This will be easier to read if you are set for html, 'color and graphics', by whatever name.

The Blue Book of Grammar & Punctuation, by Jane Strauss, c.2006

page 27, effect vs. affect, Rule 5, Example:

She showed little affect when told she had won the lottery.

page 56, Grammar Pretest (Answers on page 88)

25. They fought over their father's estate because they felt angrily about the way he had treated them.

page 88. Exercise answers

They fought over their father's estate because they felt angry about the way he had treated them.

page 87, Punctuation and Capitalization Mastery Test (instruction: correct errors)

37. Wendy thought she knew everything about her mother but found out two years ago that her mother had been married before. (Answers on page 109)

page 110. Exercise answers

37. Wendy thought she knew everything about her mother but found out two years ago that her mother had been married before. (CORRECT)

My challenge still stands. There is at least one past perfect* error on any grammar website or in any grammar textbook you can name. The Blue Book does not deal with the past perfect -- no definition, no illustrations -- so I had to settle for examples of other grammar items.

( * They are really 'had' errors rather than 'past perfect' errors. When 'had' appears in front of a past tense verb, as in the first two examples above, it is not a past perfect error, it is a 'had' error. It may look like the past perfect since it is in the form of the past perfect, but the past perfect has nothing to do with it, despite its appearance to the contrary.)

There are so few 'had's in the Blue Book, I thought I was meeting my match but sure enough, up they came. So, Friends, Romans and Countrymen, please try to call my bluff. Name a grammar text, any grammar text. There must be one out there with no 'had' errors.

This is Exhibit #100+.

.brad.13feb10.

Ms. Strauss notably avoids many places where the unwitting habitually walk, e.g, 'Every attempt to flatter him failed miserably', and, 'Jared longed for a pity party after he lost his job'. Don't 'failed' and 'lost' cry a siren's song to 'please put a 'had' in front of me'? They do, don't they? particularly 'after he lost his job'.