Answers

To awaken your brains from the eggnog stupor (does anybody really drink that stuff?) and calm them after the Rose Bowl frenzy, I have cooked up a short WordRake retrospective for 2016, spiced with A BAKER'S DOZEN MISTAKES (that's 13 for all who can't distinguish a croissant from a jelly donut) so you can practice you (typo—should be your) proofreading—typos, spelling, punctuation, usage problems! Hold me back! Anyone who spots all thirteen will receive a shout-out in WordRake’s Redmond office and a round of applause from the engineers. Their (homonym confusion—should be contraction they're) big on giving credit where its (should be it's—See Tip: “Farmers Market Syndrome”) due. When you think you’ve spotted them all, click the link at the bottom for the “Answers.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM WORDRAKE!

As we enter 2017, thank you for continuing to support our mission at WordRake. I’ll keep the doings of the WordRake team brief, but, hopefully, (should be I hope—See Tip: "Three Words That Aren't") you’ve had as great a year as we have.

WordRake Notes for 2016:

You open the WordRake Writing Tips 80,000 times every week.

In October, we launched WordRake 3, and (typo—should be an) even more robust and accurate editor. Anyone with a WordRake license may get a [free upgrade to WordRake 3]. Please take advantage of this. It takes literally (I mean literally, as in literally) seconds.

WordRake 3 gives your (typo—should be you) over 600 new editing algorithms and 900 enhancements to existing algorithms.

WordRake COO Scott Johns and his engineering team have a perfect record for there (homonym confusion—should be their) flawless installations—15 to 2500 users—of WordRake Enterprise. [Learn more]

For the past four years, our enterprise customers have renewed 100%. [To find out why, try WordRake free for 7 days.]

The largest law firm in the world just instaled (misspelling—should be installed) the enterprise version of WordRake.

Several huge federal agencies—as you can imagine, I cannot (should be may not—See Tip: “Still Another Three Words Many Writers Misuse”) reveal their names—have either installed the WordRake software or are deep into a pilot program.

Lexis-Nexis Pacific has incorporated the WordRake software in its new LexisDraft Pro.

WordRake is availible (misspelling—should be available) for Outlook, too. [Learn more]

The long list of WordRake users grows exponentially and is comprised of (should be comprises—See Tip: “Three More Words Many Writers Misuse”) AMLAW100 law firms, large corporations, small businesses, federal courts, state courts, nonprofits, city governments, prosecutors, public defenders, power companies, universities, and state and federal agencies I am not allowed to mention; I wish I could; you would be impressed.

Why are they using WordRake? Rather than hear it from me—I’m prejudice (misspelling—should be prejudiced)—hear it from two technology experts who published reviews of WordRake in December. The first from Luigi Benetton in Technozen:

"Had Microsoft Word been around when [Ayn Rand] wrote her tomes, she might have used WordRake, a professional editing and proofreading software add-in for Word, to tame some of her less egregious failings as a writer."

"Once you open your document, you get a toolbar that’s so simple you won’t need a user manual."

". . . the more you use WordRake, the less of your language it flags and the less you’ll need to use it. These better writing habits alone make WordRake a worthwhile investment."

The second from Sean Doherty, writing in Attorney at Work:

"When you publish any material, assume the world will see it – be clear and concise. Software like WordRake can help you."

"[WordRake] software makes prose crisp, clear and concise by eliminating useless words in sentences. . . . Does it work? Yes."

"If you write in Word or Outlook, WordRake will bring clarity and crispness to your prose."

I could not have said it better myself. That's all the WordRake news it makes since (homonym confusion—should be sense) to print. So from all of us to all of you, Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

The WordRake Team