To Err Is Human
The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563
The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563 Thursday, August 6, 2009 Puzzle by Dan Naddor, edited by Will Shortz ERR (29A. Use the answer to any of this puzzle’s starred clues in ordinary conversation?), along with the answers with their starred clues, e.g., PEROGATIVE (17A. *Privilege), IRREGARDLESS (19A. *No matter), EX CETERA (31A. *And so forth), PRONOUNCIATIONS (36A. *Ways things are said), ASTERICK (41A. *Sign to look elsewhere), CAME ACROSSED (54A. *Stumbled upon) and SUPPOSABLY (57A. *As it’s widely believed) constitute the interrelated entries of this dreadful Thursday crossword. Why did this thing even make it out of someone’s mind, much less onto the pages of The New York Times? Will crosswords filled with sundry misspellings and/or mispronunciations now become acceptable? Lord, help us! Who mispronounces pronunciations, prerogative, et cetera, came across, asterisk or supposedly? -- the only common misuse here represented I have heard is that in regard to regardless, and regardless of that single exception, it is a dull fact that the daily spoken word is rife with phonetic error, intentional or not. Are these just pet peeves? Will the entire dictionary be gone through before this genre causes civil unrest and uprising? It should have died on April 27, 2008 with misspellings and the title OOPS!
A few "links" -- 5. Shouts while shaking pompoms; 25. Virgil described its “roar of frightful ruin”; 50 Peak for Zeus, in Homer; 62. Rock’s Mötley CRUE; 66. Rick with the 1976 #1 hit “Disco Duck”; 4. Age range for most first-year college students; 32. Imaging lab output; 52. “The Wreck of the Mary DEARE”. Ah well! -- to err is human…
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