Althouse: I don't want to spoil the Sunday NYT acrostic, so I'll just say was that just a coincidence...

November 5, 2022

I don't want to spoil the Sunday NYT acrostic, so I'll just say was that just a coincidence...

... or did they hurry this one out?

10 comments:

Ann Althouse said...: It's okay to spoil in the comments. If you don't want a spoiler, don't read beyond this point.; 11/5/22, 7:32 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I love the acrostic! It's been my favorite NYT puzzle for decades.; 11/5/22, 7:33 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: No spoilage - it's behind a pay wall.; 11/5/22, 7:41 AM
tim maguire said...: Can't see without a subscription so, without spoilers, most of us will never know.; 11/5/22, 7:45 AM
Ann Althouse said...: It wouldn't be spoiled by going to the link and having a subscription. You would see an empty grid and you could do the puzzle. It would only be spoiled if we were to write about the solution, which I know, and which I am choosing not to reveal. But if anyone does the puzzle and wants to talk about the solution — which relates to something in the recent news. I'm interested in the way there's such a strong connection to the recent news but I don't think it's possible that the puzzle could be whipped up so quickly, especially given that it needs to be printed in the magazine, which is prepared early in the Sunday Times printing process (I think).

I guess I'll reveal the answer pretty soon, because I've already warned people about spoilers. Again, the spoiler warning is about people who want to do the puzzle. I, myself, love the acrostic and would be really annoyed to run across any kind of revealer to the solution. In fact, even this post title is pushing what's appropriate, as I see it.; 11/5/22, 8:15 AM
Antiantifa said...: I loved it. I suspect they have been sitting on it for months.; 11/5/22, 10:27 AM
Paul Sand said...: I popped over to the acrostic, solved it (easier than usual). Took me a while to notice what you were talking about. I think it has to be coincidence.

I know it's wrong, but that old Peter, Paul, and Mary song (or Trini Lopez song if you prefer) has been invading my brain for days now...; 11/5/22, 3:53 PM
Ann Althouse said...: So here's the answer in case you want to know what I was talking about and don't care to do the puzzle. It's an acrostic, so that has you answering a lot of clues, then transferring letters to a grid to form a quote.

The quote, from Molly Ivins, “You Got to Dance (With Them What Brung You)," was:

"I think government is a tool, like a hammer. You can use a hammer to build or... to destroy... . It is the purposes to which it is put and the skill with which it is used that determine whether the hammer’s work is good or bad."

"Hammer" appears 3 times and the idea of using a hammer destructively is featured. That seemed like a reaction to the attack on Paul Pelosi. But I think it couldn't have been intentional. They may have even regretted the coincidence.; 11/5/22, 7:45 PM
Ann Althouse said...: If you're looking for hammer songs, there's also "Hammer" by Bob Marley and the Wailers and "Hammer to Fall" by Queen.

Also Bob Dylan:

"The wind howls like a hammer/The night blows cold and rainy/My love she’s like some raven/At my window with a broken wing"

and

"I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’/I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’/ I saw a white ladder all covered with water/ I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken/I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children"; 11/5/22, 7:48 PM
gpm said...: Had a good start, then struggled mightily to a not great result time-wise. Also paused and looked up one answer about a certain autobiography. And was shamefully late in getting the Chicago answer, where I was totally in left field Chicago-history wise (hopefully not at that horrible place on the, um, North Side where that awful National League team plays). When, really, it was just Some Like It Hot territory.

>>I love the acrostic! It's been my favorite NYT puzzle for decades.

I always liked acrostics in concept, but they are incredibly tedious to do in hard copy. So much nicer on-line. It's amazing that Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon have done all the NYT acrostics every other week for 20+ years. Plus any number of crosswords.

--gpm

P.S. Another share with Althouse, who very recently agreed with my abhorrence of coconut.; 11/5/22, 11:47 PM