01.26.14 — Frankenstein's Cat — the Acrostic

Still from Frankenstein’s Army by Richard Raaphorst

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Sunday, January 26, 2014

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

This Sunday’s acrostic draws a quotation from “Frankenstein’s Cat:  Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts” by Emily Anthes.

We’ve always felt free to meddle with animals in the name of good breeding, with results that sometimes backfire.  We have Dalmatians that are prone to deafness, retrievers with weak hind legs, pugs and bulldogs that can barely breathe.

But as Emily Anthes shows in her witty and well-researched new book, “Frankenstein’s Cat:  Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts,” the rise of biotechnology has taken animal manipulation to an entirely new level.  And the results can vary from the beneficial to the profitable to the absurd. ~ The New York Times Book Review

The quotation:  [UTAH] IS HOME TO A STRANGE HERD OF GOATS.  THANKS TO … GENES BORROWED FROM A SPIDER, EACH FEMALE … PRODUCES MILK THAT’S CHOCK-FULL OF SILK PROTEINS … [I]N THE LAB, SCIENTISTS CAN EXTRACT THE SPIDER PROTEINS AND SPIN THEM INTO SILK.

The author’s name and the title of the work:  ANTHES, FRANKENSTEIN’S CAT

The defined words:

A. Subject of a tale by Ovid about metamorphosis, ARACHNE
B. Fed; fostered; given sustenance, NOURISHED
C. Fictional character whose initials were used in forming the acronym “Taser” (2 wds.), TOM SWIFT
D. Give a thumbs-up signal?, HITCHHIKE
E. Show; quick, EXPRESS
F. Place providing refuge, SHELTER
G. Way through a park or garden, nature trail, FOOTPATH
H. On roses, one of “My Favorite Things,” per “The Sound of Music”, RAINDROPS
I. Forerunner of the modern ice ax, ALPENSTOCK
J. Enter a state of torpidity (2 wds.), NOD OFF
K. Sauce often used in making meatloaf, KETCHUP
l. Neoprene or natural rubber, chemically, ELASTOMER
M. One of an annual sextet, NOBELIST
N. Card game featured in “The Cincinnati Kid” (2 wds.), STUD POKER
O. England’s Daily Mirror and Sun, for example, TABLOIDS
P. Outer layer of cells in early development, ECTODERM
Q. Prey that may be ensnared in webs, INSECTS
R. Garment for a woman who’s retiring, NIGHTIE
S. Marine gastropod with a shell (2 wds.), SEA SNAIL
T. Smoky quartz named for a Scottish range, CAIRNGORM
U. Ptolemaic treatise on astronomy, ALMAGEST
V. Directive when throwing somebody something unexpectedly (2 wds.), THINK FAST

The complete paragraph of the quotation:  Meanwhile, nearly two thousand miles away, a barn in Logan, Utah, is home to a strange herd of goats.  Thanks to a pair of genes borrowed from a spider, each female goat produces milk that’s chock-full of silk proteins.  When the milk is processed in the lab, scientists can extract the spider proteins and spin them into silk. ~ Google Books, Frankenstein’s Cat

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Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.