The New York Times Crossword in Gothic: 06.02.13 — Procrastination

Sunday, June 2, 2013

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

This Sunday’s fine acrostic draws a quotation from “The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing” by John Perry.

This is not a book for Bill Gates. Or Hillary Clinton, or Steven Spielberg. Clearly they have no trouble getting stuff done. For the great majority of us, though, what a comfort to discover that we’re not wastrels and slackers, but doers . . . in our own way. It may sound counterintuitive, but according to philosopher John Perry, you can accomplish a lot by putting things off. He calls it “structured procrastination”:

"In 1995, while not working on some project I should have been working on, I began to feel rotten about myself. But then I noticed something. On the whole, I had a reputation as a person who got a lot done and made a reasonable contribution. . . . A paradox. Rather than getting to work on my important projects, I began to think about this conundrum. I realized that I was what I call a structured procrastinator: a person who gets a lot done by not doing other things." ~ Amazon.com

The quotation: PROCRASTINATORS SELDOM DO…NOTHING; THEY DO MARGINALLY USEFUL THINGS… THE PROCRASTINATOR CAN BE MOTIVATED TO DO DIFFICULT, TIMELY AND IMPORTANT TASKS, AS LONG AS THESE TASKS ARE A WAY OF NOT DOING SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT.

The author’s name and the title of the work: PERRY, ART OF PROCRASTINATION

The defined words:

A. Piece of self-validation (2 wds.), PHOTO ID
B. The opposite of singly (2 wds.), EN MASSE
C. Palindromic acronym, RADAR
D. Body of water near the Mt. Erebus volcano (2 wds.), ROSS SEA
E. New York’s old Highlanders, since 1913, YANKEES
F. Gift to a young naturalist (2 wds.), ANT FARM
G. Exercising authority, REGNANT
H. Bean product?, THOUGHT
I. Sign of a warm welcome (2 wds.), OPEN ARMS
J. Skittish or capricious, FLIGHTY
K. Total weight of passengers and cargo, PAYLOAD
L. Melter of winter ice on sidewalks (2 wds.), ROCK SALT
M. What may be standing at the end of an opera, OVATION
N. Reader of the People’s World, COMMUNIST
O. Change from wrong to right, RECTIFY
P. “Vaulting AMBITION which o’erleaps itself and falls…” (“Macbeth”)
Q. Out of business, SHUTTERED
R. Arizona’s TONTO National Forest
S. Element No. 2, 10, 18, 36, 54 or 86 (2 wds.), INERT GAS
T. Oxfam or the Red Cross, e.g., NONPROFIT
U. Considering everything (2 wds.), ALL TOLD
V. Dance-craze tune that was #1 twice (2 wds.), “THE TWIST”
W. Sort of poet with a sharp visual style, IMAGIST
X. Poor learners, idiomatically (2 wds.), OLD DOGS
Y. Moving from one campsite to another, NOMADIC

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