VARIETY PUZZLE — In 2016, we’re still finding out about Earth’s history and the development of humanity. It’s impressive and amazing how linguists and paleoanthropologists can create a rich picture of life, including sounds and emotions, from fossils and artifacts. For anyone interested in the history of words and language, this was a passage that was fun to discover.  I started with RAINY DAYS and got that stuck in my head; I also filled in VICE SQUAD, which was a big help to get going on some word deduction, and TEA PARTY, then figured out I CLAUDIUS, Jack NICHOLSON the oft-nominated actor, and STIFF NECK.  I had to deduce ECHINODERM (probably not for the first or last time), and funny enough had always thought of NAVICULAR bones as part of equine anatomy; they’re little things, nestled in behind the coffin bone, which forms the core of the hoof.  “Ak” was perhaps always onomatopoeic; ‘Ack ack” refers to a particular type of anti-aircraft gunfire and the sound it makes, and “Ack” is still in use as a safe-for-work expression of alarm. If it’s an utterance you ever make, next time you do so, think of your ancestors, as the megacondors screeched and swooped overhead. Ack. Just thinking about it gives me adrenal fatigue.  Highly evolved wordsmiths, Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, add:  O.K., we’ve set a new record here for elisions and ellipses, because this passage comes from a sort of vocabulary book of Neolithic utterances, and each word in our passage starting with “acute” is actually the heading for a paragraph or more. So many words coming from one “Ak”! Fun book for word freaks.  Human history buffs know South Africa is a hotbed of discovery. Deb’s just back from there and will hereby regale you with wild and woolly tales. It has been my pleasure to work these puzzles with you people! Happy solving, until we meet again.
Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon remind us that the more things change, the more they stay the same.