diff --git a/sphinx/builder.py b/sphinx/builder.py
index 1de29d645..946be7deb 100644
--- a/sphinx/builder.py
+++ b/sphinx/builder.py
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ class StandaloneHTMLBuilder(Builder):
             doc,
             source_class=DocTreeInput,
             reader=doctree.Reader(),
-            writer=HTMLWriter(self.config, self.name),
+            writer=HTMLWriter(self),
             settings_overrides={'output_encoding': 'unicode'}
         )
 
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ class StandaloneHTMLBuilder(Builder):
         from .search import IndexBuilder
         self.indexer = IndexBuilder()
         self.load_indexer(filenames)
-        self.docwriter = HTMLWriter(self.config, self.name)
+        self.docwriter = HTMLWriter(self)
         self.docsettings = OptionParser(
             defaults=self.env.settings,
             components=(self.docwriter,)).get_default_values()
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ class LaTeXBuilder(Builder):
         for fname in ["glossary", "about", "license", "copyright"]:
             specials.append(self.env.get_doctree(fname+".rst"))
 
-        docwriter = LaTeXWriter(self.config, self.name)
+        docwriter = LaTeXWriter(self)
         docsettings = OptionParser(
             defaults=self.env.settings,
             components=(docwriter,)).get_default_values()
@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@ class LaTeXBuilder(Builder):
         largetree.extend(specials)
         print
         print "resolving references..."
-        # XXX problem here: :ref:s to distant PDF
+        # XXX problem here: :ref:s to distant tex files
         self.env.resolve_references(largetree, indexfile, self)
         return largetree
 
diff --git a/sphinx/htmlwriter.py b/sphinx/htmlwriter.py
index f6a60b9ea..12286a834 100644
--- a/sphinx/htmlwriter.py
+++ b/sphinx/htmlwriter.py
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ from .util.smartypants import sphinx_smarty_pants
 
 
 class HTMLWriter(Writer):
-    def __init__(self, config, buildername):
+    def __init__(self, builder):
         Writer.__init__(self)
-        self.translator_class = translator_class(config, buildername)
+        self.translator_class = translator_class(builder)
 
 
 version_text = {
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ version_text = {
     'versionadded': 'New in version %s',
 }
 
-def translator_class(config, buildername):
+def translator_class(builder):
     class HTMLTranslator(BaseTranslator):
         """
         Our custom HTML translator.
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def translator_class(config, buildername):
             if node.parent['desctype'] in ('class', 'exception'):
                 self.body.append('%s ' % node.parent['desctype'])
         def depart_desc_signature(self, node):
-            if node['ids'] and buildername != 'htmlhelp':
+            if node['ids'] and builder.name != 'htmlhelp':
                 self.body.append(u'<a class="headerlink" href="#%s" ' % node['ids'][0] +
                                  u'title="Permalink to this definition">\u00B6</a>')
             self.body.append('</dt>\n')
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ def translator_class(config, buildername):
 
         def depart_title(self, node):
             close_tag = self.context[-1]
-            if buildername != 'htmlhelp' and \
+            if builder.name != 'htmlhelp' and \
                    close_tag.startswith(('</h', '</a></h')) and \
                    node.parent.hasattr('ids') and node.parent['ids']:
                 aname = node.parent['ids'][0]
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ def translator_class(config, buildername):
                 text = sphinx_smarty_pants(text)
             return text
 
-    if config.get('html_use_smartypants', False):
+    if builder.config.get('html_use_smartypants', False):
         return SmartyPantsHTMLTranslator
     else:
         return HTMLTranslator
diff --git a/sphinx/latexwriter.py b/sphinx/latexwriter.py
index ffbc5eeec..38729e8c9 100644
--- a/sphinx/latexwriter.py
+++ b/sphinx/latexwriter.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ HEADER = r'''%% Generated by Sphinx.
 \date{%(date)s}
 \release{%(release)s}
 \author{Guido van Rossum\\    %% XXX
-  Fred L. Drake, Jr., editor} %% XXX
+  Fred L. Drake, Jr., editor}
 \authoraddress{
   \strong{Python Software Foundation}\\
   Email: \email{docs@python.org}
@@ -55,13 +55,13 @@ class LaTeXWriter(writers.Writer):
 
     output = None
 
-    def __init__(self, config, buildername):
+    def __init__(self, builder):
         writers.Writer.__init__(self)
-        self.config = config
+        self.builder = builder
 
     def translate(self):
         try:
-            visitor = LaTeXTranslator(self.document, self.config)
+            visitor = LaTeXTranslator(self.document, self.builder)
             self.document.walkabout(visitor)
             self.output = visitor.astext()
         except:
@@ -90,20 +90,22 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
     sectionnames = ["chapter", "chapter", "section", "subsection",
                     "subsubsection", "paragraph", "subparagraph"]
 
-    def __init__(self, document, config):
+    def __init__(self, document, builder):
         nodes.NodeVisitor.__init__(self, document)
+        self.builder = builder
         self.body = []
         docclass = document.settings.docclass
-        paper = config.get('latex_paper_size', 'letter') + 'paper'
+        paper = builder.config.get('latex_paper_size', 'letter') + 'paper'
         if paper == 'paper': # e.g. command line "-D latex_paper_size="
             paper = 'letterpaper'
+        date = time.strftime(builder.config.get('today_fmt', '%B %d, %Y'))
         self.options = {'docclass': docclass,
                         'papersize': paper,
-                        'pointsize': config.get('latex_font_size', '10pt'),
+                        'pointsize': builder.config.get('latex_font_size', '10pt'),
                         'filename': document.settings.filename,
                         'title': None, # is determined later
-                        'release': config['release'],
-                        'date': time.strftime(config.get('today_fmt', '%B %d, %Y')),
+                        'release': builder.config['release'],
+                        'date': date,
                         }
         self.context = []
         self.descstack = []
@@ -198,8 +200,9 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
             raise nodes.SkipNode
         elif self.this_is_the_title:
             if len(node.children) != 1 and not isinstance(node.children[0], Text):
-                raise RuntimeError("title is not a Text node")
-            self.options['title'] = node.children[0].astext()
+                print >>self.builder.warning_stream, 'WARNING: document title ' \
+                      'is not a single Text node'
+            self.options['title'] = node.astext()
             self.this_is_the_title = 0
             raise nodes.SkipNode
         elif isinstance(node.parent, nodes.section):
@@ -209,22 +212,20 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
             self.body.append(r'\textbf{')
             self.context.append('}\n\n\medskip\n\n')
         else:
-            raise RuntimeError("XXX title without section")
+            print >>self.builder.warning_stream, 'WARNING: encountered title node ' \
+                  'not in section, topic or sidebar'
+            self.body.append('\\textbf{')
+            self.context.append('}')
         self.in_title = 1
     def depart_title(self, node):
         self.in_title = 0
         self.body.append(self.context.pop())
 
-    def visit_field_list(self, node):
-        raise nodes.SkipNode # XXX
-
     desc_map = {
         'function' : 'funcdesc',
         'class': 'classdesc',
-        #'classdesc*': ('class', '0'), XXX
         'method': 'methoddesc',
         'exception': 'excdesc',
-        #'excclassdesc': ('exception', '0(1)'), XXX
         'data': 'datadesc',
         'attribute': 'memberdesc',
         'opcode': 'opcodedesc',
@@ -236,7 +237,7 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
         'cvar': 'cvardesc',
 
         'describe': 'describe',
-        'cmdoption': 'describe', # XXX?
+        'cmdoption': 'describe',
         'envvar': 'describe',
     }
 
@@ -322,7 +323,8 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
     def visit_rubric(self, node):
         if len(node.children) == 1 and node.children[0].astext() == 'Footnotes':
             raise nodes.SkipNode
-        raise RuntimeError("rubric not supported except for footnotes heading")
+        print >>self.builder.warning_stream, 'WARNING: encountered rubric node' \
+              'not used for footnotes, content will be lost'
 
     def visit_footnote(self, node):
         # XXX not optimal, footnotes are at section end
@@ -356,7 +358,9 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
         elif columnCount == 5:
             self.body.append('\\begin{tablev}{l|l|l|l|l}{textrm}')
         else:
-            raise RuntimeError("XXX table with too many columns found")
+            print >>self.builder.warning_stream, 'WARNING: table with too ' \
+                  'many columns, ignoring'
+            raise nodes.SkipNode
     def depart_tgroup(self, node):
         if self.tableSpec.columnCount == 2:
             self.body.append('\n\\end{tableii}\n\n')
@@ -457,6 +461,22 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
     def depart_definition(self, node):
         self.body.append('\n')
 
+    def visit_field_list(self, node):
+        self.body.append('\\begin{quote}\\begin{description}\n')
+    def depart_field_list(self, node):
+        self.body.append('\\end{description}\\end{quote}\n')
+
+    def visit_field(self, node):
+        pass
+    def depart_field(self, node):
+        pass
+
+    visit_field_name = visit_term
+    depart_field_name = depart_term
+
+    visit_field_body = visit_definition
+    depart_field_body = depart_definition
+
     def visit_paragraph(self, node):
         self.body.append('\n')
     def depart_paragraph(self, node):
@@ -554,7 +574,8 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
                 self.body.append(r'\%s{%s}' % (self.indextype_map[type],
                                                self.encode(string)))
             else:
-                raise RuntimeError('XXX unknown index entry type')
+                print >>self.builder.warning_stream, 'WARNING: unknown index entry ' \
+                      'type %s found' % type
         raise nodes.SkipNode
 
     def visit_reference(self, node):
@@ -574,7 +595,9 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
                 self.body.append('\\grammartoken{')
             self.context.append('}')
         else:
-            raise RuntimeError('XXX malformed reference target %s' % uri)
+            print self.builder.warning_stream, 'WARNING: malformed reference ' \
+                  'target found: %s' % uri
+            self.context.append('')
     def depart_reference(self, node):
         self.body.append(self.context.pop())
 
@@ -589,9 +612,9 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
         self.body.append('}')
 
     def visit_literal_emphasis(self, node):
-        self.body.append(r'\emph{') # XXX
+        self.body.append(r'\emph{\texttt{')
     def depart_literal_emphasis(self, node):
-        self.body.append('}')
+        self.body.append('}}')
 
     def visit_strong(self, node):
         self.body.append(r'\textbf{')