Sunday, October 11, 2009 ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, edited by Will Shortz Today’s acrostic draws it’s quotation from Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, a cautionary tale on careless biological tinkering in the same spirit as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
The quotation: MUCH OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IS FRIVOLOUS EFFORTS TO ENGINEER PALER TROUT FOR BETTER VISIBILITY IN THE STREAM SQUARE TREES FOR EASIER LUMBERING AND INJECTABLE SCENT CELLS SO YOULL ALWAYS SMELL OF PERFUME ARE NOT A JOKE The author’s name and the title of the work: CRICHTON JURASSIC PARK The defined words: A. Versatile women’ garment, CULOTTES; B. Protector of a pump (2 wds.), RIB CAGE; C. Somebody being a busybody, INTERLOPER; D. Hero who “died at the throttle / With the whistle in his hand” (2 wds.), CASEY JONES; E. German spa that lent its name to an article of apparel, HOMBERG; F. Horseplay, shenanigans, TOMFOOLERY; G. Nutty, bizarre (hyph.), OFF-THE-WALL; H. Descriptive of a stock villain, NEFARIOUS; I. What a picaroon may fly (2 wds.), JOLLY ROGER; J. Accounts investigated by snopes.com (2 wds.), URBAN MYTHS; K. The practical world; not make-believe (2 wds.), REAL LIFE; L. Difficult for the uninitiated to grasp, ABSTRUSE; M. Region inhabited by Poles, Czechs and Germans, SILESIA; N. What keeps the rain off many a cowpoke’s head, STETSON; O. Not getting the job done, INEFFECTIVE; P. Creeping plant with bright yellow flowers, CINQUEFOIL; Q. 1950s- 70s NASA program, PIONEER; R. Having mixed emotions, AMBIVALENT; S. Emblem of the Democratic Party in 1840, ROOSTER; T. Makers of rolling thunder, KETTLEDRUMS. The quotation as it appears in Jurassic Park -- INTRODUCTION, “The InGen Incident”:
The late twentieth century has witnessed a scientific gold rush of astonishing proportions: the headlong and furious haste to commercialize genetic engineering. This enterprise has proceeded so rapidly -- with so little outside commentary -- that its dimensions and implications are hardly understood at all. Biotechnology promises the greatest revolution in human history. By the end of this decade, it will have outdistanced atomic power and computers in its effect on our everyday lives. In the words of one observer, “Biotechnology is going to transform every aspect of human life: our medical care, our food, our health, our entertainment, our very bodies. Nothing will ever be the ame again. It’s literally going to change the face of the planet.” But the biotechnology revolution differs in three important respects from past scientific transformations.First, it is broad-based. America entered the atomic age through the work of a single research institution, at Los Alamos. It entered the computer age through the efforts of about a dozen companies But biotechnology research is now carried out in more than two thousand laboratories in America alone. Five hundred corporations spend five billion dollars a year on this technology. Second, much of the research is thoughtless or frivolous. Efforts to engineer paler trout for better visibility in the stream, square trees for easier lumbering, and inject able scent cells so you’ll always smell of your favorite perfume may seem like a joke, but they are not. Indeed the fact that biotechnology an be applied to the industries traditionally subject to the vagaries of fashion, such as cosmetic and leisure activities, heightens concern about the whimsical use of this powerful new technology.
Click on image to enlarge. Puzzle available on the internet at THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery.
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