You can’t make this up.
The New York Times is facing some major backlash this week after fans of the crossword were deeply troubled by Sunday’s puzzle. The puzzle appears to be in the shape of a swastika, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the crossword was published on the first day of Hanukkah.
Today’s New York Times crossword is um…making me nervous. pic.twitter.com/73CafLiy3Z
— Blake Flayton (@blakeflayton) December 18, 2022
To make matters worse — yes, it still gets worse — a Twitter user pointed out that one clue was for Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, which Nazi soldiers marched through in 1939 while observing Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday.
The tone-deaf puzzle was met with swift and intense backlash online, with many calling out the Times for spreading an antisemitic image, intentional or not.
You know, as someone learning to construct crosswords, I can totally buy that someone made a swastika shaped crossword without any malicious intent.
The weird part is NOBODY AT THE NEW YORK TIMES saying "hey that's a swastika" before publishing it on the first night of Hanukkah.
— Yell in a War (@jelenawoehr) December 19, 2022
Despite the backlash, the Times is sticking with their design. Jordan Cohen, executive director of communications at the Times, told Newsweek that the only intentional aspect of the crossword’s appearance was its symmetry.
“This is a common crossword design: Many open grids in crosswords have a similar spiral pattern because of the rules around rotational symmetry and black squares,” Cohen said in a statement.
That all makes sense, but it would probably work better if the Times hadn’t already faced this problem before. Back in 2017, another crossword design resembling a swastika made its way into the Times. The official @NYTGames Twitter account shared it was not intentional then, either.
Oh so this has happened before https://t.co/RUbiygMgHD
— Blake Flayton (@blakeflayton) December 19, 2022
Um, 🧐.
