04.22.07 -- Poets on Poetry

This Sunday construction by Victor Fleming is titled FOR APRIL -- NATIONAL POETRY MONTH and features six quotes for eight answers from Osbert Sitwell, Joseph Roux, Carl Sandburg, Edith Sitwell, Pablo Neruda and e. e. cummings in reference to poetry.
25A With 36-Across, “Poetry is…” (Osbert Sitwell) LIKEFISHIFITS
36A See 25-Across FRESHITSGOOD
59A “Poetry is…” (Joseph Roux) TRUTHINITSSUNDAYCLOTHES
81A With 89-Across, “Poetry is…” (Carl Sandburg) ANECHOASKINGA
89A See 81-Across SHADOWTODANCE
111A “Poetry is…” (Edith Sitwell) THE DEIFICATIONOFREALITY
128A “Poetry is…” (Pablo Neruda) ANACTOFPEACE
148A “Poetry is…” (E.E. Cummings) BEINGNOTDOING
Quotations in puzzles are always sticky as they often get or give no clue from or to anything else and are many times obscure or rarely used -- however, when one fills in half to ninety percent of the quote, the quote most likely will fall into place (unless one knows the reference by heart for some reason or other, then one is home free), thus eliciting an “oh, that’s interesting.” Truth is it is easier to have six quotations rather than one large quotation throughout the puzzle, but nevertheless, it makes for a bit of a plodding solution.
As it turns out, there are hundreds of quotations in reference to the “nature” of poetry -- Google it, e.g., “Poetry is…” Additionally, there’s the mysterious Joseph Roux, a priest and writer who lived 1834-1886 -- was he even a poet? Who knows, Wikipedia is no help, nor any tactile reference in my library which includes some heavy tomes. Nonetheless, several of his quotations are on record.
There is a lot of originality in this dusty creation -- stuff pulled out of the memory trunk of crosswords past -- without referencing to the Across and Down or their clues, I liked HILO, SWAK, MARIGOLDS, ONEARM, TURKIC, THEUSA, SAYIDO, EPINAL, MRKITE, GARBLE, MALO, KITH, CESURA, OHSO, AGOD, HADA, IFI, TWOA, LIND, ICEBAG, ICANSO, EGAD. Everyone has their favorites, may I suggest you consult the following for theirs in today’s "Sunday special poet’s edition":
Osbert Sitwell, an anonymous priest in lieu of Joseph Roux, Carl Sandburg, Edith Sitwell, Pablo Neruda, e. e. cummings
NOTICE: The New York Times Crossword in Gothic will no longer carry a full copy of the puzzle due to receiving notice from a representative of The New York Times which states in part: “…you've included each day's puzzle (clues and all) on your blog, which violates the Times' copyright. Theoretically a reader could print out the puzzle from your blog rather than subscribe to it online… remove the puzzles you have posted now and refrain from posting any others.”

5 comments:

Linda G said...

How in the world did you post this so early yesterday? I guess when you live in NYC you can get the NYT very early. I didn't even get home until 9:30 last night but was so keyed up that I did the puzzle and blogged before finally going to bed.

Thanks so much for the link ; )

And I always love the photos you choose. Your Theater of the Absurd was excellent. I would like to know more about how to master the spacing issue I referred to on my blog. I don't think you have a link to email you. I was hesitant to post mine on my site--given my gorgeous picture!

DONALD said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Linda G said...

Got it -- thanks.

Will email later this afternoon. Just heading out for a walk and errands.

DONALD said...

Partial repost of deleted comment:

DONALD said...
I subscribe to home delivery of NYT and it arrives in the driveway about 6:00 AM every morning. On the weekend, parts of the Sunday edition are included with the Saturday paper, due to the fact that I guess they want to distribute a less heavy burden on Sundays (Sunday's driveway NYT is almost Spartan) -- so the NYT Magazine, Arts & Leisure, Book Review, etc. etc. all those sections that are pre-printed earlier in the week are included on Saturday -- ergo, I get both the Saturday and Sunday puzzle at around 6 AM on Saturday. I just joined the NYT electronic crossword a week ago (foolish move as I now see it is included if one is a home subscriber -- maybe I can get my money back), so now as of this week I have begun with the puzzle at the time it is electronically available, but still like to post it in handwriting the following day -- it gives a little time to sleep on it and not post something rash!

Linda G said...
This comment has been removed by the author.