SARAH BAKEWELL, HOW TO LIVE — The observer is as unreliable as the observed.... To try to understand the world is like grasping a cloud of gas, or a liquid, using hands that are themselves made of gas or water, so that they dissolve as you close them.
| A. | Beginning you may go back to (2 wds.) | SQUAREONE |
| B. | Literally, "seeing for oneself" | AUTOPSY |
| C. | Swedish turnip by another name | RUTABAGA |
| D. | Written pledge that a thing is true | AFFIDAVIT |
| E. | Walter White's alter ego on "Breaking Bad" | HEISENBERG |
| F. | Supplies for mall Santas | BEARDS |
| G. | Keeping you coming back for more | ADDICTIVE |
| H. | Disciplined way of getting your kicks? | KARATE |
| I. | Hold spellbound | ENTHRALL |
| J. | Counterclockwise | WIDDERSHINS |
| K. | Hartford or New Haven historic district (2 wds.) | ELMSTREET |
| L. | Scotland Yard inspector in Holmes tales | LESTRADE |
| M. | Annual host team in the N.F.L.'s Thanksgiving Classic | LIONS |
| N. | Nonstop freight trains; conspicuously talented people | HOTSHOTS |
| O. | Knocked unconscious (2 wds.) | OUTCOLD |
| P. | Aid in preventing leaks | WASHER |
| Q. | Stem-to-stern, head-to-toe | THOROUGH |
| R. | Protectors of dogs from cold and wet | OVERSHOES |
| S. | Unseen for ages (hyph.) | LONGLOST |
| T. | Bold, unblushing | IMMODEST |
| U. | Without pinning things down | VAGUELY |
| V. | Specialty of Michel de Montaigne, who is the biographical subject of this puzzle's source | ESSAYS |