What makes a great acrostic quote? Where do most quotes come from? Which authors are the most quoted?
At its basic level, XWord Info is simply a database of crossword information, and many (many!) pages that filter, sort and display that data in different ways. No matter how many pages I add, and no matter how many complaints I get that there are far too many pages, I always get requests for new views or new Finder options.
I always say no, except when something intrigues me or if I get many similar requests. I finally succumbed to one common ask: I created a summary page of acrostic quotes, organized by quote author.
Who gets quoted?
Almost all the acrostics on XWord Info are by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, collectively known as Hex. My data only goes back to September 1999, but that still contains 632 Hex puzzles and a handful by other constructors. So, which authors have the most shelf space on Hex’s bookshelf? The quote collection offers a clue.
Two Victorian novelists have three quotes: Arthur Conan Doyle, and Charles Dickens (although one of the Dickens quotes is from me.)
About 50 more authors have two quotes. It includes science writers, song writers, some Booker Prize and Pulitzer winners, as well as some less prestigious popular writers. I always thought the quotes were mostly non-fiction, but there are more fiction and humor writers than I recalled.
Who cares?
Something I learned after NYT dropped digital support for Variety puzzles is that while acrostics are less popular than crosswords, their fans are more passionate. Most of the email I get recently is about acrostics. One question I cannot answer is why NYT dropped digital support for them, but another frequent request is to see a list of all the quotes and quote authors. Here you go.
PS. In case it’s not obvious, the picture above is a stock photo. It’s only what I imagine a Hex bookshelf might look like.