The Surprisingly Messy Culture Wars Within The New York Times Crossword Puzzle

Hallie Lieberman for Kotaku:

In response to the “beaner” incident, the Times created a diversity panel that reads over every crossword to find terms that could cause offense. “The standard we use now…is, taken out of context, is the answer, something that is likely to offend people,” Shortz said.

Recently the panel flagged “pig,” because its clue was “gluttonous.” “One of the people…objected to that …because in their mind, it suggested fat shaming,” he said. “And I went to the dictionary…gluttonous is basically one who overeats. It’s not a matter of fat shaming,” he claimed.” It’s just what the word means.” But he took the word out so as not to offend readers.

If not for the fact conservatives don’t play crossword puzzles, at least according to this story, I’m convinced it’s stuff like this that makes people vote Republican.