John McIntyre, mild-mannered copy editor for a great metropolitan newspaper, has fussed over writers’ work at The Baltimore Sun since 1986. He is the director of its copy desk, an affiliate faculty member at Loyola College of Maryland, a former president of the American Copy Editors Society, a native of Kentucky, a graduate of Michigan State and Syracuse, and a moderate prescriptivist. If you are inspired by a spirit of contradiction, comment on his posts or write to him at john.mcintyre@baltsun.com.

• Evil surrounds us (9)
  The Ridger wrote: How did I miss that Sara Vowell has... [more]
  
• Strict, stricken, Strunk (4)
  John McIntyre wrote: I surmise that Mr. Blanco may not h... [more]
  
• How to pronounce it (38)
  Wayne wrote: My favorite unexpected pronunciatio... [more]
  
• Stirring up the animals (3)
  Barbara Phillips Long wrote: People underrate their ancestors. P... [more]
  
• Second-best is good enough (1)
  John DM wrote: A lot of doctors recommend a bland ... [more]