New York Times criticized over crossword that resembles swastika on first day of Hannukah
Misty Severi
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The New York Times was criticized on social media on Sunday, for publishing a crossword puzzle on the first day of Hanukkah that some users claimed resembled a “swastika.”
Sunday’s crossword puzzle designer Ryan McCarty, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting manager, claimed the crossword was designed in a “whirlpool” shape in the Constructor Notes of the crossword review.
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“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,” McCarty said. “I had originally tried to make it work in a 15×15 grid but then decided to expand the grid out to a Sunday-size puzzle with a fun whirlpool shape. Hope you enjoy.”
However, Twitter users claimed the puzzle resembled the swastika, which was used by the Nazi regime during World War II. To make matters worse, the puzzle was published on the first day of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah and comes as antisemitic attacks have risen in the country.
“Disgusting! Only the New York Times would get Chanukah going with this is the crossword puzzle,” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted on Sunday. “Imagine what they would do to someone who did this and was not ideologically aligned with them? I’ll give them the same benefit of the doubt they would give those people … EXACTLY ZERO.”
https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1604572235695415296
Keith Edwards, the communications director at Nikki Fried for Governor, and a coalition of Zionist Jewish scholars and students at the City University of New York agreed that the crossword looked like a swastika.
“This is the NYTimes crossword puzzle today on the first day of Hanukka. What the hell? @nytimes,” Edwards tweeted.
Jordan Cohen, the executive director of communications for the outlet, told the Washington Examiner that the design was common for crossword puzzles.
“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 an email.
The puzzle was not the first time solvers had accused the publication of publishing antisemitic content. A different puzzle that resembled a swastika was published by the outlet in 2017.
“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?'” the New York Times tweeted in 2017.
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President Joe Biden is expected to condemn the growing threat of antisemitism in the country in remarks at the White House Monday night.
The comments come after the Jewish civil rights group, the Anti-Defamation League, tracked 2,717 antisemitic instances of assault, harassment, and vandalism last year, according to the Associated Press. The number is a 34% increase over the number of attacks in 2020 and is the highest number the organization has documented since its founding in 1979.