Acrostic (puzzle)
Anacrosticis a type ofword puzzle,related somewhat tocrossword puzzles,that uses anacrosticform. It typically consists of two parts. The first part is a set of lettered clues, each of which has numbered blanks representing the letters of the answer. The second part is a long series of numbered blanks and spaces, representing a quotation or other text, into which the answers for the clues fit. In some forms of the puzzle, the first letters of each correct clue answer, read in order from clue A on down the list, will spell out the author of the quote and the title of the work it is taken from; this can be used as an additional solving aid.
An example[edit]
For example, two clues in the first part might be:
| A. Country of the Rising Sun: | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ |
| 8 | 5 | 17 | 2 | 14 | |
| B. Not doing anything: | _ | _ | _ | _ | |
| 9 | 7 | 23 | 20 |
The second part is initially blank:
| _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
If the answer to clueAisJAPAN,then the second part fills in as follows:
| _ | A | _ | _ | A | _ | _ | J | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | N | _ | _ | P | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
Letters 16 and 17 form a two-letter word ending inP.Since this has to beUP,letter 16 is aU,which can be filled into the appropriate clue answer in the list of clues. Likewise, a three-letter word starting withAcould beand,any,all,or even a proper name likeAnn.One might need more clue answers before daring to guess which it could be.
If the answer to clueBisIDLE,one could narrow down the 5/6/7 word toANDand the following word starting withJI.Some people might already begin to recognize the phrase "Jack and Jill went up the hill."
The numbers in the quotation are generally followed by letters corresponding to the clue answers, to aid solvers in working back and forth from the clues to the puzzle.
History[edit]
Elizabeth Kingsleyis credited with inventing the puzzle forSaturday Reviewin 1934, under the namedouble-crostic.Since then, othernonce wordsending in "-crostic" have been used.Anacrosticmay be the most accurate term used, and hence most common, as it is aportmanteauofanagramandacrostic,referencing the fact that the solution is an anagram of the clue answers, and the author of the quote is hidden in the clue answers acrostically. LaterSaturday Reviewconstructors were Doris Nash Wortman, Thomas Middleton, and Barry Tunick. Thomas Middleton also produced many puzzles forHarpers Magazine.Kingsley, Wortman, and Middleton created additional puzzles forThe New York Timesfrom 1952–1999, but not more than one every other week.Emily CoxandHenry Rathvontook over the bi-weekly setting duties for the NYT in 1999.
A similar puzzle, called a Trans-O-Gram, by Svend Petersen, and later, Kem Putney, appeared inNational Reviewfrom 1963–1993. Trans-O-Grams were often themed puzzles, with clues related to the quote. The name Duo-Crostic was used by theLos Angeles Timesfor puzzles by Barry Tunick and Sylvia Bursztyn. Charles Preston created Quote-Acrostics forThe Washington Post.Charles Duerr, who died in 1999, authored many "Dur-acrostic" books and was a contributor of acrostics to the Saturday Review. Michael Ashley's "Double Cross" acrostics have appeared inGAMESandGAMES World of Puzzlessince 1978.
Writer and academicIsaac Asimovenjoyed acrostics, comparing them favorably to crossword puzzles. In "Yours, Isaac Asimov", published three years after his 1992 death, he wrote, "As it happens, I don't... have time for hobbies. But I am a fiend at Crostics. Crostics don't have the public that crosswords do, because Crostics seem hard. They aren't, and they're infinitely more interesting than crosswords."
