Other articles by Debbie Kornmiller:

Star readers give so kids can go to camp My opinion Debbie Kornmiller : 10 get Star employee accolades My opinion Debbie Kornmiller : Gas costs force rural route cutsMy opinion by Debbie Kornmiller: Photograph reminds us of sacrifice My opinion Debbie Kornmiller : 'Offender' poor word choice My opinion Debbie Kornmiller : A look back at land-deal coverageMy opinion Debbie Kornmiller: Star reduced errors substantially in 2007 My opinion Debbie Kornmiller : Fairness not always measured by the inch My opinion Debbie Kornmiller : Bhutto interview in Parade My opinion Debbie Kornmiller : 10 named Star top employees

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Last Sunday's Test Your American IQ quiz in Opinion tested the Star's editing and checking processes. Sadly, editors failed.

As published, the quiz contained three errors that could have been averted if a string of editors had listened and done their jobs to their normally high standards.

What they all missed was that answers to two of the 15 questions included the wrong multiple-choice letter selection, but the explanation was correct. This prompted several dozen readers to call or e-mail.

Nearly all of the 20 or more callers were women who politely asked for clarification, said Sports Editor Shannon Conner, who was advocating for readers Monday while I was away. The errors were corrected on A2 Tuesday.

For the record, all six editors involved in the quiz know that the White House is in Washington, D.C., not Crawford, Texas, and that George H.W. Bush was the 41st president, not the 40th. They might have to look up that the last states to join the Union, in order, were Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii. In the quiz, none of the multiple-choice options was correct, but the answer explanation was.

As for listening, the writer asked at least two of the editors to look at the quiz particularly closely. The writer asked that because at one point she realized that most of the multiple-choice options included the correct answer as "A,'' so she mixed it up a bit, and knew a double-check was needed.

The normal editing process is that a writer turns in his or her story to a line editor, who has worked with the writer on the story or knows the background of the idea.

It then goes to a copy editor, who acts as the first "reader,'' asking questions, fixing grammar, omitting needless words and viewing the story like a reader would. In this case, that should have meant trying to solve the quiz. From there, the story goes to a "slot" editor, who approves the editing and makes sure that the headline matches. In this case, two slot editors were asked to take particular care as it was Friday and lots of last-minute work was under way due to the July Fourth holiday.

Finally, in the case of Opinion, a senior editor reads the page proofs of the entire section. A top editor may have been involved earlier on specific items, but until now has not seen the completed section. This was the last chance to catch any errors.

Unfortunately, on this Friday, opportunity was lost all around.

Weather updates

The weather page on the back of Sports will be revised later this month and will include many reader suggestions, including additional national and international information.

In the meantime, Ike Gaskin deserves praise for noticing that some of our rain was missing last week. Gaskin asked, "How can it be that on Wednesday, we have no rain reported for up to 6 p.m. the previous day and only a trace for the month, when on Thursday, we have .75 inches of rain for up to 6 p.m. the previous day and have .93 inches for the month. Where did the .18 inches of rain come from? I'm assuming that rain is measured from 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. Are they using two different gauges?''

George Covarrubias of AccuWeather, which compiles the Star's weather information, explained that the previous day's precipitation was exactly that: midnight to 6 p.m. Rainfall from 6 p.m. to midnight was reflected only in cumulative month and year-to-date data. Thus, the missing 0.18 of an inch of rain. As of Saturday, AccuWeather reports Tucson precipitation from 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. so all 24 hours of the day are covered and we get credit for every raindrop.

New features

Two features debuted while I was away from the office for two weeks. Your Tech now appears each Sunday as a full page in Business. It focuses on technology and includes a column by Jim Coates of the Chicago Tribune, who answers readers' questions. Also beginning last Sunday is Click!, which highlights the many additional features on azstarnet.com, the Star's Web site. It runs each day on B2.