04.07.13 — What Mad Pursuit — the Acrostic

 



Sunday, April 7, 2013

 

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

 

This Sunday’s acrostic draws a quotation from What Mad Pursuit by Francis Crick.

 

What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery is a book published in 1988 and written by Francis Crick, the English co-discoverer in 1953 of the structure of DNA, perhaps the greatest discovery ever made in molecular biology. In this book, Crick gives important insights into his work on the DNA structure, along with the Central Dogma of molecular biology and the genetic code, and his later work on neuroscience.

 

The main purpose of Crick's book is to describe some of his experiences before and during the "classical period" of molecular biology from the 1953 discovery of the DNA double helix to the 1966 elucidation of the genetic code. ~ Wikipedia

 

The quotation: WHEN THE RIGHT IDEA … CLICKS INTO PLACE ONE IMMEDIATELY SEES HOW MANY PREVIOUSLY PUZZLING FACTS ARE NEATLY EXPLAINED BY THE NEW HYPOTHESIS … ONE COULD KICK ONESELF FOR NOT HAVING THE IDEA EARLIER, IT NOW SEEMS TO OBVIOUS.

 

The author’s name and the title of the work: FRANCIS CRICK, WHAT MAD PURSUIT

 
The defined words:
 
A. “No gains without pains” writer of 1745, FRANKLIN
B. Orlando’s lover in “As You Like It”, ROSALIND
C. Instant of clear perception (2 wds.), AHA MOMENT
D. First European to win the N.B.A.’s M.V.P. award, NOWITZKI
E. Obsolescent news job, COPYBOY
F. Weather phenomenon sometimes known as a pogonip (2 wds.) ICE FOG
G. Not easy to discern in the murk, SHADOWY
H. Word just before a snap?, CHEESE
I. Key disclosure in a screenplay’s plot, REVEAL
J. Know without reason, INTUIT
K. What one in six may speak in, CHINESE
L. Malevolent water spirit of Scottish legend, KELPIE
M. Co-winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, WATSON
N. “Fatha” of modern jazz, HINES
O. Not too fast, as a movement, ANDANTE
P. Speculation, THEORY
Q. Unruffle the feathers of MOLLIFY
R. Like Byron after his Hellespont swim, AGUISH
S. Semi-filling liquid, DIESEL
T. Award for radio and TV merit, PEABODY
U. Fast and peppy (hyph.), UP-TEMPO
V. Album opening with “Taxman”, REVOLVER
W. Subtle power of cognizance (2 wds.), SIXTH SENSE
X. “The Battle of San Romano” painter, UCCELLO
Y. Breakthrough in brainwork, INSIGHT
Z. Do a plucky job?, TWEEZE

The full quotation: “It is not easy to convey, unless one has experienced it, the dramatic feeling of sudden enlightenment that floods the mind when the right idea finally clicks into place. One immediately sees how many previously puzzling facts are neatly explained by the new hypothesis. One could kick oneself for not having the idea earlier, it now seems so obvious. Yet before, everything was in a fog.” ― Francis Crick, What Mad Pursuit

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.