Puzzle Panic

I'm always somewhat reassured and/or frightened by people whose obsessions exceed my own. Yesterday as I started to do the New York Times' diagramless, I realized that there was a typo, and no clue as to where the puzzle began. I went to the website, but there was an embargo on postings until after noon on Sunday, but by studying the numbering of the ups and downs, I was able to figure out the likely starting point. (A little disturbing, but I was right.) I checked back on the puzzle website after noon, before I closed the window, and saw several postings about the crossword. People were complaining that the same theme (and wordplay) had been used back in 1984: couldn't the Times coome up with something more original? Now, I've been working the Times' crossword puzzle for for 30 years, but I can't remember last week's gimmick. Scary people out there.