  In his foundational book, Edwards introduced a unique "speculation" regarding
the possible theoretical origins of the Riemann Hypothesis, based on the
properties of the Riemann-Siegel formula. Essentially Edwards asks whether one
can find a method to transition from zeros of $Z_0(t)=cos(\theta(t))$, where
$\theta(t)$ is Riemann-Siegel theta function, to zeros of $Z(t)$, the Hardy
$Z$-function. However, when applied directly to the classical Riemann-Siegel
formula, it faces significant obstacles in forming a robust plausibility
argument for the Riemann Hypothesis.
  In a recent work, we introduced an alternative to the Riemann-Siegel formula
that utilizes series acceleration techniques. In this paper, we explore
Edwards' speculation through the lens of our accelerated approach, which avoids
many of the challenges encountered in the classical case. Our approach leads to
the description of a novel variational framework for relating zeros of $Z_0(t)$
to zeros of $Z(t)$ through paths in a high-dimensional parameter space
$\mathcal{Z}_N$, recasting the RH as a modern non-linear optimization problem.
