Zoophiles Unite!
We had a great deal of fun constructing this acrostic. Inspired by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon (as always), we found an unusual and tricky quote about animals and set out to make every clue/answer pair contain a reference of some kind to some member of the animal kingdom – just the sort of thing HEX would have done (and probably did in the course of the 670 or so acrostics they published in The New York Times). How did we do?
In case you’re wondering – no, we hadn’t heard of a cameleopard either. It turns out to be an archaic term for a giraffe, whose taxonomic name is Giraffa camelopardalis, thanks to its camel-like body and leopard-like spots. Carl Linnaeus, who coined the term, apparently had a whimsical streak.
As for The Liar’s Dictionary, it’s a lively novel that would certainly appeal to the same lexicographic interests that one finds in your typical word puzzle enthusiast. A review in The Guardian hailed it as a “virtuoso performance full of charm … a glorious novel – a perfectly crafted investigation of our ability to define words and their power to define us.” Give it a read!
Finally, and with apologies to the hard-working members of the nation’s DMVs, we couldn’t resist offering you this charming clip from the original Zootopia movie:
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2026!
Great fun – it kept me guessing! Cameleopard was my last fill. I never saw Zootopia, so thank you the clip (it did remind me of at least one of my DMV visits. I remember feeling sorry for DMV workers when someone told me that fellow employees would shun any other clerk who exceeded the daily quota for number of people served.) Cool to know that A Liar’s Dictionary is a novel and not a dictionary – I will be sure to look it up. Thank you for another satisfying diversion!
Incredibly entertaining Acrostic that serves as a Wild Kingdom of Wordplay Knowledge.
Happy New Year to all.
The Sloth clip feels like a tribute to this classic Bob and Ray skit.
I gotta say, that was, for me at least, one of the toughest acrostics I’ve seen in quite a while. I stared at the 26 clues blankly, for at least 10 minutes, with only one or two reasonably confident entries. But I was determined not to break my string (believe it or not, going back to the Thomas Middleton era) of solving these without using outside references.
Eventually, almost magically, things finally fell into place. Quite a struggle, but worth it. Impressive how you got the animal kingdom into all 26 clues.
The Zootopia clip is hilarious. It was likely inspired by the classic Bob and Ray comedy skit, “Slow Talkers of America.“ Here’s a link to one of their performances on the Johnny Carson show:
https://youtu.be/B2g_TCYuIAM?si=N2HTaBiOQTB390Pj
Wow, I started acrostics with Thomas Middleton’s, following in the footsteps of my dad and sister, but I was never able to do without at least one or two references. That’s impressive!
I think it’s just a matter of being obsessive/compulsive enough to just keep at. I found the “walk-away“ technique works quite nicely for both the acrostic and really hard crossword puzzles. You walk away in despair. But then come back hours later and at least one key answer pops into your head.
Upon my first reading through the clues, there were very few answers I felt confident about, but I knew that your animal wordplay would be so delightful that I was determined to solve the puzzle on my own. Happily, my feeble start (LUPI, SOWS, DOG DAYS, IN THE ROOM, NAGGED) gave me the crucial TUG and the one of the -OUG- strings, enough to allow the work-back-and-forth method and pattern recognition to see me through to the CAMELEOPARD. Great fun, thank you!
That was great fun. Started with only words T and U before the back and forth. Then thought of WARTHOG. Remembered EGG TEETH from long ago science class with a couple of letters. U was my favorite clue. Thanks to all for sharing the clips. May have to watch all of “Zootopia.” Happy New Year everyone!
Wish I could find a way to print the puzzle that was in the print edition of the magazine. Doing lots of searching but not finding.
Hi Kate — the acrostics (and much more) are available at http://www.xwordinfo.com. You can download and print them from that site.
A very tough puzzle that i’m just getting to, and i have to admit – let’s say as a late Christmas gift to myself – that i looked up mignonette sauce to get myself started.
i will also admit that i read this novel a couple of years ago. i remember it being a lot of fun, and yet i have no idea what “lexical tug-of-war” means here. if anyone still checks this out and can explain, i’d be greatful…
I feel that the 12/28/25 Acrostic has an erroneous clue. Clue X, “Oral ulcer sometimes caused by hoof-and-mouth disease”. Answer, “Aphtha”. This is also called a canker or an aphthous ulcer. It has no relation to F and M disease. It is neither infectious nor communicable.
Best regards, Joel