Does the New York Times dare to eat a peach? The literary wasteland of West 43rd Street has improbably cultivated an anonymous poet of the T. S. Eliot school, masticating away on the copy desk at the Wednesday “Dining In, Dining Out” section. Below, a comp-lit quiz: Separate the recent Times headlines from the verses by the Nobel laureate.
1. DULL ROOTS WITH SPRING RAIN
2. ARRIVING NOW, FROM EVERY COAST
3. I REMEMBER A SLICE OF LEMON, AND A BITTEN MACAROON
4. OUTSIDE THE WINDOW, THE STREETS OF EUROPE
5. DON’T THROW AWAY THAT SAUSAGE, IT’LL COME IN HANDY
6. A WHISPER OF SPRING IN A SPROUT
7. DELICATE ALGAE AND THE SEA ANEMONE
8. ON A ROLL: COMBINATIONS IN ELEGANT SIMPLICITY
9. THE LIFE OF SIGNIFICANT SOIL
10. RHUBARB, FAREWELL
11. I’LL CONVERT YOU! INTO A STEW.
12. THE SECRET LIFE OF SORREL
13. GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES IN THE MUD
14. LET’S SHOW OFF OUR BEETS
15. THE WAITER BRINGS IN ORANGES
16. WHAT PEPPERCORNS ONLY DREAM OF BEING
Answers: The odd-numbered lines are Eliot; the evens, the Times.