of such answers. ...There is no way to do justice to any of these theories in a brief review, but Holt traces the reasoning behind each one with care and clarity—such clarity that each idea seems resoundingly sensible even as it turns one’s brain to a soup of incredulity.... I can imagine few more enjoyable ways of thinking than to read this book.” ~ Sarah Bakewell, New York Times Book Review

The quotation:  FRED HOYLE FELT THAT AN EXPLOSION WAS AN UNDIGNIFIED WAY FOR THE WORLD TO BEGIN, RATHER LIKE “A PARTY GIRL JUMPING OUT OF A CAKE.” … HOYLE SARDONICALLY REFERRED TO THE HYPOTHESIZED ORIGIN AS “THE BIG BANG.” THE TERM STUCK.

The author’s name and the title of the work: HOLT, WHY DOES THE WORLD EXIST?

The defined words:

A. Hero by another name, HOAGIE
B. Customary haggis ingredient, OATMEAL
C. 1600s mathematician who invented mechanical calculators, LEIBNIZ
D. Some toy-store displays, TRAINS
E. Struck out, WHIFFED
F. Prepare to deliver a wallop; cart away (2 wds.), HAUL OFF
G. Terrier type, for short, YORKIE
H. Lexicographer’s lot, per Samuel Johnson, DRUDGERY
I. Mental dullness; imperviousness to light, OPACITY
J. Doménikos Theotokópoulos (2 wds.), EL GRECO
K. Made to feel like a nobody, SLIGHTED
L. Designed to retain body heat, THERMAL
M. Tree usually found indoors (2 wds.), HAT STAND
N. What an isolated system tends toward, ENTROPY
G. Gym equipment, WEIGHTS
P. Protest that may be sustained, OBJECTION
Q. Canary, singer (2 wds.), RAT FINK
R. What the Stoic Chrysippus is said to have died of (alcohol was involved), LAUGHTER
S. It has a head and hops (2 wds.), DRAFT BEER
T. Opting out of a traditional ceremony, ELOPING
U. Instrument played by jazzman Red Norvo, XYLOPHONE
V. “Hmmm …” (2 wds.), I WONDER
W. Peak visible from Yreka, Calif., SHASTA
X. Fully equipped, ready to operate, TURNKEY

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Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.