NYTimes Crossword With ‘Fun Whirlpool Shape’ Irks For Resembling… Something Else
Screenshot via The New York Times
What’s a six-letter exclamation for when you realize you’ve made a blunder? Whoops. The New York Times is leaving people speechless with a crossword puzzle shaped oddly like a swastika.
The puzzle, entitled Some Theme’s Missing, was incidentally published on December 18, the first day of Hanukkah too.
Its creator Ryan McCarty—a consulting manager from Washington, DC, who has designed nearly two dozen puzzles for the newspaper—said he had originally envisioned the challenge on a 15 x 15-grid but found the space too limiting for a puzzle that “pulls from a variety of subject areas.” The crossword was henceforth published “with a fun whirlpool shape” in the larger Sunday paper format.
The Times detailed that McCarty began the puzzle “in the middle and worked his way out, stirring in a heap of fresh, lively vocabulary.”
This is the NYTimes crossword puzzle today on the first day of Hanukka.
— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) December 18, 2022
What the hell, @nytimes? pic.twitter.com/kNBs8RjyJJ
It has to be said that the swastika bears contrasting significance around the world. In Eurasia, in which its roots lie, the symbol is historically seen as a sign of good luck and prosperity (in Sanskrit, the word su means “good,” and asti translates to “it is”). The swastika has been spotted on Indian religious texts dating millennia, and has previously drawn positive connotations in Africa, as well.
However, the ancient emblem was blasphemized by the Nazi Party and neo-Nazis, who have forevermore tainted it to signify antisemitism and white supremacism.
The publication of the puzzle on the very first day of the Jewish holiday was duly noted by readers, some of whom have threatened to end their long-standing subscriptions if an apology isn’t issued.
Ok just need to ask why the NYT crossword is shaped like a swastika today 🤔🤔🤔 @nytimes pic.twitter.com/zAR6Xdgonn
— Dalí Parton (@pocketsssssss) December 18, 2022
Strangely enough, this isn’t the first time the paper has posted a crossword puzzle shaped like the offending icon. Yahoo News reports that similar formations have appeared in 2014 and 2017.
On both occasions, the New York Times Games department was strikingly defensive about how the swastika-like patterns had passed through the approval of likely several editors. In response to a similar controversy in 2017, it wrote: “Yes, hi. It’s NOT a swastika. Honest to God. No one sits down to make a crossword puzzle and says, ‘Hey! You know what would look cool?’”
Yes, hi. It's NOT a swastika. Honest to God. No one sits down to make a crossword puzzle and says, "Hey! You know what would look cool?"
— New York Times Games (@NYTGames) October 28, 2017
In 2014, when called out for going through with a mini crossword puzzle that reminded some readers of the swastika, a representative then told Tomato Hater: “I had to look really hard at it in order to see what you refer to as a swastika… Personally, I mainly see a lot of white space.” Coincidentally, this version was published on the weekend before Hanukkah. Its first answer also happened to be “Jew.”
Not only has the NY Times crossword featured a swastika **three times now** (2014, 2017, 2022), when they did it in 2014 the first word was “Jew”? https://t.co/yOyqzPZz4G pic.twitter.com/LKwJFCyH8l
— puppycat 🀠(@mixtape_majesty) December 19, 2022
“One would think you’d make sure your design isn’t featuring a prominent hate symbol after having already made that mistake,” one reader addresses. Taking into account the timing of the puzzle, they’ve called upon the paper to make a public address on the debacle.
Another person, who identifies as half-Jewish, chimes in: “Whether this puzzle design was intended to resemble a swastika or not, there is a great deal of pain and anguish surrounding that symbol, which should be acknowledged and respected.”
The New York Times has since uploaded its crossword puzzle for December 19. As of the time of writing, the newspaper has yet to respond to the criticism.
Today’s New York Times crossword is um…making me nervous. pic.twitter.com/73CafLiy3Z
— Blake Flayton (@blakeflayton) December 18, 2022
Folks are making hay over today's @nytimes crossword layout. If the swastika is unintentional, you'd think an editor along the way would have caught it. And on the first day of Hanukkah, no less. 🙄
— D Christian Harrison (@dcharrison) December 18, 2022
And the clue for 1 across just salts the wound. pic.twitter.com/coNVkgrLUv
[via Yahoo News and Boing Boing, images via various sources]
