Crossword Correction of the Year

Three days ago, Charlotte Sun-Herald page-maker uppers ran the wrong crossword puzzle. Now, it's Sunday, and just to make sure anyone still struggling with Wednesday's 58 Down ("Coffee, Tea, ___ ___?"), the nostra culpa goes in a yellow box, outlined in black and sitting tall on the front page: top right, next to the second most important ink of the day, troop deaths in Afghanistan. The two-line all-caps hed sends the red alert: "CROSSWORD ERROR."

And, then, for those who follow the front-page directions and turn to A Section Page 11, yet another version of the apology gobbles up the news hole.

Sun Coast Media Group's five inches of crossword puzzle apologies aren't the only errors editors are fixing today. Buried deep in the quack-advert tab, back of the front cover, editors manage to squeeze out five lines: "A story in the June 26 issue of Feeling Fit, "Protecting your skin from dangerous UV rays" (page 14) was erroneously attributed to Tammy Jones of Peace River Medical Center. Her byline should not have appeared on the story."

Screw up the crossword puzzle and it's Shakespearean. Find yourself forced to acknowledge that a writer plagiarized and -- well, at least it's something.