Sunday, April 20, 2014
Acrostic by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon
Edited by Will Shortz
This Sunday’s acrostic draws a quotation from Cross Creek, The Magnolia Tree by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
Originally published in 1942, Cross Creek has become a classic in modern American literature. For the millions of readers raised on The Yearling. Here is he story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s experiences in the remote Florida hamlet of Cross Creek, where she lived for thirteen years. From the daily labors of managing a seventy-two-acre orange grove to bouts with runaway pigs. ~ amazon.com
The quotation: THERE IS NO SUCH THING IN THE WORLD AS AN UGLY TREE, BUT THE MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA HAS A UNIQUE PERFECTION. NO MATTER HOW… THICKLY HOLLY AND LIVE OAK AND SWEET GUM MAY GROW UP AROUND IT, IT DEVELOPS WITH COMPLETE SYMMETRY… .
The author’s name and the title of the work: RAWLINGS / THE MAGNOLIA TREE
The defined words:
A. Split into branches, RAMIFY
B. Artist with a zoo n New Orleans named for him, AUDUBON
C. Across, from side t side, WIDTHWISE
D. Habitat for most gorillas, LOWLAND
E. Insect marked with large ocellar spots (2 wds.), IO MOTH
F. Cultivate useful connections, NETWORK
G. Move in a loud, clumsy way, GALUMPH
H. Sound or appear jerky, as audio or video, STUTTER
I. Convoluted, tortuous, TWISTY
J. Play with soldiers in France (2 wds.), HENRY V
K. Sophisticated yet simple, ELEGANT
L. Tangly growth in a tropical coastal swamp, MANGROVE
M. Character, mood, environment, ATMOSPHERE
N. Bird whose male is vibrant yellow in the summer and olive-colored in the winter, GOLDFINCH
O. Camp outing for scouts (2 wds.), NATURE HIKE
P. Epoch of global ice expansion, OLIGOCENE
Q. Player in an early music ensemble, LUTENIST
R. Study of fossil tracks, burrows and the like, ICHNOLOGY
S. Ancient shipping container with a rounded shape, AMPHORA
T. Long tops to wear with leggings, TUNICS
U. Attractions for leaf peepers (2 wds.), RED MAPLES
V. Civil rights objective, EQUALITY
W. Annual even with a green theme (2 wds.), EARTH DAY
The complete paragraph of the quotation: The tree was a magnolia, taller than the tallest orange trees around it. There is no such thing in the world as an ugly tree, but the magnolia grandiflora has a unique perfection. No matter how crowded it may be, no matter how thickly holly and live oak and sweet gum may grow up around it, it develops with complete symmetry, so that one wonders whether character in all things, human as well as vegetable, may not be implicit. Neither is its development ruthless, achieved at the expense of its neighbors, for it is one of the few trees that may be allowed to stand in an orange grove, seeming to steal nothing from the expensively nourished citrus. The young of the tree is courteous, waiting for the parent to be done with life before presuming to take it over. There are never seedling magnolias under or near an old magnolia. When the tree at last dies, the young glossy sprouts appear from nowhere, exulting in the sun and air for which they may have waited a long hundred years. ~ The Magnolia Tree, Cross Creek
————————
Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.
No comments:
Post a Comment