09.13.09 -- A Piece of My Mind -- the Acrostic

Death of Marat, Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev

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Sunday, September 13, 2009

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz

A Piece of My Mind by Edmund Wilson provides this Sunday’s acrostic quotation. The clues for the defined words and the defined words themselves seemed particularly difficult to decipher. Additionally, in reference to the quotation, even with a dozen words in place, the text would not read. Love the quote, but the puzzle's a killer!

The quotation: I HAVE HAD A GOOD MANY MORE UPLIFTING THOUGHTS CREATIVE AND EXPANSIVE VISIONS WHILE SOAKING IN COMFORTABLE BATHS OR DRYING MYSELF AFTER BRACING SHOWERS IN WELL-EQUIPPED BATHROOMS THAN I HAVE EVER HAD IN ANY CATHEDRAL

The author’s name and the title of the work: EDMUND WILSON A PIECE OF MY MIND

The defined words: A Went through some changes, EVOLVED; B. Nutty white confection, DIVINITY; C. The gent for whom a lady looks (2 wds.), MR RIGHT; D. Not likely to split sides, UNFUNNY; E. Veil over a Muslim woman’s face, NIQAB; F. Clash involving two or more aces, DOGFIGHT; G. Thing pulled in opposite directions, WISHBONE; H. Mother of King Arthur, IGRAINE; I. See what people say, LIPREAD; J. Completely unlocked?, SHORN; K. Getting Muzak instead of a person, say (2 wds.), ON HOLD; L. Having a lot of indentations, NOTCHED; M. Force to feel chagrin, ABASH; N. Any king in the Valley of the Kings, PHARAOH; B. Arrangement for picking up yards (2 wds.), I FORMATION; P. What some call an aardvark (2 wds.), EARTH PIG; O. Tool; light breeze ruffling the water’s surface (hyph), CATS-PAW; R. Steer clear of, ESCHEW; S. Incidentally get news from, OVERHEAR; T. Campaign issue in 1996 and 2000 (2 wds.), FLAT TAX; U. Huge, enormous, MASSIVE; V. Poet who wrote “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, YEATS; W. Components of one’s sanity?, MARBLES; X. Conference titled for Heders helix (2 wds.), IVY LEAGUE; Y. Familiar form of something that’s proper, NICKNAME; Z. Cyclades island where Apollo and Artemis were born, DELOS.

The full paragraph of the quotation: A certain kind of European overrates the comparative importance, in the present age of the world, of a good deal of his cultural tradition, and often of his own real interest in it. For myself, as an American, I have not the least doubt that I have derived a good deal more benefit of the civilizing as well as of the inspirational kind from the admirable American bathroom than I have from the cathedrals of Europe. I do not, of course, deny the impressiveness or the many varied beauties of these monuments, nor their usefulness to the people in their time; I have enjoyed their delightful coolness and their shade from the glare of the sun on broiling days in France and Italy--though in cold weather they are likely to be unbearable. But I have had a good many more uplifting thoughts creative and expansive visions--while soaking in comfortable baths or drying myself after bracing shows--in well-equipped American bathrooms than I have ever had in any cathedral. Here the body purges itself, and along with the body, the spirit. Here the mind becomes free to ruminate, to plan ambitious projects. The cathedrals, with their distant domes their long aisles and their high groinings, do add stature to human strivings; their chapels do give privacy for prayer. But the bathroom, too, shelters the spirit, it tranquillizes and reassures, in surroundings of a celestial whiteness, where the pipes and the faucets gleam and the mirror makes another liquid surface, which will render you, shaved, rubbed and brushed, a nobler and more winning appearance. Here, too, you may sing, recite, refresh yourself with brief readings, just as you do in church; and the fact that you do it without a priest and not as a member of a congregation is, from my point of view, an advantage. It encourages self-dependence and prepares one to face the world, fortified firm on one’s feet, serene and with a mind like a diamond.

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