Side-Lines

"Mr. Sulzberger's expanded Sunday opinion pages will remain at the back of the Week in Review. Under the new layout, the editorials and letters will move from the last inside left-hand page to the right-hand page before it, creating a two-page spread for opinion pieces. Mr. Rich described it as "a version of the existing Op-Ed page, but in CinemaScope."

"Mr. Rich's column will be some 1,400 words, twice the size of a standard Op-Ed. He said he prefers the longer form. Just delivering an opinion, he said, "was never the part of the job that interested me the most" -- scant consolation to directors of the plays he closed down in his earlier years. What he prefers to do, he said, is "figure out how I got there."

Those explorations will go on the newly vacated left-hand opinion page. They will be joined there by the public editor's column, which currently runs on page 2 of the Week in Review.

But what is an Op-Ed if it's no longer opposite the editorials? Will it be "Aft-Ed"?"
-- How Frank Rich Came Back From His Times Elba

As far as Frank Rich's column, it will doubtless be an 'Ass-Ed.'