At the end of my rope on this one

I gave it a small try, Jim.

PS
This kind of resistance to explanations of things that don't fit into the "usual"

It may be a "German thing".

I'm loathe to admit my prejudice on this, but -- my thoughts exactly. What Dostoevsky novel was it where there's that description of an astronomy lesson? The professor explains how stars are classified. The Russian student comes back the next day, the star classifications thoroughly memorized. The German student, in contrast, comes back

My brother, who has many years of army service in Germany, and two daughters married there, has always maintained that the Germans are not efficient, they are thorough - in everything, and if they do something well, they do it thoroughly well, but if they do something badly, they do it thoroughly badly.

I'd agree with that, Feebs. In the part of Germany where I used to live, people pride themselves on the fact that they are extremely "gründlich". I used to have some fun with my students and feign extreme shock whenever it became apparent the word 'thorough' was a new vocabulary word for them.

Thanks for your help on the thread, Amy!

Jim