RALPH KEYES, THE QUOTE VERIFIER — Some of Wilde's best lines occurred only during conversation. "One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing" for example — like many of his... quips — appears nowhere in his published work.
| A. | "The very essence of ___ is uncertainty" | ROMANCE |
| B. | Character of this puzzle's subject who speaks the line in clue A. | ALGERNON |
| C. | Jarndyce v. Jarndyce in Dickens, e.g. | LAWSUIT |
| D. | Item of light construction? | PHOTON |
| E. | Young punk or gangster | HOODLUM |
| F. | Doll named for a love deity | KEWPIE |
| G. | "Sophisticated Lady" composer | ELLINGTON |
| H. | "Can I get some attention here?" (hyph.) | YOOHOO |
| I. | Important thing to be, per a comedy of 1895 | EARNEST |
| J. | Player of this puzzle's subject in 1997 (2 wds.) | STEPHENFRY |
| K. | "I can resist everything except ___," wrote this puzzle's subject | TEMPTATION |
| L. | Sir Robert to Lady Gertrude in an 1895 play | HUSBAND |
| M. | "Nothing succeeds like ___," wrote this puzzle's subject | EXCESS |
| N. | Hearty drinks | QUAFFS |
| O. | Instrument sometimes made from koa wood | UKULELE |
| P. | Poet who wrote "I could have loved New York had I not loved Balti-more" (2 wds.) | OGDENNASH |
| Q. | Figure associated with a hammer | THOR |
| R. | Cause of damage suggested in Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" | ELVES |
| S. | Made to seem the bad guy | VILIFIED |
| T. | Apt to choose right over wrong | ETHICAL |
| U. | Say, in effect, "Oh yeah?" | REBUT |
| V. | Mischievous, pixieish | IMPISH |
| W. | Items shunned by anthophobes | FLOWERS |
| X. | Nationality metaphorical for high dudgeon | IRISH |
| Y. | Prince in "The Prince and the Pauper" | EDWARD |
| Z. | Pi, for instance | RATIO |