Sunday, February 28, 2010
ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz
With this winter’s blizzard weather casting itself throughout the United States, the quote of today’s acrostic applies at least in part to the whole nation --- from Dateline America by Charles Kuralt (1979) the quotation appears most notably in The Traveling Curmudgeon, Irreverent Notes, Quotes, and Anecdotes on Dismal Destinations, Excess Baggage, The Full Upright Position, and Other Reasons Not to Go There, compiled and edited by John Winokur.
The quotation: THE MINNESOTA STATE SEAL SHOULD BE CHANGED TO ICE CUBES RAMPANT ON A FIELD OF WHITE A GRINNING BAREFOOT SWEDE IN A T-SHIRT RIDING A SNOWMOBILE AND A SHIVERING VISITOR WHOSE STRICKEN BREATH IS FREEZING INTO CRYSTALS
The author’s name and the title of the work: KURALT DATELINE AMERICA
The defined words:
A. Advise without consent, KIBITZ;
B. Fair minded, evenhanded, UNBIASED;
C. Current-regulating gizmo, RHEOSTAT;
D. Sudden, overwhelming rush, AVALANCHE;
E. Truth, or wide acceptance, LEGITIMACY;
F. Sully, stain, muddy, TARNISH;
G. Prepare for an uphill effort?, DOWNSHIFT;
H. Ben Franklin’s “daughter of ignorance”, ADMIRATION;
I. Subjected to an X factor?, TENFOLD;
J. Gloaming, twilight, EVENTIDE;
K. Bound to advance over others?, LEAPFROG;
L. At fault, guilty, culpable (3 wds.), IN THE WRONG;
M. Roald Amundsen or Fridtjof Nansen, e.g., NORWEGIAN;
N. Heyday of Pac-Man and Cabbage Patch Kids, EIGHTIES;
O. Good at picking things up, ABSORBENT;
P. Cold wind in the south of France, MISTRAL;
Q. Practice of making designer babies, EUGENICS;
R. Replace an old coat with a new one, REFINISH;
S. Figure with 20 faces, ICOSAHEDRON;
T. Viewpoint of Ishmael in “Moby-Dick” (2 wds.), CROW’S NEST;
U. Chrysotile or crocidolite, ASBESTOS
The full quotation: The state seal shows a farmer, a waterfall, a forest, and an Indian riding into the sunset. It should be changed to ice cubes rampant on a field of white, a grinning barefoot Swede in a Grain Belt Beer T-shirt riding a snowmobile, and a shivering visitor whose stricken breath is freezing into ice crystals.
Click on image to enlarge.
Puzzle available on the internet at
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