04.19.15 — The Word Snoop — the Acrostic

Sunday, April 19, 2015

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

This Sunday’s acrostic draws a quotation from The Word Snoop by Ursula Dubosarsky.

Meet the Word Snoop. She?s dashing and daring and witty as can be?and no one knows more about the evolution of the English language than she does. Luckily, she?s spilling her secrets in this gem of a book. From the first alphabet in 4000 BC, to anagrams, palindromes, and modern-day text messages, readers will learn all about the fascinating twists and turns our fair language has taken to become what it is today.

With playful black-and-white illustrations, riddles to solve, and codes to break, The Word Snoop is definitive proof that words can spark the imagination and are anything but dull. This is a book for every aspiring writer, and every true reader. ~ Google ebook 

The quotation: A BLACK CAT DREAMT EVERY FOURTH GOOSE HUNTED INVISIBLE JELLYFISH.  KINDLY LET MANY NICE OSTRICHES PASS QUICKLY.  RATHER STUPIDLY THE UMBRELLA VOTED WHEN X-RAYING YELLOW ZEBRAS. …MAKE UP YOUR OWN CRAZY PANGRAMMATIC STORY

The author’s name and the title of the work:  URSULA DUBOSARSKY, WORD SNOOP

The defined words:

A. Original version, as of a musical score, URTEXT
B. Vroom-maker’s activity, REVVING
C. Sworn enemies of Gargamel, SMURFS
D. Member of the order of newts and salamanders, URODELE
E. Mandible (2 wds.), LOWER JAW
F. Sort of order imposed in this puzzle’s quote, ALPHABETIC
G. The opposite of parch, DRENCH
H. Not pleasant to regard, UNSIGHTLY
I. Derisive imitation, BURLESQUE
J. Kind of fiber in technology, OPTICAL
K. Create Z’s, in a comic strip, SNORE
L. Burning fiercely, ABLAZE
M. Improve; purify, make genteel, REFINE
N. Peduncle, STALK
O. Social gathering where coffee might be involved, KLATSCH
P. Doo-wop hit with the admonition ”Don’t talk back” (2 wds.), ‘YAKETY YAK”
Q. Last word of Eliot’s “The Hollow Men”, WHIMPER
R. Crude container (2 wds.), OIL DRUM
S. Joke follower in a stand-up act, RIMSHOT
T. Unmoved (hyph.), DRY-EYED
U. Literally, rendered fat; figuratively, sentimentalism, SCHMALTZ
V. Capital city of Niger, NIAMEY
W. Pigheadedness, OBSTINACY
X. Augustus’ name before he was emperor, OCTAVIAN
Y. Practice similar to bigamy, POLYGYNY

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Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.