Netizens call out New York Times for publishing crossword design resembling swastika. Paper responds

“This is the New York Times crossword puzzle on the first day of Hanukka – in the shape of a swastika. They are not a newspaper. They are disgusting,” a netizen tweeted.

This is the New York Times crossword puzzle on the first day of Hanukka – in the shape of a swastika.

They are not a newspaper. They are disgusting. @nytimes pic.twitter.com/lqABOF3HRU

— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) December 19, 2022

“I’m not saying the New York Times is antisemitic… I’m just saying they kicked off Hannukah with a swastika shaped crossword puzzle,” said another.

“A few years ago, the New York Times upset people by publishing a crossword that looked vaguely like a swastika. To rectify this, they published a new crossword today that looks exactly like a swastika,” another netizen posted.

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

The claim that the New York Times of all places would deliberately publish a swastika crossword puzzle to antagonize Jews on the first day of Hanukkah is the funniest thing ever. Do you people know anything about who owns, manages, and reads the New York Times 😂 Get a grip!

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) December 20, 2022

A few years ago, the New York Times upset people by publishing a crossword that looked vaguely like a swastika. To rectify this, they published a new crossword today that looks *exactly* like a swastika pic.twitter.com/QNCLhiCNFo

— Dan O’Brien (@OtherDanOBrien) December 18, 2022

This is the NYTimes crossword puzzle today on the first day of Hanukka.

What the hell, @nytimes? pic.twitter.com/kNBs8RjyJJ

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) December 18, 2022

The New York Times responded to the controversy and said that it was a “common crossword design”. Talking to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for the paper said, “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.”

This is not the first time The New York Times has been called out for a questionable crossword puzzle design. It happened in 2017 as well and the paper had even addressed it that time.