Some Self-Deprecation

Because I’m bored and frustrated, I’m cleaning off my laptop’s desktop. I found a couple of screen-captures that I don’t know where to save, so I shall share them here.

My wife and I were jointly doing a quick crossword from the Guardian some time ago. (Quick Crossword 15,404 to be precise; 22 September 2019.)

One of the clues was “Down on a map,” and I fixated on words like “plotted” or “located,” none of which fit. Only once the crosswise answers filled was the answer to 21 across blindingly obvious:

Jeez, did I feel sheepish.

But, because I am an academic and can justify anything, I countered my wife’s peeling laughter by noting that I have clearly internalized the fact that not all maps have north at the top (or south at the bottom), that north-orientation is at once an oxymoron and merely a convention, to the extent that I did not even think that the “down” in the clue was a direction. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.