Thanks to the fine folks at Romenesko, I found the following web site this week. These wunderkinds, who will immediately be added to my list of Geniuses, track daily corrections from a bevy of newspapers.

This reminded me of my favorite-ever error in our local paper. I used to work there and have friends who still do. In 2001, when Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed, the paper had a huge, bold headline on the cover with an unbelievable error.

I did a little investigating and then sent the following e-mail to friends and former colleagues from the paper…

From the front page of today's Courier-News, in a screaming headline:

McVeigh showed no quilt

I took the time to look up the word "quilt" in the Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary, and there is but one meaning for the word: "a padded bed covering."

I was perplexed. Did Mr. McVeigh spend his last few months knitting? Did he have a very special quilt from his grandmother that he didn't want to show anyone?

So I thought I'd better call the Courier News to investigate.

The conversation went as follows:

Her: "Courier News, how may I direct your call?"
Me: "Yes, I'd like to speak to the department that puts together the front page of the paper." (Sidebar: me laughing inside, as I know damn well who's responsible.)
Her: "Oh, are you calling about the quilt?"
Me: "Why, yes I am. Have you had a lot of calls about that today?"
Her: "You can't imagine."
Me: "Well, I'm just curious, as I'm something of a grammar aficionado. Is there a new meaning for the word quilt, or..."
Her: "Oh no. That's just a typo. A really bad one."
Me: "Ah. So is it supposed to be 'quit'?"
Her: "Actually, they were going for 'guilt'."
Me: "Well, that's good to know. Have a good day."

So for anyone who wonders why I still purchase and read the Courier News, now you know. The humor this has provided me is worth so much more than the mere 35 cents I slipped into the paper box this morning...

Shortly thereafter, I got my hands on a letter to the staff from the editor, which I won't run in its entirety but did include this:

Today we published an absurdly incorrect headline on the Page 1 lede story. Its existence, apparently uncaught for makeover, should underscore for all news staffers the importance of the basics - and of checking, double-checking, and triple-checking.

To my amazement, two paragraphs later, there was a noteworthy grammatical error. In the midst of a memo detailing the importance of attention to detail, there was a bad typo. Delicious.