Antisemitism and the NYT crossword

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s an unfortunate accident and they should address it and apologize for the accidental offense. (There’s is actually a whole thing about accidentally creating a swastika pattern in quilts and I can imagine the crossword layout presents similar issues. Nevertheless, they shouldn’t ignore it!)

They are ignoring it, and other media outlets are ignoring it. Why is that?

Because … it’s not newsworthy

I thought swastikas were bad. Apparently we are cool with them now.

58 - Boxcars

60 - Brandenburg Gate, the entrance to the Reichstag

88 - Group led by Darth Sideous ( the Emperor in Star Wars) — the cross word is too low resolution to see if this fits, but my first answer would be “stormtroopers”.

7 down is a reference to Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. Their wall concerts were openly antisemitic, with the fascists of the “wall” being adorned with Stars of David and a Hitleresque fascist leader — with Roger Waters being a open antisemite and hater of Israel.

Lots of various references to Islam throughout.

Not a chance any of this was accidental.

This is one of the most idiotic posts that I've read on DCUM. I cannot believe that people are up in arms about this.

And BTW, the mere existence of Islam is not anti-semitic. So tired of the blatant, socially acceptable islamophobia in these posts. You're not making the point that you think you are.

PP's post is absolutely hilarious on a Qanon level.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Any crossword can be made to look like a swastika if you try hard enough.

Agree. If you ignore enough spaces, you can make a swastika out of almost all of them.

Like the crossword puzzle in question, really?

Perhaps you could show an example of how every crossword puzzle is a swastika?

No, I'm not going to put swastikas all over images and post them here. I think you should be ashamed of yourself for doing that.

I didn’t do that. It is a picture that shows how the crossword puzzle in question so closely resembles a swastika.

I think the NYT should be ashamed of themselves for publishing the swastika shaped crossword puzzle, apologize, and remove the people who made it from their crossword page, and conduct an investigation into who approved this puzzle and ask why they didn’t see what everyone else sees.

But so far, they are silent, and the people who have asked for answers about this have been accused of being too sensitive.

This is effing ridiculous.

-A Jew

Fellow Jew who completely agrees.

Why do you think The sulzbergers and Levien are ok with this?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This is the constructor’s note: “ Thrilled to have my first Sunday puzzle in The Times! This grid features one of my favorite open middles that I’ve made as it pulls from a variety of subject areas. I had originally tried to make it work in a 15x15 grid but then decided to expand the grid out to a Sunday-size puzzle with a fun whirlpool shape. Hope you enjoy!”

I believe him. He saw a whirlpool. Not everyone sees swastikas everywhere.

... which is why diversity matters. because "not everyone" sees it - but every single jewish person does.

"every single jewish (sic) person" who is offended by everything. FTFY.

Go cwy to Jeff a little more because poow Cwistians awe being attacked again and waah why awe people so mean but a literal swastika in the NY Times is just us Jews, who control the weather and those space lasers, being oversensitive.

New York Times is owned and run by people of Jewish descent. This criticism is a white elephant.

💯

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the constructor’s note: “ Thrilled to have my first Sunday puzzle in The Times! This grid features one of my favorite open middles that I’ve made as it pulls from a variety of subject areas. I had originally tried to make it work in a 15x15 grid but then decided to expand the grid out to a Sunday-size puzzle with a fun whirlpool shape. Hope you enjoy!”

I believe him. He saw a whirlpool. Not everyone sees swastikas everywhere.

... which is why diversity matters. because "not everyone" sees it - but every single jewish person does.

I mean, does a team of diverse people have to review every crossword puzzle layout? That seems crazy to me.

Jesus, are we this into DEI and you still think that's what this means?

No, you don't need a diversity team "reviewing" every crossword. What diversity means is that there is someone on the whole team that works on this puzzle before it goes into print, who says: hey, guys, has anyone noticed that this looks like a swastika?

It means that YOUR instincts - which tells you that who cares, NBD - aren't the ONLY ones represented on a team. There are other people who see things and are aware of sensitivities that you, for whatever reason, are not. It saves the NY Times having to say that they didn't intentionally print a swastika, because someone who is more thoughtful about swastikas, has already been able to flag this thing.

Are you even Jewish? Or are you one of those SJW types who is constantly looking for offense, ready to rush in and cancel someone over the slightest perceived infraction? I’m Jewish, and I think this whole thing is a tempest in a teapot. I don’t need people fussing over non-events like this in order to support me.

I am Jewish, and no I am not always looking to be offended. In fact I am not even offended by this - just pretty shocked that no one at the Times who was involved with the publication process saw this and realized what it looked like. I don't think it was intentional. I think it was incredibly stupid and should have been noticed before it went to print. They did not need to print a puzzle that looks like a gd swastika.

Are you trying to gatekeep who is allowed to have an opinion about this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In response to this latest crossword controversy, a spokesperson for the New York Times told the JC: "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."

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/new-york-times-defends-controversial-swastika-crossword-design-65XtxKlPVruODsVP6xb3uV

NYT defends this, so no apology.

This is unacceptable. The question is not intent, but impact. Even if the Times team may have thought they were merely implementing standard practices in crossword design, publishing a puzzle where a swastika is so clearly apparent does harm to marginalized groups, especially given the scale of the NYT platform. The Times must put in a monitoring program to vet crossword puzzles for cultural sensitivity and potential harms, and obviously must apologize for the harm done here. Do better, NYT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In response to this latest crossword controversy, a spokesperson for the New York Times told the JC: "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."

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/new-york-times-defends-controversial-swastika-crossword-design-65XtxKlPVruODsVP6xb3uV

NYT defends this, so no apology.

So, no other examples of similar swastika themed crosswords?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the constructor’s note: “ Thrilled to have my first Sunday puzzle in The Times! This grid features one of my favorite open middles that I’ve made as it pulls from a variety of subject areas. I had originally tried to make it work in a 15x15 grid but then decided to expand the grid out to a Sunday-size puzzle with a fun whirlpool shape. Hope you enjoy!”

I believe him. He saw a whirlpool. Not everyone sees swastikas everywhere.

... which is why diversity matters. because "not everyone" sees it - but every single jewish person does.

I mean, does a team of diverse people have to review every crossword puzzle layout? That seems crazy to me.

I guess not, but just as we all know not to make the N-word the answer to one of the clues, we should all know that if it kind of looks like a swastika when you squint it probably needs a redesign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In response to this latest crossword controversy, a spokesperson for the New York Times told the JC: "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."

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/new-york-times-defends-controversial-swastika-crossword-design-65XtxKlPVruODsVP6xb3uV

NYT defends this, so no apology.

This is unacceptable. The question is not intent, but impact. Even if the Times team may have thought they were merely implementing standard practices in crossword design, publishing a puzzle where a swastika is so clearly apparent does harm to marginalized groups, especially given the scale of the NYT platform. The Times must put in a monitoring program to vet crossword puzzles for cultural sensitivity and potential harms, and obviously must apologize for the harm done here. Do better, NYT.

Exactly what impact did it have? How did it “harm marginalized groups?” This Jew has somehow escaped unscathed from Crosswordgate!

[Anonymous]

I thought this was going to be about an offensive clue, and not a common crossword design. It looks like many, many, many others.

Anti-Semitism is real, but thinking anything offensive is really overkill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In response to this latest crossword controversy, a spokesperson for the New York Times told the JC: "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."

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/new-york-times-defends-controversial-swastika-crossword-design-65XtxKlPVruODsVP6xb3uV

NYT defends this, so no apology.

This is unacceptable. The question is not intent, but impact. Even if the Times team may have thought they were merely implementing standard practices in crossword design, publishing a puzzle where a swastika is so clearly apparent does harm to marginalized groups, especially given the scale of the NYT platform. The Times must put in a monitoring program to vet crossword puzzles for cultural sensitivity and potential harms, and obviously must apologize for the harm done here. Do better, NYT.

Exactly what impact did it have? How did it “harm marginalized groups?” This Jew has somehow escaped unscathed from Crosswordgate!

The lived experience of other posters on this thread seems to the contrary. I don’t think you are in a position to speak for all of them, are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In response to this latest crossword controversy, a spokesperson for the New York Times told the JC: "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."

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/new-york-times-defends-controversial-swastika-crossword-design-65XtxKlPVruODsVP6xb3uV

NYT defends this, so no apology.

Because there is nothing to apologize for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In response to this latest crossword controversy, a spokesperson for the New York Times told the JC: "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."

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/new-york-times-defends-controversial-swastika-crossword-design-65XtxKlPVruODsVP6xb3uV

NYT defends this, so no apology.

This is unacceptable. The question is not intent, but impact. Even if the Times team may have thought they were merely implementing standard practices in crossword design, publishing a puzzle where a swastika is so clearly apparent does harm to marginalized groups, especially given the scale of the NYT platform. The Times must put in a monitoring program to vet crossword puzzles for cultural sensitivity and potential harms, and obviously must apologize for the harm done here. Do better, NYT.

Exactly what impact did it have? How did it “harm marginalized groups?” This Jew has somehow escaped unscathed from Crosswordgate!

The lived experience of other posters on this thread seems to the contrary. I don’t think you are in a position to speak for all of them, are you?

Not a single person has shared a demonstrable impact on them. If you feel personally victimized by a crossword puzzle design, you’re mighty precious.

[Anonymous]

It’s very weird to me that they doubled down on this. What percentage of their readership is Jewish? It’s gotta be high. Why not just apologize for the horrible oversight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very weird to me that they doubled down on this. What percentage of their readership is Jewish? It’s gotta be high. Why not just apologize for the horrible oversight?

Because there's nothing to apologize for and no oversight. Apologizing would have been the wrong thing for them to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very weird to me that they doubled down on this. What percentage of their readership is Jewish? It’s gotta be high. Why not just apologize for the horrible oversight?

It sets a bad precedent to apologize over something that is nothing.