The New York Times Crossword in Gothic: 02.12.12 — A Garden of Words

Sunday, February 12, 2012

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

This Sunday’s fine acrostic draws a quotation from “A Garden of Words” by Martha Barnette.

Martha Barnette leads a tour through the language of the garden, stopping along the way to coax out the many secrets that flowers have to tell about history, culture, psychology, folklore, and science. "Everything in it is delightful to learn. Barnette takes us through languages and across millennia in a charming style that, starting with words describing things we eat, turns out to offer endless food for thought." ~ The New Yorker

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The quotation: THE ANTH- IN… ANTHURIUM… MEANS ‘TO BLOOM.” … THE GREEK WORD FOR “FLOWER,” ANTHOS,… GAVE US ONE OF THE LOVELIEST OF ENGLISH WORDS, ANTHOLOGY, WHICH LITERALLY MEANS A “GATHERING OF FLOWERS,” OR “GARLAND” — A LITERARY BOQUET, IF YOU WILL.

The author’s name and the title of the work: BARNETTE, A GARDEN OF WORDS

The defined words:

A. Fellows in a flock, BRETHREN
B. 1932 #1 Louis Armstrong hit with the lyric “Take my arms, I’ll never use them” (3 wds.), “ALL OF ME”
C. Congenial sign-off, REGARDS
D. Helen Thomas or Nellie Bly, e.g., NEWSWOMAN
E. Herbal folk remedy for ocular woes, EYEBRIGHT
F. Maize flour flatbread, TORTILLA
G. Ganache-filled confections, TRUFFLES
H. 1912 Peace Nobelist who was once a secretary of war (2 wds.), ELIHU ROOT
I. Connected with love, romantic, AMATORY
J. Short, bearded and wearing a pointy red hat, say, GNOMISH
K. Voyager/adventurer of myth, ARGONAUT
L. Not very refined (hyph.), ROUGH-HEWN
M. Talk show that ran for 29 years, DONAHUE
N. Leaving room for doubt: ambiguous, EQUIVOCAL
O. Tussie-mussie, NOSEGAY
P. Son or daughter; limb, OFFSHOOT
Q. Post-“Dr. Strangelove” film of 1964 (hyph.), FAIL-SAFE
R. Tire seen on a Packard, perhaps, WHITEWALL
S. Toon with a brother named Castor (2 wds.), OLIVE OYL
T. Take a fresh look at, RETHINK
U. Out-and-out, utter, rank, DOWNRIGHT
V. Pastry sold at a Christkindlmarkt, STOLLEN

The unedited paragraphs of the quotation:

The anth- in the name of the anthodium originates from the Indo-European root called ANDH-, which means “to bloom.” This root also gave rise to the Greek word for “flower,” anthos, the source of such floral words in English as anther, “the pollen-bearing part of a blossom,” and anthesis, “the period of a flower’s full bloom.” Anth- is part of such flower names as chrysanthemum, from Greek khrusas, “gold,” and also seems to have influence the name of the flower called amaranth, from Greek amarantos, “enciphering,” “unfading.”

Anthos is part of the Greek verb exanthein, “to bloom out,” “burst forth,” and thus in the medical term exanthema, a glorified word for “skin rash.” The Greek word for “flower” also gave us one of the loveliest of English words, anthology, which literally means a “gathering of flowers,” or “garland”—a literary bouquet, if you will.

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