10.09.11 — An American Primer — the Acrostic



Sunday, October 9, 2011

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

This Sunday's fine acrostic draws a quotation from An American Primer by Walt Whitman.

The American Primer is a challenge rather than a finished fight. Whitman shows in it what he was prepared to do rather than what he thought he had perfected. It was his original intention to enlarge these notes into a study which would in a sense inclose the theme and dignify it in the way it deserved. Whitman in his early career planned for all sorts of literary ventures which were not consummated. Whitman was undoubtedly convinced that he had a mission. … Whitman said of it, " It was first intended for a lecture: then when I gave up the idea of lecturing it was intended for a book: now, as it stands it is neither a lecture nor a book." ~ Horace Traubel, The Atlantic Monthly, 1904

The quotation: THE APPETITE OF THE PEOPLE OF THESE STATES, IN POPULAR SPEECHES AND WRITINGS, IS FOR UNHEMMED LATITUDE, COARSENESS, DIRECTNESS, LIVE EPITHETS, EXPLETIVES, WORDS OF OPPROBRIUM… . I UNDERSTAND BECAUSE I HAVE THE TASTE MYSELF.

The author’s name and the title of the work: WHITMAN, AN AMERICAN PRIMER

The defined words:

A. Online video gamer’s exclamation of joy, WOOT
B. Someone who’s really got “it” (2 wds.), HOT STUFF
C. With heels over head, INVERTED
D. Achievement of a dynastic sports franchise, THREEPEAT
E. Follower of John and Charles Wesley, METHODIST
F. Codicil or addendum, APPENDIX
G. Support at the end of a flight (2 wds.), NEWEL POST
H. Red who was with the Boston Celtics for 56 years, AUERBACH
I. Phobia, anxiety or hypochondria, NEUROSIS
J. Where a centerboard is located, AMIDSHIPS
K. Condition of imposed inactivity, metaphorically, MOTHBALLS
L. Edmond Dantès, with respect to the Château d'If, ESCAPEE
M. Having experienced oxcart traffic, say, RUTTED
N. Overrun to a point of botheration, INFESTED
O. Upbeat, bright, optimistic, CHEERFUL
P. What may go down the hatch pre-prandial, APERITIF
Q. Fresh convert; rookie, NEOPHYTE
R. That in which history is written (2 wds.), PAST TENSE
S. Got to run faster (2 wds.), REVVED UP
T. Having two-legged equality, ISOSCELES
U. Item designed to strike from a distance, MISSILE
V. Covert gathering of intelligence, ESPIONAGE
W. What’s signaled by a black box among five horizontal lines, REST

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