Q. Hello. I wonder where in the CMOS might lie hidden the answer to the following question: should I refer readers to “Table 1, in contrast to Tables 2 and 3,” or to “Table 1, in contrast to tables 2 and 3”? In other words, should all items in a numbered series such as tables, sections, chapters, etc., be capitalized in such references? A minipoll among colleagues has yielded mixed results; hence my appeal to the Ultimate Authority in Such Matters.
A. We have very sneakily hidden it in paragraph 3.50. It is also hidden in the index under “Tables: numbering of, 1.57, 2.29, 3.50, 3.54, 16.116.”