Comparison between the total metallicity [M/H]_tot from the fit to the abundance patterns for the optimal choice of metals (see Sect. 3) with the observed [Zn/H] (bottom panel), the fit to all metals (third panel), and the fit to only the non-α-elements (second panel) and the fit to only the α-elements (top panel). Orange triangles show the measurements for the LMC and blue diamonds those for the SMC. The dotted curve is the x = y line. The dashed line on the top panel is not a fit to the data, but marks the x = y + 0.35 dex line, the enhancement in the abundances of α-elements. Larger symbols highlight the golden sample.