Not So Clueless
Although she only published six novels, Jane Austen’s stature as a writer and cultural icon remains as bright today as ever, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Her sharp wit and piercing insight into human behavior and relationships continues to engage every new generation of readers. Austen has also become the focal point of a burgeoning franchise, as a remarkable number of spinoffs and knockoffs keep finding their way onto bookstore shelves and movie screens.
We pay homage to Austen in this week’s acrostic, using one of her typically perceptive quotes from her first novel, Sense and Sensibility. That novel, like many of her others, was initially published anonymously; “By a Lady” appears on the title page in lieu of the author’s name (see Clue/Answer A). We also reference the fact that Austen remained unmarried throughout her life (see Clue/Answer B). How many other Austen-related words and phrases did you spot?
For those of you who may not be familiar with Sense and Sensibility (SPOILER ALERT): Here is the climactic moment from the 1995 movie, with Hugh Grant, at his most awkwardly charming playing Edward, and Emma Thompson, proving that you can steal a scene while barely saying a word, playing Elinor. Just marvelous.
A perfectly challenging Acrostic that seemed insoluble for the longest time.
I agree with Etaoin! A sign of a great, challenging acrostic is finishing a first pass (I had only 5 clues correct after that, and missed the e.g. in the first clue, so I thought I was looking for a title…) and thinking, I’m stuck, I’m going to have to look some of these up. So far, I’ve resisted the impulse, and worked out the fragments in the clue, I note there’s not a single THE in this quote, usually such a help. The solve was very satisfying…Good work, Jane and Dave!
I thought I was in for a rough ride with this one, as there were many clues that I hadn’t a chance of knowing, but seeing EMMA and the other English references I intuited that the quote’s author must be Jane Austen. Plugging in A U S T E N I had just enough initial letters to see that the source of the quote must be Sense And Sensibility. After that I was off to the races. SUASION was devilish, although temporally apt, and I tried whooshed before SWOOSHED. it was a delight from start to finish and I loved having Clueless as a clue.
For me, the most difficult one yet. Now I have to see the movie. Perhaps even read the book.
I knew the day would come that i would pay for never reading a Jane Austen novel, and here it is. Clueless indeed, but lucky guesses in the text got me through. Loved the video!
Like others, I felt fairly clueless on my first pass through the clues, getting only five of them. But lucky letter placement in the quote allowed me to guess a few words, including the last one, whose final letter landed in the middle of clue J. I thought, “SUASION”? and that both helped me get more words and also hinted at the theme. Thanks for the fun.
Ah, my favorite author. Didn’t have many words to start but enough to gradually make inroads on the lower half of the quote. Suspected the author from the clue of word O, but blanked on the village name for a while, and then realized it was only the author’s last name which gave me another boost. Have all the books, even the partials, and a collection of the films I have deemed as doing justice to her writing. Certainly the one in the quote and clip whose screenplay was written by (ironically) Emma Thompson, for which she won an Oscar. Romantically, she also became ‘acquainted’ with her second husband during the filming. Very satisfying puzzle. Made my day. Thanks.
Dear Friends,
Will Shortz once told us that at our target level of difficulty, solvers should be able to be pretty sure of three or four answers in order to get rolling. So if getting “only” five on the first pass made you feel like this puzzle was going to be a toughie, y’all are outliers (in a good way). Good to know that both diehard Austen fans and those who consider themselves “clueless” about her work could find paths to the solution.
Thanks for the wonderful puzzle. I had four answers from the jump—E, M, W, X. I had gleaned that we were dealing with an English, literary author, and once the cluing of A ‘clicked’ and I considered AUSTEN from the A of ANONYMOUS, I saw that SaS fit like a charm and confirmed my suspicion for clue Y. Smooth sailing from there out, although I felt like I got it/’the trick’ just a mite too easily.
A perfectly crafted Acrostic! Sublime indeed.
Very enjoyable, through and through.