New York Times Crossword 12/18/22

Unbelievable. To those who just couldn't understand the kerfluffle about Kanye's statements six, seven, eight weeks ago. Not at all saying this is a result. But this is what happens when doors get slung wide open.

I completely agree with you. I thought their rationale made sense and I'm sure they will be sure not to use that pattern again. 

I do the puzzle every day - I didn't see it while I was doing it. Not saying it shouldn't be offensive - I get it - but I don't believe it had nefarious intent. If the NYT intentionally insulted/attacked its Jewish readers it would go out of business.  

While I doubt the owners intentionally allowed this....you'd think someone would catch it before it went to print and raise an red flag on it. I just don't think it was an accident that this happened on the first night of Hanukkah.

I don't know what to think. I saw the pattern immediately without having to see the red outline. 

The fact that this is the pattern of the crossword that came out on the first night of Hanukkah makes it suspicious to me. I get that the New York Times has been owned by a Jewish family for generations, but maybe this slipped by the owners before it went to publication? I sincerely hope it was just an innocent accident. 

I subscribe and the magazine (which has the crossword) was missing yesterday. There was a note tucked into the paper saying a shipping issue meant there wouldn't be a magazine. I wonder if this is what it was about.

But that is the American default- overreacting.

It makes me sick to think that was intentional. It seems like a pretty big coincidence to not be… and how could someone not say, hey, you know maybe we should not print this just in case anyone thinks they see an offensive image. I don’t think anyone here is overreacting. Even if it’s innocent it shouldn’t have been printed just because there could be (is) doubt. Especially on the first night of Hanukkah and everything happening right now.

Noted.

The NYT has a nasty history, going back to at least the Holocaust and Holodomor, of lying, misreporting or intentionally failing to report. That this publication is so highly regarded and known as a newspaper of record boggles the mind.

I absolutely believe this was intentional.

I've been thinking about this alot, and you have said what I was thinking so much better than I ever could. I feel foolish thinking society was better than that, we had evolved and instead, this year, I have learned there is an underground current of hatred and evil that is bubbling up - and we really need to challenge it every time, to make sure people think. 

Was this a mistake? Maybe. But with Kanye and everything in the news, this should NOT have slipped by, and we cannot be compliacent.

Personally, I feel like it had to be on purpose by someone. Well, the first "someone" had to be the puzzle creator. And whether or not it was intentional to be a swastika you'd think he/she would have noticed before submitting it to the Times. Then the next person in line is whoever is responsible for approving the puzzles. That person was either incredibly unobservant or they did it on purpose. 

Bottom line is that I don't think we can blame "The New York Times" as a whole, but definitely someone down in that puzzle department has some explaining to do. 

Kind of like the Balenciaga pedophile themed photo shoot. Someone in charge assumes people won’t notice.

I’m guessing the damn thing slipped through the cracks and that no one in charge even noticed. 

Many pieces that aren’t articles or columns in a large newspaper are rubber stamped, often at a low level, and a crossword puzzle could fall into that category, especially now, with far fewer copy editors and managers because of budget problems. 

I was a temp at The Washington Post a long time ago, and a contest was being held for subscribers. I was just a gofer, and my low level supervisor was asked to come up with some contest questions. She asked me for some. The low- or mid-level manager of that section asked her if everything was set and may or may not have glanced at the questions while doing ten other things in the daily rush to get the paper out. And that was when newspapers were flush with sufficient numbers of employees. 

It should have been caught but Is it surprising it wasn’t? Not in the slightest. It didn’t jump out at me at first glance.

As usual, well said, my friend. I continue to hope that things are accidental, or misspoken, or whatever, but if nothing else, teach people awareness. I know there are things that I have said that have accidentally been offensive that were utterly unintentional, but if I don't know better, I don't do better.(I am comfortable saying accidentally because if I want to offend you, I'm pretty clear and in your face about it - and I only dislike people on the basis of them being a**holes, not because of race or religion or the car they drive or anything.) And yes, so many cockroaches have crawled out of the woodwork in the last several years that I no longer have the same reluctant optimism I once had. 

Again, I hope this was primarily a case of most people not noticing that there was even a pattern, or if they noticed, they didn't see anything offensive about it. It's clear not every person here is offended by it, and they would be the primary injured group here. But I just can't believe every single person was innocent here. I hope I'm wrong.