EnviroLawProf

13D is simply the best clue and answer combo of 2024. What a phenomenal misdirect—I was thinking along the lines of “rude observer at a shopping mall” or “indignant schoolteacher” 😆

Like many others, I found this puzzle to be excessively difficult for a Wednesday. I say this not because of the theme (note to those who object to "jiggity jig": this can't be the first time you had to solve a theme word with its crossers--get over it), which I found interesting and typical of Wednesday wordplay. No, it was the overabundance of obscure trivia, and, as you will see as follows, I really got cheesed at the un-level and wildly misleading clue for "boss 'level'." A carpenter's level is not an "implement for ensuring stability" (I was thinking a brace or a bracket or some other device that secures an object); it is an implement for determining whether a surface of an object is parallel or perpendicular to the earth (as represented by the force of gravity). Such a determination MAY lead to a conclusion about the stability of some object, but whether that surface is level or plumb does not necessarily lead to any conclusion of (let alone the ensuring of) such object's stability (e.g., I'm not seeking to to ensure the stability of a picture frame hung on my wall, I'm determining whether my wife will approve of the installation job I did).