Geoffrey Layton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: “According to a friend of Summers’s, Harvard had wanted . . . ” The New Yorker has always been kind of the God of Grammar, Usage and Mechanics. Are they slipping, or am I? ~~~~~ The New Yorker could certainly use some help with "Harvard had wanted". "There is nothing the word 'had' can do for a past tense verb that the verb can't do for itself." (Omar Khayyam) To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/