Liberté! Égalité! Fraternité!
In honor of Bastille Day this year, we thought it appropriate to create an acrostic based on that quintessentially French author Victor Hugo. This puzzle also represents something new, at least for us: a quotation in translation from another language. The translator in this case is Isabel Florence Hapgood, a formidable figure in her own right.
We liked this quotation from Les Misérables because it refers to the taking of the Bastille, tailor-made for the holiday. But that isn’t even our favorite quotation in the puzzle; we love the line from Charles Dickens – a striking bit of dark humor – referring to the guillotine as “the best cure for headaches.” We think we’ll stick with ibuprofen, thank you.
A number of people who have commented on our previous posts have noted that they learned things while working on the acrostics, which we of course find very gratifying. Just as gratifying is that we also learn things in constructing the puzzles, typically in the course of coming up with clues. We had no idea, for example, that Gustav Eiffel was involved in the construction of the Statue of Liberty.
For those of you unfamiliar with Johnny Hallyday, here’s a sample showcasing his raspy voice:
And why, you might wonder, were we so intent on finding a French singer with a raspy voice, when Louis Armstrong would have sufficed for Clue R? It’s because our goal in making this acrostic was to link every clue and/or answer to the French theme in some way.
Did we succeed? Your thoughts on the acrostic in general?
Thank you both so much for another fun challenge – it was tough, but it became a little easier once I got hints there was a French theme! I had to go listen to some Johnny Halladay on Youtube to figure out the similarity with Armstrong. I could not for the life of me remember what the person who brings out the wine was called, but even that clicked after I got some of the letters near the end of the word. Thank you again and vive la France!
Great quote. I studied French from jr. high onward and am admittedly a Francophile. When I was little, French was still the international language. Have been several times and take any opportunity to visit France. Recently looked back on my tour of the D-Day beaches, now I’m remembering the Place de la Bastille, where the 2nd opera House in Paris was built some years ago. GUILLOTINE was my first get in the word list. LOL. We have incorporated a lot of French words and style into the English language as evidenced in the word list. Knew of Eiffel from the Ken Burns film on the Statue of Liberty. A good history of anyone’s interested. Thx.
Loved it! Thank you!
Another strong challenge with an excellent theme…(I have to ask: Is there a French connection to “innards”?) It was the stateliness of the translation as much as the Frenchness that I found most difficult. I was sure the quote contained “evictions” for a long time: “Exactions” is not such a familiar word! And you don’t often see “violence” in the plural…
Abandon hope all ye who enter here I thought on my first pass through the clues. Eventually though I caught on to the Bastille Day theme and everything began to fall into place. So many words from the French. Bravo. My only serious misstep was interweave instead of INTERTWINE.
When Rathvon and Cox, whose stellar acrostics had been one of my greatest puzzling treats for many years, retired, I felt bereft. While I love many kinds of puzzles, a finely crafted acrostic satisfies me like no other. Thankfully, the team of Balton and Stewart has stepped into the breach and is bidding fair to stand on the same pedestal. Thank you and keep up the great work.
cmfwyp vbjkqj !
Not to mention xz!
Satisfying on so many levels. Thoughtful quotations, clever thematic answers, just right level of difficulty, and genuine enjoyment. Thanks to both of you.
Perfect! Don’t know much French, so this was a welcome challenge. Lots of aha moments in this tough challenge. Loved it.
The Bastille Day acrostic is brilliant! I especially appreciate the many clues and answers that tie directly to the quote’s subject – an extra flourish that you share with my other favorite acrostic creators.
Thank you for the great quote and the fun of the French connections in the clues. Unlike my usual cautious approach to clues, I went at these in storm-the-Bastille style, with success except for going astray to “congregate” in “brasseries” for a bit. I had no idea Dickens had a mordant sense of humor!
Vive La France!
Dear Friends,
To all who solved this acrostic, we offer a hearty “très bien fait.”
As some of you note, the passage from Les Misérables, as translated, contains a number of words, such as “violences,” that one does not often encounter in today’s English. We fretted over that particular word, realizing it would add to the challenge of solving the puzzle.
Thanks for the tip about the Ken Burns film on the Statue of Liberty. We’ll check that out in due course!
As for “innards” — there may be no “French connection” relating to that word, so we made a connection via our clue (“Machine’s hidden workings”). According to the American Heritage Dictionary (Fifth Edition), “machine” comes to us from the French, with a lineage that extends back to Latin and Greek as well.