The Wednesday, May 28 puzzle by C. W. Stewart has a lot of BALLS. So does Gary Cooper in HIGH NOON. This is a film which famously builds its suspense over the course of the action which happens, more or less, in real time. It's an effective gimmick.
"Fell off" is a terrific clue. Constructors or editors must love it when they find a phrase so utterly correct yet so completely misleading. The answer is EBBED.
I didn't know anything about Gerry SPENCE but according to his official site at gerryspence.com he's a heck of a guy. I'm sure his official site wouldn't lie. He's apparently "America's Finest Trial Lawyer" (the capitalization is his.) Who am I to argue? His home page starts with this quote: "My intent is to tell the truth as I know it, realizing that what is true for me may be blasphemy to others." With all due respect to the many fine attorneys who read this blog, oh never mind.
Suppose you wanted to clue the answer word LECHER. What mental process takes you to recalling a 1971 rock album? This is why I could never be a constructor.
Yesterday there was some discussion about et alia vs. et alii. For the definitive word on this subject, let's turn to Liffey Thorpe who has taught Classics for 25 years at Earlham College. I find all this fascinating:
Both are adjectives, but "alia" is neuter plural and thus refers only to "things" or to nouns that are grammatically neuter: "other ones" or "other things."
"Alii" is masculine plural and refers to people or to nouns that are grammatically masculine: "others" or "other men" or "other people."
(A group that includes women would still be "alii," but an alumnae reunion would, I suppose, be "et aliae".)
As commonly abbreviated-- "et al."-- one cannot be sure whether the ending is neuter or masculine.
Similarly, "etc." is an abbreviation for "et cetera," which is strictly neuter plural and cannot refer to people ("and the rest" or "and the remaining things"). A masculine plural ending would be required for the phrase to refer to people ("et ceteres" — you don't see that in English, but you do in Latin).
Liffey Thorpe
