Sunday, March 11, 2012
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon
Edited by Will Shortz
This Sunday’s timely acrostic draws a quotation from The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks by William Robertson Davies.
Davies, a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself and to have detested. Davies was a fine public speaker: deft, often humorous, and unafraid to be unfashionable. Often asked if he used a computer, Davies said in 1987: "I don't want a word-processor. I process my own words. Helpful people assure me that a word-processor would save me a great deal of time. But I don't want to save time. I want to write the best book I can, and I have whatever time it takes to make that attempt." ~ Wikipedia
The quotation: AT THE BACK OF THE DAYLIGHT SAVING SCHEME, I DETECT THE BONY, BLUE-FINGERED HAND OF PURITANISM, EAGER TO PUSH PEOPLE INTO BED EARLIER, AND GET THEM UP EARLIER, TO MAKE THEM HEALTHY, WEALTHY, AND WISE IN SPITE OF THEMSELVES.
The author’s name and the title of the work: DAVIES, SAMUEL MARCHBANKS
The defined words:
A. Pollyanna’s opposite, DOOMSTER
B. What in Greek is literally “not published”, ANECDOTE
C. Manhattan’s minority constituent, VERMOUTH
D. Pollutant or polluted state, IMPURITY
E. Be dormant in the summertime, ESTIVATE
F. Shortest man (5’7”) to win an N.B.A. slam-dunk contest (2 wds.), SPUDD WEBB
G. Piece in a conchologist’s collection, SEASHELL
H. “A shadow’s shadow,” as Rosencrantz told Hamlet, AMBITION
I. Ungentle handler, metaphorically (2 wds.), MEAT HOOK
J. Remove from a list of associates, UNFRIEND
K. Plant in a cloud forest such as an orchid or bromeliad, EPIPHYTE
L. Inclination to do nothing much, LETHARGY
M. Unit for Stone Age construction workers, MEGALITH
N. Having a wall in common, as a house, ATTACHED
O. Pick up and put down again, RESETTLE
P. Marked by vicissitudes, CHANGING
Q. Take to the next level, HEIGHTEN
R. Bowlful of hearty stuff (2 wds.), BEEF STEW
S. With no one to talk to (2 wds.), ALL ALONE
T. Part of a cycle at neither extreme (2 wds.), NEAP TIDE
U. Head protector in a sandstorm, KAFFIYEH
V. Guardian often spotted with a crook, SHEPHERD
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The full paragraph of the quotation: "I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it. At the back of the Daylight Saving scheme I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of Puritanism, eager to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make them healthy, wealthy and wise in spite of themselves." ~ Robertson Davies, The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, 1947, XIX, Sunday
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Click on image to enlarge.
Puzzle available on the internet at
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