May 13, 2006

"I have the true feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy."

I love the Saturday crossword, because it's so hard (but you can get it in the end if you keep going even when it seems that you've hit the wall -- at least if you've built up your skill with easier days of the puzzle). But today's puzzle, by Brendan Emmett Quigley (edited by Will Shortz), is especially nice, because the 1 Across clue asks for the writer of that quote. It makes you want to dig in and solve, doesn't it? Or do you know the answer off the top of your (large-domed) head? Or does it just make you want to Google your way to the answer (which will take two seconds)? Or do you just tsk "somebody had a problem with depression"?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Not sure I should admit this, but I just knew who wrote it. Wasn't it obvious?

Lance Burri said...

I chose option #3 (Google). Yes, it took about two seconds, and yes, once I saw the answer, it did seem obvious. But I would never have come up with it on my own.

amba said...

I had to Google it too. He is the source of my favorite quote: "There is infinite hope, but not for us."

The true feeling of myself is the sense of loss, so this quote makes complete sense to me, though I wouldn't go that far.

stoqboy said...

I don't understand "unbearably" happy. How is that? You can't put up with being happy, you have some other state of mind that is preferable? I don't think of happiness as a burden.