Unacceptable. At hand here is a problem greater than the possibility of Greek life at Notre Dame or the derogatory label of "Irish" to our football team. I'm talking, of course, about the daily crossword puzzle and jumble experience.
Two days in a row now we've had the same crossword. And this is no isolated incident. Back in January, a similar travesty occurred. Not that it's not fun flying through an answered puzzle, thinking I'm the next Einstein, but where's the challenge? The thrill? Suddenly the Monday-through-Friday spectrum of difficulty is thrown askew, leaving our dear readers gasping in shock.
And if rampant reprinting wasn't bad enough for my strained soul, there's the failure to print the crosswords and jumbles in the right chronological order. Puzzles always contain the answers to yesterday's trials, helping us hone our wordsmithing skills. While a pesky word may have bested me Wednesday, I'll rest easy Thursday night knowing that "TTKACA" was actually "ATTACK." Failing to maintain the proper order is like not revealing "rosebud" in "Citizen Kane" or cutting out the final scene of "Sixth Sense" - we all are left wondering and a little less complete.
These are arguably the most-read section of this fair news journal, and the failures of the editorial staff can disrupt literally thousands of students' lives. Whether one chooses to race with friends to that final jumbled phrase or prefer to stretch the crossword out to a full 50 or 75 minutes of classtime, puzzle mistakes affect us all and cast a dark cloud over an entire day. I urge the editors to put down the dozens of pointless viewpoints about petty matters and spend more time carefully laying out the gem of the Observer crown, before I might actually have to start paying attention in lectures.
Scott Breunigsenioroff campusMarch 30
