Solution to Build Your Own Acrostic

by David Speyer

The answers to the clues:
A: Moving arms? GUN RUNNING
B: Non-zero-sum interaction WIN WIN SITUATION
C: "Two columns hide a message" or "What is the source of the quotation", for example    HINT
D: Arthurian author T H WHITE
E: Between radio and infrared MICROWAVE
F: Its municipal buildings are called Hales HONOLULU
G: Word S, for example UNGULATE
H: Like some tea UNSWEETENED
I: Like Alice after eating cake ENLARGED
J: Duties RESPONSIBILITIES
K: UT Arlington newspaper THE SHORTHORN
L: DC newspaper THE HILL
M: Abid Hamid Mahmud ACE OF DIAMONDS
N: Object with a 5.38 km long spiral etched on it COMPACT DISC
O: Lisper's favorite punctuation PARENTHESIS
P: Musical set in New York RENT
Q: Buchanan or Trudeau, for example FIFTEENTH
R: Not alphabetized DISORDERED
S: Dangerous type of G HIPPOPOTAMUS
T: He silenced the nightingales of Otford THOMAS BECKET
U: One of the Khoikhoi HOTTENTOT
V: Musical set in New York ON THE TOWN
W: Feature of anatidae WEBBED FEET
X: Toy that's hard to throw away BOOMERANG
Y: Marge's engagement jewelry ONION RING
Z: Scarlett word FIDDLE-DEE-DEE

The assembled grid:

The quotation consists of eight quotations from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets. Guided by clue C, the first answer is FOUR QUARTETS.

In the ninth and eighteenth columns (the only two columns without black squares), look at the letters of the clues to spell out THE ERMINE OF WOMAN'S SOUL TO Q. E. I. This clues the answer CHASTITY.

The eight quotations are the 16th, 18th, 5th, 18th, 9th, 14th, 19th and 5th lines of the quartets (two from each quartet). Converting numbers to letters in the usual way spells the answer PRERINSE.