Sunday New York Times Acrostic - Fools Are Everywhere by Beatrice K. Otto

Last Sunday's New York Times Acrostic, composed by the ubiquitous Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, launched a preemptive strike on April Fool's Day by taking a quote from the book Fools Are Everywhere by Beatrice K. Otto.



This book is available on Google Book Search, and I grasp just from reading the Prologue, that while there were variations on the theme from kingdom to kingdom, the position of jester or fool was a cross-cultural phenomenon, using music, acting, mime, song, dance, poetry, among other things. The quote focuses on the poetic part:

The qualifications of a good jester included the ability to extemporise verse and trot out rhyming retorts or cringe-inspiring doggerel. Poetic skill was a vital part of the jester's ragbag of tricks at all times.

There were a number of words that had something to with humor or comedy, such as oafish, operetta, overact (I wanted the word for "Indulge in caricature" to be either cartoon or lampoon), sight gag, rejoinder...

Many years ago, I read a copy of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comic book...



...where Freewheelin' Franklin was being mocked for his long hair by a couple of rednecks in a pickup truck. He was thinking to himself "What can I say? Some witty rejoinder? Some devastating retort?" After a moment of consideration, he screamed "AW..." and then unleashed a cerulean torrent which definitely got the attention of his tormentors. But where was I? Oh, yes, words in the puzzle related to humor, such as epigram, risibility, the jester Yorick, humorist, and Red Skelton.

Presidents have had close friends over the years, but I think they could profit from having jesters or fools, people with almost unrestricted license to mock the ruler, to tell him the disasterous consequences of his beautifully crafted plans, and to humorously characterize the allies and opponents of the ruler. Iowahawk would make a great jester, but he wants to be President. Bill Hicks might make a very nice fool for President McCain indeed.