The New York Times Crossword in Gothic: 10.06.13 — Reading the O.E.D.

Photo: The "shoes" entry in the OED.

Credit: thrig via Flickr, LA Times

————————

Sunday, October 6, 2013

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

This Sunday’s rich acrostic draws a quotation from Reading the O.E.D. by Ammon Shea.

An obsessive word lover's account of reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary, hailed as "the Super Size Me of lexicography."

"I'm reading the OED so you don't have to," says Ammon Shea on his slightly masochistic journey to scale the word lover's Mount Everest: the Oxford English Dictionary. In 26 chapters filled with sharp wit, sheer delight, and a documentarian's keen eye, Shea shares his year inside the OED, delivering a hair-pulling, eye-crossing account of reading every word. ~ amazon.com

The quotation: I CHUCKLE, LAUGH OUT LOUD, SMILE …, CRINGE …, FEEL SADNESS … ALL OF THE HUMAN EMOTIONS AND EXPERIENCES ARE RIGHT THERE IN THIS DICTIONARY, JUST AS THEY WOULD BE IN ANY FINE WORK OF LITERATURE. THEY JUST HAPPEN TO BE ALPHABETIZED.

The author’s name and the title of the work: AMMON SHEA, READING THE O.E.D.

Illustration for "To Autumn" by William James Neatby,
from A Day with Keats, 1899

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core …

The defined words:

A. Lemming eater of frigid climes (2 wds.), ARCTIC FOX
B. Rolled oats and dried fruit, MUESLI
C. Botanist who studied peas, MENDEL
D. Beltway, in Britain, ORBITAL
E. Discussion site on the Internet, NEWSGROUP
F. Category in a bookstore’s nonfiction section (hyph.), SELF-HELP
G. Lethargy, torpor, dullness, HEBETUDE
H. Portion of this quote’s subject perused by the quote’s author, ENTIRETY
I. Touching, ADJACENT
J. Sure sinner in a certain World Series (2 wds.), ROYAL FLUSH
K. 1850s rival of Isaac Singer (2 wds.), ELIAS HOWE
L. Keats’s “close bosom-friend of the maturing sun”, AUTUMN
M. Stuff used to clean up oil spills, DISPERSANT
N. The power of creative imagination, INGENUITY
O. Absolute slob’s opposite (2wds.), NEAT FREAK
P. Deteriorate, fall in value, fail (2 wds.), GO SOUTH
Q. “It is in the THIRTIES that we want friends” (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
R. Squatters’ means of support, HAUNCHES
S. Level or grade, literally, “rung of ladder”, ECHELON
T. Related to adders or asps, OPHIDIAN
U. Miss Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice”, ELIZABETH
V. Sample of off-color humor (2 wds.), DIRTY JOKE

————————

The full paragraph of the quotation: I find myself subject to the entire range of emotions and reactions that a great book will call forth from its reader. I chuckle, laugh out loud, smile wistfully, cringe, widen my eyes in surprise, and even feel sadness—all from the neatly ordered rows of words and their explanations. All of the human emotions and experiences are right there in this dictionary, just as they would be in any fine work of literature. They just happen to be alphabetized. ~ Google Books

————————