Homeward Bound
The Odyssey enjoys a richly deserved prime spot in our literary canon. Homer’s epic has also inspired countless retellings and reworkings, from James Joyce’s Ulysses to Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain to Madeline Miller’s Circe. Its enduring appeal may have much to do with its universal themes of homecoming and reunion, not to mention a dramatis personae that includes sirens, witches, a one-eyed monster and a crafty hero.
Daniel Mendelsohn, whose new translation of The Odyssey is scheduled for release next spring, also produced the 2017 memoir An Odyssey, from which we drew the quote for this acrostic. An Odyssey recounts a cruise that Mendelsohn took through the Greek Islands with his cantankerous 81-year-old father. The book also reintroduces readers to Homer’s work with marvelous insight. We found Mendelsohn’s book poignant and touching, and learned a lot from it, including about the etymology of “nostalgia.”
Filmdom has also made lavish use of The Odyssey over the years. One particular favorite of ours is Cinema Paradiso, which chronicles the early life of a fatherless boy in southern Italy during World War II who grows up to be a successful filmmaker. References to The Odyssey, both obvious and subtle, weave through the story. One sentimental scene shows the grown protagonist returning to his childhood home. His mother rises from her chair to greet him at the door. As she does so, she inadvertently drags with her a ball of yarn that had been on her lap, causing the scarf she had been knitting to unravel. Just brilliant.
And for the truly nostalgic among you:
How many references to The Odyssey did you catch in this puzzle?
Wow, this was the hardest acrostic I can remember! I’m proud that I managed to work it out, though I was tempted to look up such things as the Yale quarterback. Then I remembered that the character in the strip was BD, so that helped. I saw the theme early, but admit I didn’t come up with most of the Greek allusions quickly. I tried to make “algae” fit the quote for a long time…Figuring out Ithaca is Gorges was a big breakthrough. I especially like the cleverness of “Some who go to court”!
Thanks, Jane and Dave, for another. fantastic challenge!
Forgot to say I have read some of Daniel Mendelsohn’s books, so seeing his name peek out was gratifying. I’ll have to keep any eye out for the new translation…
“Anthropos polytropos” describes the man of many twists and turns who takes forever to return home.
Finally, his own dog recognizes him after all those years. Then the faithful canine…
Maybe the saddest moment in literary history. Great Acrostic.
Why thank you for the nice shout-out!
You’re very welcome! I’ve already picked up your Odyssey book and been moved just by the first chapter. It seems like good preparation for your new translation.
After the last acrostic, which can’t have taken me more than 25 minutes to solve, it was only right that this Sunday’s be a real toughie. I was lost at sea and far from home when the name of the author, Daniel Mendelsohn, popped out at me. From there everything fell together nicely.
Enjoyed the quote… good word origin. Started out with NOGGINS, MOWGLI and SHIPWRECK, then slowed down. Some words I should have gotten sooner, but didn’t, and others I didn’t know at all. Tried rooster for word X and soon knew it wasn’t working and thought of EGOTIST. Wondered if that was a deliberate red herring as it had the same number of letters; a good one, anyway. Thanks.
Enjoyed the quote… good word origin. Started out with NOGGINS, MOWGLI and SHIPWRECK, then slowed down. Some words I should have gotten sooner, but didn’t, and others I didn’t know at all. Tried rooster for word X and soon knew it wasn’t working and thought of EGOTIST. Wondered if that was a deliberate red herring as it had the same number of letters; a good one, anyway. Thanks.
Because I am old and a “Doonesbury” nerd, I got the QB right away. I thought I’d spelled MOWGLI wrong for a while – it’s always tricky to have non-English words in an Acrostic! We read “An Odyssey” in book club. I read Emily Wilson’s translation of the epic at the same time and loved them both. Thanks for waking my brain this morning!
Also love the video which does indeed induce nostalgia….
What a workout! Loved it.
This acrostic was Greek to me for awhile and I was lost at sea for quite some time. But eventually my memory of Greek mythology in general and the Odyssey in particular kicked in and I was able to solve it (although AEGISTHUS eluded me, and was mostly filled in by working backwards from the quote). I owe a debt of thanks to my HAVERFORD education, and it was great to see my alma mater in the puzzle. In addition to P and Q it was fun seeing Odyssey references like ITHACA, SHIPWRECK, SUITORS, CALYPSO, NYMPHS, and ONE-EYED crop up in the answers.
I also want to say that although I didn’t get to it until much later in the week than normal, I relished the 12/17 opera themed acrostic. My 95 year old mother who was both a word game and opera lover passed away that day. She would have adored that puzzle, as did I. Thanks to B and S for providing consistently challenging and diverting puzzles.
Mr Ryan, who taught the Greek alphabet as my first step into the classics, would be thrilled with the puzzle. His characteristic displeasure with me would be justified once more with the time it took me to do it. Sorry, sir, but thank you.
As always, cosolver & I had a blast with this acrostic. We always appreciate the challenge and love the well-chosen quotation that the puzzle presents you with as a reward for solving it.
And also much appreciated is the pristeen quote appearing below the solved puzzle!
(Minor nitpick; Haverford, like Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore, was indeed founded as a Quaker college. But all three of them have been non-sectarian for 100 years or more.)
Quaker influence at Haverford was still very strong at Haverford when I attended in the 1970s. Although only a small number of students were Quakers, college governance was largely based on Quaker principles of consensus.
It’s lovely to construct puzzles for people so enthusiastic about literature. And what a special treat to see Prof. Mendelsohn himself posting on our site! Perhaps he’s an acrostic fan — or convert?
Finding the right difficulty level for these puzzles is tricky. Our beta tester, our English major daughter, has certain strengths; the NYT’s beta testers likely have others. As the puzzles get reviewed in various ways by different folks before the final published version, the resulting level represents a cumulative zeroing-in on the level of challenge. We wouldn’t have guessed there was such a wide discrepancy between the opera puzzle and the Odyssey one.
For those of you who relish extra having extra puzzles to tackle, we encourage you to take a trip even further down memory lane — in terms of your encounters with the classics — via our Puzzle Mania acrostic, available in last Sunday’s 3-D paper or on xword (see our Welcome page). You might find yourself wanting to consult friends and family of a different generation on this one. Feel free to let us know how it goes!
Way over my head. I must have slept through Greek Mythology in school.
Looked up several references, otherwise would never have completed this one. Excellent challenge, good work, thanks!