There are “way too many famous O’HARAs and TARAs for there to be all these gone with the winds references in crossword puzzles,” Erik Agard, the crossword editor at USA Today, wrote in a tweet. Flavor Flav, Marie Kondo and Gay Erotica are among crossword entries that have been rejected by editors for being “not familiar enough,” “risky” or “ephemeral.” The pattern of omission can be a deterrent to a younger and more diverse audience of solvers, who are often familiar with the figures and aspects of culture that tend to be excluded from these puzzles in favor of archaic references.”Įven when puzzles are constructed by diverse voices, they may be censored during the editorial process: “Constructors constantly argue with editors that their culture is puzzle-worthy, only to hear feedback greased by bias, and occasionally outright sexism or racism,” Last wrote. While there has been no particular trend of growth, it has reached a high of 28% so far in 2020. His article brings to light the fact that the lack of diversity among mainstream crossword creators, editors and test solvers leads to a lack of diversity in the grids and clues of the puzzles themselves with regards to race and ethnicity, age, and gender and sexuality.įor example, since the current New York Times crossword editor, Will Shortz, assumed the position in 1993, the percentage of crossword bylines by women has fluctuated between 13% and 27%, according to. “That crossword mainstays such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal are largely written, edited, fact-checked, and test-solved by older white men dictates what makes it into the 15×15 grid and what’s kept out,” Natan Last wrote in a March 2020 article for the Atlantic entitled “The Hidden Bigotry of Crosswords.” Last is a crossword constructor for the New York Times and The New Yorker. Exclusion of Diverse Constructors and CluesĪccording to an April 2020 Vice article by Samantha Cole, “New York Times Crossword Constructors Are Fighting Against its Systemic Bias,” the New York Times crosswords, considered by many to be the gold standard of cruciverbalism (the construction of crossword puzzles), “often seem targeted at imagined solvers who are older white males.” The pattern of exclusion has, however, prompted pushback which provides hope for the growth of a new generation of diverse and mindful crossword enthusiasts. For such a seemingly harmless and amusing pursuit, the modern mainstream crossword puzzle has an extensive record of excluding the voices of people of color, women and the LGBTQ community, as well as employing dated or offensive terminology. When not working on a puzzle, David can be found reading his favorite daily comic strips.For many people, solving crossword puzzles is a fun and lighthearted activity, perhaps accompanied by breakfast or Sunday brunch. Additionally, David is a frequent attendee of crossword puzzle conventions and a respected tournament judge. He is the founder and director of the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project, a collaborative effort to build a digitized, searchable database of New York Times crossword puzzles dating back to 1942. David is also the author of two books of crosswords: Chromatics (Puzzazz, 2012) and Juicy Crosswords (Sterling/Puzzlewright Press, 2016). He was most recently the editor of The Puzzle Society Crossword. To date, David has had hundreds of puzzles published in the Times and other markets (Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Daily Celebrity Crossword, The Crosswords Club, The American Values Club Crossword, BuzzFeed and The Jerusalem Post). At the age of 15, David became the crossword editor of the Orange County Register's 24 affiliated newspapers. David Steinberg published his first crossword puzzle in The New York Times when he was just 14 years old, making him the second-youngest constructor to be published under Will Shortz's editorship.
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