Eric

@Chet That is true, but it is fairly common shorthand to causally differentiate the two as “Bush senior” and “Bush junior.” I didn’t feel tripped up by this one.

@Mean Old Lady Alas, specialized knowledge can be the enemy of crossword enjoyment. (I mean this sympathetically, not in the manner one might use to call someone a 24D, of course). My sister-in-law, a professional oboist with a major symphony, certainly fashions her own reeds with various sharp instruments. If you asked me out of the blue, I would say she’s “carving” them, although I’m sure there is a more technically correct term.

@Puzzlemucker I'd love to think so, but sadly, looking over how the voting went in the oft-venerated Middle America, I'm afraid that Anytown USA, from behind its picket fence, has recently endorsed: Cruelty Lies upon lies Privilege Mob rule Oligarchy I am not without hope for the long term, but I'm going to need a lot of good puzzles along this long road....

@Dave K. I share you frustration, a little. Since I was confident in the rest of my puzzle, I felt fine in peeking at the answer key linked to at the bottom of this Wordplay post to see what was going on. The dash symbol is more satisfying, but the puzzle should have accepted the characters for LINE as alternates -- if that is technically possible (does anyone know?).

@Lba millions of Catholics who know the Latin would disagree.

@Mike Well, she works every morning.

@Peter C. That is a very helpful perspective. It may tamp down my own occasional fits of pedantry.

@Bill I’m embarrassed to say that for too many years into my adult life, I thoughtlessly assumed ”Merriam” was the first name of Webster, perhaps a distant cousin or descendant of Noah. I even half imagined a bitter family rivalry over whose dictionary was better. Now that I’m well on the other side of being a young adult, I find with some dismay that just after being proud of myself for actually knowing WEIRDFLEXBUTOK, thus keeping up with the young folk, the constructor informs me in their notes that the phrase is falling out of fashion.

@G The same is true in Massachusetts where state control of municipal policy rivals that of NY. I just don’t think of that as local legislation, which is a term more often used for things like city noise ordinances. But it’s a matter of perspective and I eventually stopped trying to make “aldermen” fit.

@G I agree. It’s not out of bounds for a Saturday, especially since it didn’t seem to really trip anyone up except me, a legislative specialist by trade. Sometimes, coincidental expertise gets in the way!

@Eric Hougland Interesting. The Massachusetts legislature actually does pass several hundred “local” bills each session, sort of — municipal requests for exemption from state constraints on commercial tax rates, liquor licenses, age limits for new public safety employees, and such. I often say that MA cities and towns have to ask the legislature for permission to blow their noses. So although in this arcane regard the clue is accurate, I doubt the constructor or editors were scraping that deep when writing it. That said, only the unfortunate specialists seem to have gotten tripped up by this one.

@Frankie B Well, there are thousands of "Self-serve island" signs in gas stations across the country. As for the other one, TO-A-T has been standard, if unsatistifying, crosswordese for years, fair game on a Saturday I reckon.

@Rebecca Root It's more an "in the dictionary" than "we really use it" entry over here as well.

@Peabody I actually enjoy these and find them fresh, even sparkling sometimes. To each their own, I suppose.

@Jane Wheelaghan I am reminded of former NYT Puzzle Editor Will Weng's words, often quoted in part by Will Shortz: " Don't be conscience‐stricken if you use dictionaries, atlases and such in doing a puzzle. It's your puzzle and you can do it any way you please."

@LarryF I was about to post a similar comment, but it occurred to me that I'd better Google first to see if I was right. I'm afraid we are wrong. Wikipedia has a good entry on it.

@Barry Ancona Fair enough!

@Deb Amlen Just like bow ties