Can Something be Gained in Translation?
In God’s Secretaries, Adam Nicolson presents the extraordinary history of the making of the King James Bible. He deems the effort, which took seven years and involved more than fifty biblical scholars – most of whom were unknown in Jacobean England and remain unknown today – as “the greatest work of English prose ever written.” That such an assessment could describe the work of a committee that was not creating anything truly original but instead re-translating texts from Hebrew and Greek may seem like a stretch, but Nicolson’s account provides considerable support for his claim.
For this week’s puzzle, we chose an intriguing quote that appears toward the end of God’s Secretaries concerning the embrace of the King James Bible in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. One might have thought that the immediate descendants of the Pilgrims who fled religious persecution in England to land at Plymouth Rock would choose almost any Bible other than the one so closely connected to the English Crown and the Church of England. But no.
The Bible – in any translation – provides puzzle constructors with an almost unlimited supply of words and phrases to weave into an acrostic’s theme. More than half of the clue/answer pairs relate in some fashion to the Bible. See how many you can spot!
In Answer I, we also included a favorite secular work of art, The Night Watch, by Rembrandt. We had two reasons for doing so. First, we had the privilege of seeing the painting a couple of years ago at the reopened Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where the enormous, breathtaking work takes up an entire wall. Second, someone sent us this riveting video after we returned from the Netherlands:
Terrific puzzle – as always! I particularly liked the clever clues used for Bible-related answers, such as those for COVENANT, OBADIAH, EXODUS, and APPLE. Being able to come up with some of the longer entries without any letters in place (CITI FIELD, OMNIPOTENT, NIGHT WATCH, EX CATHEDRA, and RESURRECT) made for a relatively quick solve.
Thanks also for including the video. It seems like a cross between a flash mob and the static painting recreations I saw as a kid at the Festival of Arts Pageant of the Masters (still held every summer in Laguna Beach, California).
An exceptional Acrostic.
Thank you.
So masterly! The quote, cluing, and explanatory write-up.
I count 15 Biblical (or Biblical-adjacent) clues, which, given the 24 clues, may be some kind of record for this genre. (It wouldn’t shock me if someone on X Word Info actually has this information.)
I also loved the sports sub-theme. As a native New Yorker, I found Doc Gooden and Citi Field to be gimmes, as was “Skeets” Nehemiah, whose amazingly fluid gait smoked every other hurdler of his era and electrified the Millrose Games crowd at Madison Square Garden.
I also thought it particularly ingenious that most of your biblical answers had “stealth” cluing. That is, the clue give no (or only a modest) hint that it was going in an ecclesiastical direction: I’m looking at you, Clues A, B, D, J, O, Q, R, T, U, and X.
Bravo and brava!!!
Dear Greg,
Thanks so much — that’s one of the most gratifying comments we’ve ever received. As you may have guessed, we had a particularly fun time constructing this puzzle.
Yes, the biblical theme lent itself to a great number of clue/answer pairs that fit within the theme. FWIW, we can recall several HEX acrostics, and at least three of our own, that managed to tie every clue/answer pair to the puzzle’s theme, at least obliquely. And we have another one in the works.
Thanks again,
Dave and Jane
Praise from the two of you truly makes my day!
One other thought. A few decades ago, the expression “thoughts and prayers“ was just a benign, if somewhat trite, expression of compassionate concern.
But today, I sense the expression is widely viewed with contempt, after countless mass shootings — followed by many politicians sending their “thoughts and prayers,“ but not actually lifting a finger legislatively to end this scourge.
Praise from the two of you truly makes my day!
One other thought. A few decades ago, the expression “thoughts and prayers“ was just a benign, if somewhat trite, expression of compassionate concern.
But today, I sense the expression is widely viewed with contempt, after countless mass shootings — followed by many politicians sending their “thoughts and prayers,“ but not actually lifting a finger legislatively to end this scourge.
Loved the quote. Got the word Bible early on and King James soon after. Pulled out my late dad’s copy of it. But childhood teachings still in memory as I uncovered clues/words, and each biblical reference made me grin and chuckle. Looked up the book and author, as I often do, to add to my reading list and found the following interview from PBS Newshour archives; https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/gods-secretaries
Thanks for the great video. I have seen original The Night Watch also. It’s magnificent.
Loved this puzzle. It’s truly a standout – I especially appreciate learning new definitions of words like sojourn and apostle. Your puzzles continue to amaze and delight.
My third acrostic since being introduced to it by friends. Now an addict. This one was quicker than my first two. One quibble, or really a question: This week’s author was identified by first initial and last name. Obviously, for space reasons. But what is the rule? Can the acrostic use last name only, for example? Or a nickname for first name, such as “Ed” for “Edward”? Also, two themes this week: Religion and baseball (in honor of Opening Day, I assume). A few clues seemed unconnected with either theme (G, for example). Is there a rule or an expectation as to connections between clues and theme(s)?
Hi Matt,
Welcome to the acrostics community! If you haven’t yet checked out xwordinfo.com, you can find many more acrostics there should your addiction require doing more than one every two weeks! As to your questions —
The only “rule” relating to the author and title of the source of the quote is that, together, they must be within 20 and 26 letters long so as to fit within the parameters of the NYT software. It’s certainly possible to make longer or shorter acrostics for other purposes. We have used the full first and last names of authors If they fit within those NYT parameters; other times, just a first initial and last name or just a last name. We haven’t yet reached the issue of whether to use a nickname, but now we have something to stay up late pondering.
Last year at this time, we constructed an acrostic with a baseball theme, in honor of opening day. This week’s puzzle had — at least as we were viewing it — just a single theme of the bible/religion. The inclusion of two clue/answer pairs relating to baseball just happened, as it were.
There is no rule about themed answers and clues. Many great acrostics don’t have any clues or answers that relate to the quote — just a lively quote, unusual words as answers, and sly clues. But since we started making acrostics for the NYT, we have been striving to include as many themed answers/clues as possible. Occasionally — if all stars in the universe align — it is possible to have every answer/clue relate to the puzzle’s theme.
Best,
Jane and Dave
Loved this puzzle. You are setting a high bar for acrostic constructors, with your clever (and “stealthy”) quote-related clues. This is brilliant.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this was another fabulous acrostic, cleverly clued. Although I’m not religious, I loved the biblical theme. Using the Hyundai luxury brand to sneak GENESIS into the clues was brilliant. I patted myself on the back for getting EPHESIANS right off the bat, thanks to remembering a little song based on all the books of the New Testament in order that I learned in Sunday school many decades ago.
On the challenging side for me, and I had fun figuring it all out. On first pass I had ideas for only five of the clues, but the lucky placement of their letters let pattern recognition get me a long way. I loved seeing the Biblical references in the clues appear as the answers filled themselves in from the quote, thinking, “How do they do that?!” as so often with your puzzles. On @MattS’s question about authors’ names – I’d read today’s author As Ani Colson, and was surprised to see that the A was for Adam! (though I’m used to seeing initials used). Thank you for this engaging puzzle.