pocket squares

Can you spell B-A-N-D-W-A-G-O-N?

I was thinking about 17-down after cluing it this week and reflecting on how little I ever learned about drawing throughout my entire time in school. Every now and then I try to draw a person or a tree (either as a doodle or, god forbid, in order to show someone something) and I honestly think that the product is usually indistinguishable from what I would have produced in kindergarten — maybe even worse, because I had more imagination back then. The amazing thing is, I have a whole folder full of papers I scratched on in, like, first grade, somewhere in my room. Why do we bother keeping this stuff?  Don't get me wrong — I'm all for fostering creativity in schools. But students are allowed to give up on things like instrumental music, theater and other hands-on pursuits as early as fifth and sixth grade. Why did Mrs. Olsen have to keep scolding me with "Buzz, buzz, buzz" as I somehow drew a diagonal line on the whiteboard, in her eyes, the "wrong way" year a...