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BUDAPEST A polarizing project by the government of Viktor Orban, Hungarys far-right prime minister, to transform the historic City Park here into a museum district has produced its first building: the House of Music, Hungary.

Designed by the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, the cultural center, which opened on Jan. 23, offers exhibitions, education and concerts. An interactive permanent show guides visitors through the historical development of Western music; celebrates the contribution of Hungarian composers like Liszt, Bartok and Kodaly; and traces Hungarys folk music tradition to its Central Asian roots. One room, painted in the colors of the Hungarian flag, features video displays on the countrys political history and famous athletes, with the national anthem as a soundtrack.

Yet beyond the House of Musics glass walls, which are animated by reflections of construction elsewhere in the park, this new building is mired in controversy.

Critics have said that the governments plans to develop the 200-year-old City Park into a museum district disturbs the natural environment, deprives locals of much-needed public space and raises concerns about corruption. But those behind the project say the site has always been more than a public park, and that the undertaking is Europes largest urban development project. In a speech, Orban described the transformation as an unfinished work of art.

In 2012, Orbans government announced an ambitious plan to transform the park, in disrepair after decades of neglect, into a district of five museums. The estimated cost at the time was about $250 million, but that had ballooned to nearly five times original projections by 2017.

There had been a virtual consensus that the park needed work, but the government and park conservationists disagreed about the fate of the parks natural features.

A special legal designation allowed the project to skirt existing development rules, meaning the municipality of Budapest had little say over the governments plans. And legislation adopted by Orbans party placed the park under the purview of a newly created, state-owned company controlled by his allies. Sandor Lederer of K-Monitor, an anti-corruption watchdog, said that public records indicate the House of Music alone had cost Hungarian taxpayers as much as $100 million.

The project is a good example of how public investments work under Orban, Lederer said. There are no real needs and impact assessments done; citizens and affected parties are excluded from consultations and planning.

He added that poor planning and corruption have benefited companies widely seen as Orbans clientele, saying, Not only present, but also future generations will pay the costs of another Orban pet project.

Laszlo Baan, the government commissioner overseeing the project, declined to be interviewed, but a spokeswoman said in a statement that the government had so far spent 250 billion Hungarian Forint, about $800 million, on the project. Fujimotos office did not respond to an interview request.

In 2016, private security guards clashed with park conservationists at the future site of the House of Music. Gergely Karacsony, an opposition politician who was elected mayor of Budapest in 2019, did not attend the House of Musics Jan. 22 unveiling, which took place on the Day of Hungarian Culture, a national celebration. The building, he wrote on social media, was born not of culture, but of violence.

In a radio interview, Karacsony recently likened construction in a public park to urinating in a stoop of Holy Water: You can do it, but it ruins why we are all there.

Orban, however, has sought to frame the museum district as a legacy project, and he has used it as a cudgel in his own war against what he sees as the Wests cultural decline. Unveiling the House of Music, he attacked critics of the parks transformation as leftists who opposed beauty.

The Hungarian nation never forgets the names of those who built the country, Orban said in a speech at the ceremony, adding that detractors are not remembered, because the Hungarian nation simply casts them out of its memory.

He added that national elections in April would be a period that would end debate over the future of the park.

Since returning to power in 2010, Orban and his allies have taken over public media, as well as most of the countrys private media, to promulgate far-right conspiracy theories, attack the regimes critics and advance Orbans culture war (which has also reached academia and the arts.) Hungarys cities are currently blanketed in political ads featuring Orbans main political opponent as Mini-Me from the Austin Powers movies.

Orbans political machine interprets culture as something that must be occupied or conquered, said Krisztian Nyary, an author who grew up near City Park. They are only capable of thinking in terms of political logic, but culture is different.

He added: Do we need a House of Music? I dont know. I see its a beautiful building, and Im sure theyll have exciting events, but it doesnt belong there. Repurposing the park transforms its function, he said, jeopardizing a valuable natural environment that has served as the lungs of surrounding neighborhoods.

The park is bordered by the Sixth and Seventh districts, which Gabor Kerpel-Fronius, Budapests deputy mayor, said have the fewest green spaces in the city. The museum district, he added, could have been planned elsewhere, such as in a rundown rust zone nearby.

Imre Kormendy, an architect, served as president of the Hungarian Society for Urban Planning when the museum district project began. He quickly learned that the government had no intention of meaningful consultation with stakeholders, he said.

Nave professionals such as myself had no idea this project had already been decided, he said. Not even the Guggenheim was constructed inside of Central Park. Why should a city park be burdened with such development?

Yet Eszter Reisz, who raised her family in the area, said the parks development was fantastic in comparison with its previously unkempt condition.

For Klara Garay, a 71-year-old biology teacher who has lived near the park for decades, the repurposing of the park epitomizes the general climate in Hungary. She has been protesting against the parks redevelopment since it began.

I feel despair, she said. This country is morally at such a low point.

Although the House of Music aims for community-building and education, the strife over its genesis is a reminder of why many of Hungarys most celebrated musicians such as Bartok, or Gyorgy Ligeti left the country.

The political past of Hungary has been very problematic in certain phases of its history, said the musicologist Felix Meyer, who runs the Paul Sacher Foundation in Switzerland. Many of the countrys talented musicians, he added, chose to live in the West.

Its as simple as that, Meyer said. Hungary was a small country and could be very repressive, and not all of them felt appreciated. These are great minds, very liberal minds, people who needed space and opportunities, so its natural they made big careers outside of Hungary.

The acclaimed Hungarian pianist Andras Schiff, who has been in self-imposed exile for over a decade in protest of Orbans politics, said by phone that The way Orban supports culture is very selective. Schiff added that Orban will support everything that follows him, everybody who joins the bandwagon.

Orbans government, Schiff said, tried very hard to change history and change the facts, but it would be better to work on that, to admit faults and mistakes.

Asked if he would consider returning to Hungary if Mr. Orban is ousted in April, Mr. Schiff said, Yes, certainly.

I would love to come back, he said. This is the place I was born, its my mother tongue, and I deeply love Hungarian culture.

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A Music Museum Opens in the Heart of Hungarys Culture Wars - The New York Times

Youve probably heard and read in the media the phrase Culture War, along with references to the Supreme Court and universities. No, this is not a war of books versus whiteboards or clashes between different types of cultures although the latter option is the closest to reality.

It is about undermining access to knowledge and culture as a result of conflict between social groups and the struggle for dominance of their values, beliefs, and practices.

To no ones surprise, the term Culture War emerged to describe contemporary political and social issues in the United States. Think abortion, homosexuality, transgender rights, multiculturalism, racism, and more.

Simply put, the so-called Culture War in America is the perennial clash between conservative or traditionalist values and their progressive or liberal counterparts.

And it goes far beyond mere political parties.

Take, for example, the Supreme Courts decision last week to hear a case that could doom university policies that consider race as a factor in student admissions.

As Reuters explained, the issue over student admissions practices at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, taken up by the court on Monday, gives conservative justices a chance to cripple affirmative action policies long despised by the U.S. right with a ruling expected next year.

Adding to that case are the abortion rights debate and the Second Amendment debate.

The fact that the highest court in the country, with a conservative majority, makes judicial decisions in favor of a grill of conservative arguments can give you an idea of what it means to be immersed in a Culture War.

The term Culture War began to be used in the United States in the 1920s when urban and rural American values were at odds with the interwar wave of immigration.

However, the term would gain traction during the early 1990s, when James Davison Hunter, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, reintroduced the expression in his 1991 publication, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. Hunter described what he saw as a dramatic realignment and polarization that had transformed American politics and culture.

It was there that the range of issues expanded to gay rights and abortion rights, in what Hunter characterized as a polarity between progressivism and orthodoxy.

In the United States, talking about conservatism without talking about the church is almost impossible. For historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez, the emergence of the culture wars was a direct product of the end of the Cold War and the rise of evangelical Christians in the United States, who championed the campaign against communism.

When this threat ended with the end of the Cold War, evangelical leaders shifted the source of the perceived threat from foreign communism to domestic changes in gender roles and sexuality.

The pendulum nature of politics in the country, from Democratic to Republican rule, only added fuel to the fire.

In one way or another, the moral polarity in the country corresponded and continues to correspond to electoral political platforms.

While we could spend hours recapping the comings and goings of the Culture War debate in America including the chapter on the unmentionable 45th president the worst episode seems to be taking place directly in the schools.

Conservatives and GOP acolytes have decided to win the Culture War by attacking the source of it all: education.

By taking over school boards, conservatives could win the battle over evolutionary instruction, sex education, abortion, and other controversial issues.

A case in point has been the debate over critical race theory.

As Politico explained, this shift in focus from the Culture War has alternated between religion and history (and lately epidemiology) to the nations identity.

What should be a teachable moment for our children has become another dividing line between their parents. Even the question of masks in schools is now a take-no-prisoners struggle, pitting different versions of America against each other, the magazine explains.

And no people are more manipulable than ignorant people. If the literature on race, identity, and gender is removed from schools, we can end the Culture War and crown the conservative dinosaurs as victors.

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What Does It Mean That America Is Engaged in a Culture War, and Why Should You Care? - BELatina

by Glen Besa

To the casual observer of the 2021 campaign for Virginia governor e.g., those whose primary source of information on politics was TV news and/or ads Glenn Youngkin probably appeared to be a moderate suburban dad who wanted to cut taxes and give parents a greater voice in their schools. A voter would have had to look a little deeper, by doing some research on Youngkin, to hear the darker, right-wing, Trumpian messages related to election integrity and critical race theory delivered with a smile and a sweater vest rather than Trumps snarling nastiness.

Assiduously avoiding the questions of pesky reporters, while keeping his more noxious views confined to right-wing media outlets, Youngkin was pretty much a blank slate to most voters although he shouldnt have been, if they had paid careful attention (or read this blog regularly!) throughout the campaign. Starting before Inauguration Day, however, Youngkins true character as a Trump/DeSantis-style culture warrior became undeniable, as he went with several hard-right and/or anti-environmental picks for his Cabinet, along with a host of executive orders that were clearly geared towards the Fox News-viewing, hard-core Republican base. Consider Youngkins initial Executive Orders, issued on Day One of his administration, as well as EO-10 issued four days later:

Executive Order 1. ENDING THE USE OF INHERENTLY DIVISIVE CONCEPTS, INCLUDING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, AND RESTORING EXCELLENCE IN K-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE COMMONWEALTH In fact, as has been pointed out repeatedly, Virginia doesnt teach critical race theory in our public schools. So whats this order all about? Apparently, burying Americas original sin of slavery, along with centuries of racism Jim Crow, Massive Resistance right here in Virginia, etc. appears to be Youngkins #1 priority. Thats right less than two years after Americans witnessed systemic racism in its most brutal form, with the murder of George Floyd, Gov. Youngkin and Republican message gurus want to convince us that racism no longer exists. To accomplish that, they are arguing that teaching actual history about the institution of slavery enshrined in the US Constitution, Jim Crow enshrined in state laws across the country, and the persistent racial discrimination in our society is too divisive and upsetting for young (white?) students to bear. Apparently, Excellence in Education necessitates state-sponsored historical amnesia, with an Orwellian hotline to the Governors desk as the enforcement tool. If book banning, revisionist history and a snitch line are not enough, then quasi-privatization of public education should keep those people out of their childrens classrooms. The last time Virginia went down that path in the 1950s, at least the segregationists were honest as to their intentions.

Executive Order 2. REAFFIRMING THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS IN THE UPBRINGING, EDUCATION, AND CARE OF THEIR CHILDREN Its hard to tell from the title, but this order is all about masks. It has set off intense debate, argument and dissension in schools and at school board meetings across the state. Too many conservatives, including Christian nationalists, appear to have abandoned the Golden Rule in favor of elevating selfishness as their most cherished value. We know that masks are just as important or more so in preventing infected people from spreading Covid as in protecting us from contracting it. But apparently, in Youngkins view, the right of a child to be free of the shared burden of masking trumps others concerns for the safety of their children. And so it goes for vaccines as well.

Executive Order 6. REINVIGORATING JOB GROWTH BY REMOVING BURDENSOME REGULATIONS FROM VIRGINIAS BUSINESS COMMUNITY When you are already the #1 state for business in the United States, what exactly are these supposedly burdensome regulations Youngkins referring to? Of course, while this EO is primarily focused on COVID-19 regulations, Youngkin and Republican legislators wrongly consider environmental regulations aka, protections to be overly burdensome as well. In other words, laws and regulations ensuring us clean air and water and a safer climate are too much to ask of those corporate interests backing Glenn Youngkin. Thats how we end up with Republican bills gutting the permitting authority of the citizen air and water boards and pulling Virginia from a regional cap and trade program to reduce carbon pollution harming our planet. Apparently, thats what Trump Republicans like Youngkin (falsely) believe will keep Virginia at the top of the leaderboard, at least in the eyes of their members-only-country-club buddies.

Executive Order 7. ESTABLISHING THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION AND SURVIVOR SUPPORT Yes, this is a serious problem that requires government action, as is evidenced by the ongoing investigation of Congressman Matt Gaetz (R, FL) and the likes of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. But with all the culture war tropes spouting from Youngkins talking head, doesnt this sound like a dog whistle to the QAnon conspiracists (wildly false) contention that prominent Democrats (e.g., Hillary Clinton) and Jews (e.g., George Soros) are trafficking children to serve their desires as a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles? Anyway stay tuned for who Youngkin appoints to his commission, and if any of them have ties to QAnon.

Executive Order 8. ESTABLISHING THE COMMISSION TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM Yes, the rise of white supremacists in this country is more than worrisome consider their prominent role in Trumps January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and what happened in Charlottesville at the Unite the Right, Jews will not Replace Us Rally. You can call me cynical, but I believe Executive Order 8 is more intended as a sop for the End Times Christian nationalists who support Youngkin and Trump than as an honest concern for the well-being of Jews. Remember, you cant get to the End Times if peace comes to the Middle East, and if Armageddon never occurs. Also, when you think about it for a minute, this commission is coming from someone who was endorsed by the guy (Trump) who has helped fuel the rise of racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, etc. hatred and even violence in recent years. Then theres the role of right-wing media, which Youngkin frequently appears on. Is Youngkins commission going to study Trump and right wing media and report on how theyve contributed to the rise of anti-Semitism? Something tells me the answer to that is no. Also, in the context of the sophisticated divisiveness emanating from this suburban dad in a red vest, I am reminded of that famous quote by Martin Niemller regarding the Nazis: First they came for the socialists, and I didnt do anything because I wasnt a socialist In his case, Youngkin went after Blacks first as has, sadly, been the American way for centuries. But the movement that Youngkin is playing footsies with is already chock full of antisemites. And gays are on that list right after Blacks. During the campaign, who knew that Youngkin opposes gay marriage? I am not calling Youngkin a Nazi or an anti-Semite, of course; but since he is more than willing to use racism to advance his political career, just how far is he willing to go with this divide-and-conquer strategy? Here again, we will judge Youngkins sincerity by the quality of his appointments to this commission, and by whatever conclusions they come to.

Executive Order 9. PROTECTING RATEPAYERS FROM THE RISING COST OF LIVING DUE TO THE REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS INITIATIVE It would be different if Youngkin and Republicans, in general, agreed that climate change posed an existential threat to society (which it obviously does!). Then we could have an honest debate as to what policies are best to address it. Tragically, that is not the case here. Instead, Youngkin made it clear in the second gubernatorial debate that he wouldnt even say the words climate change or global warming, while he aiming to bring back coal and expand reliance on fracked gas. Even worse, Youngkin has announced his intentions to dismantle the modest steps Virginia has taken to address climate change, by withdrawing from RGGI and gutting the Virginia Clean Economy Act. All of this makes it crystal clear that Youngkin, like Trump, has no intention of addressing this crisis at all, other than to make it *worse*. And like the Republicans in Hampton Roads who are all-in on spending billions of tax dollars for adaptation to recurrent flooding, Youngkin has no plan to address the root cause (global heating) of the flooding.

Executive Order 10. FOCUSING VIRGINIAS DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION OFFICE AND DESIGNATING A COMMONWEALTH CHIEF DIVERSITY, OPPORTUNITY, & INCLUSION OFFICER It is appropriate that I begin and end this guide on the topic of race. Youngkins victory was attributable, in part, to his artful use of the Republicans newest racist dog whistle, Critical Race Theory CRT, for short. Amoral (or immoral) Republican strategists across the country are salivating at how they can model Youngkins campaign use of CRT to scare suburban white women into voting Republican in the upcoming midterm elections. Dropping Equity from the title of Virginias Chief Diversity officer and substituting Opportunity is one more way of undermining progress on the gross financial inequities that break along racial lines. Equity or fairness is anathema to Republicans and the Christian nationalists who adhere to the prosperity gospel. In their view, if youre born poor, thats your tough luck. If you have a hard time advancing in a neighborhood plagued by drugs and guns and underfunded schools, then once again, the fault lies with you. And in these peoples view, whether a kid is raised in an inner city public housing project or toney Great Falls, he or she has the same opportunity to succeed, which is a convenient perspective for a guy who sent his kids to private school. Equity would mean that the very privileged, like Youngkin, would have to pay more taxes to actually equalize the opportunity for kids. Of course, Youngkin will have none of that. Additionally, if you care about womens reproductive rights consider that the new Chief Diversity, Opportunity & Inclusion Officer will be an ambassador for unborn children. Past experience tells me that the Youngkin administration will care a whole lot more about the unborn children than the children living in poverty today.

Where we go from here

As Virginians, we now find ourselves thrust into the culture wars common in Red State politics. Eight years of Democrats in the Governors mansion had somewhat insulated many but not all of us from dealing with it up close and personal, even as Trump misgoverned our nation. Now, we are seeing first hand the damage that can be done to civility and civil society by the likes of a Greg Abbott, a Ron DeSantis or a Glenn Youngkin. All three of those governors, and many others, are using Trumps right-wing populist playbook, with ambitions to be the president of the United States. Its up to us to stop them to stop Glenn Youngkin and RESIST!

Note: The opinions expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author, and are not intended to reflect the opinion or the positions of any organizations with which he may be associated.

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A Virginian's Guide to Glenn Youngkin's Exploitation of the Culture Wars in the Commonwealth - Blue Virginia

And just like that, week one of Foxs newest showJesse Watters Primetimeis coming to a close. What have we learned from the hour-long program that billed itself as a platform for exposing scoundrels and celebrating patriots?

In the premiere episode, Jesse Watters, who has spent two decades at Fox, cohosts The Five, and previously had his own weekend show, promised viewers he would use his new program to stand up for regular Americans who have been disrespected for far too long. Sounds familiar, and indeed Watters used the opening monologue to try on his best Tucker Carlson impression, mimicking his more notorious colleagues faux-populist rage toward nameless elites while condemning Wall Street corruption and Americas shamefully mismanaged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ignorant, greedy leaders sold out our factories and pride to the Chinese Communists for unpatriotic profits, Watters said. Sick cyber warriors divided us by race to distract us from the real division: class.

Carlsons show has long dominated Fox Newss ratings, with more than 3 million average viewers on a nightly basis last year and an endless stream of viral clips to prove it, and it seems that Wattersand the networkknow a winning formula when they see it. To borrow a phrase from the NFL analysts, its a copycat league, and Watters show, for now at least, serves up the same Fox Corpapproved right-wing populism that viewers have grown accustomed to during Carlsons reign as the king of cable news. Though, Watters does offer viewers a lighter, more comedic touch than the self-serious host runningthe 8 p.m. hour. Rather than scowling at liberal elites with Tucker Facepinched eyebrows, head cocked to the side, mouth slightly ajarWatters wears a near-constant smirk. Rather than hamming up the righteous indignation, he casually laughs off figures like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, often lazily dropping in barely relevant movie clips mid-monologue to hit punchlines or drive home points for him. Though, Watterss reliance on cheap humor from his production crew might be for the best, given that his droning, one-track voice lacks the range necessary to believably sell fist-slamming-desk rage and conviction. Perhaps sensing his constraints as a solo act, the showrunners at Fox packed the opening week of Watterss show with A-list Trumpworld guests, including Mike Pence, Jeanine Pirro, Dan Bongino, and Eric Trump.

Presentation aside, the similarities between Watters and Carlsons programming are hard to miss, and it is difficult to imagine a world in which the formers show exists without the latter laying the groundwork for it. Like Carlson, a Trinity College alumnus, Watters, also a Trinity grad, is suddenly a champion of the working class who is speaking out against corporate powers and Democratic leaders who he believes have abandoned blue-collar Americans. Carlson even has Watterswho, not too long ago, was Foxs de facto spring break correspondentdiscussing far-right European populism, with the two weighing in on Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbns immigration policies during an episode of The Five this week. Somehow, the pair seem to have developed the same fascination with why female cartoons are now dressing less sexy, a description that Carlson used last week while fuming over the makeovers of M&Ms candy mascots. Watters, presumably after seeing all the attention that Carlson received for speaking out against sexually unappealing animated chocolates, spent a segment of his Wednesday show lamenting Disneys decision to change Minnie Mouses wardrobe. I cant believe Im actually saying this, but Disney is totally changing Minnie Mouse. Disney is putting Minnie Mouse in a pantsuit, said Watters, before asserting that Disney executives must be bored out of their minds and theyre just making it all uncomfortable for the rest of us.

Another cause that Watters jumped on board with this week is the day tradersmaking a fortune or a name for themselves outside the confines of corporate America. This appeared to be a reference to incidents like last years GameStop short squeeze, when small-time traders helped the video game retailers stock surge in an attempt to beat out major financial firms that were attempting to short its stock. At the time, Carlson praised the Reddit guys who rallied around GameStop, saying that they sent a message to Wall Street. Likewise, Watters has made appeals to this demographic of young and very online traders, some of whom have criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosis involvement in the stock market. So while Nancy slow-walks antitrust legislation to break up Big Tech, her family [is] taking advantage and laughing all the way to the bank. They must think were idiots, Watters said during a segment dubbing Pelosi The Wolf of Washington.

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With Jesse Watters Primetime, Fox Dips Another Toe in the Populist Culture Wars - Vanity Fair

In the 1970s Will Shortz submitted a crossword to the New York Times with a word so scandalous that the editor rejected it. The word: bellybutton. Fast forward over four decades and Shortz himself is the Times crossword editor who is now the gatekeeper, selecting puzzles from the nearly 200 submissions he gets a week. (Bellybutton has appeared once during his tenure. Clue: navel.)

I wouldnt [publish a word in the crossword] that is pornographicBut it depends on the term, Shortz told me. Sex toy has been an answer twice. Thats something I have no problem with. But certainly [former editors] Margaret Farrar and Will Weng wouldnt have done it.

There is a limit to sex in the puzzle. References to pegging, will never show up in The Times, according to Benjamin Tausig editor of the indie American Values Club crossword (which formerly ran in The Onion), and author of The Curious History of the Crossword. While an article on pegging might run in the actual newspaper, Tausig said, in the crossword, things are kept more PG. The AV Club crossword, however, has published pegging.

Sex is just one of the many contentious issues surrounding crossword puzzles. At a time when debates about language anchor political discourse and incorrect pronouns spark vicious attacks, the fact that culture wars are being played out in crossword puzzles makes sense.

During the pandemic, [the crossword community has had] the same type of reckoning that weve had in the rest of American societywhere were looking at representation, were looking at inclusion, said Rebecca Neipris co-host of the Crossnerds podcast. Hundreds of thousands of people are consuming this thing on a daily basis and paying for it. So you also have this responsibility to at least be aware of what it is that youre feeding those people.

Puzzle debates represent a microcosm of larger cultural conflicts surrounding race, class, and gender. Questions arise: should dictators appear in crosswords? Serial killers? What about Donald Trump? Or Hitler? Are terms like hag okay?

The types of clues and answers in crosswords have shifted dramatically. On March 21, 1943, the New York Times crossword clue was author of a bestseller. The answer: six letters long HITLER. Hitler still appears in the Times crosswords, but his last name hasnt been an answer since 1984 (clued as historys blackest.)

Whether you want it or not, theres a kind of inherent politics [to a crossword], said Michael Sharp, a SUNY-Binghamton English professor who, under the pseudonym Rex Parker, pens a blog critiquing The Times crossword and has constructed puzzles for them .Youre making an assertion about what counts as common knowledge.

For decades the people making decisions about what should be in a puzzle have been straight white men according to Tausig, who said crosswords were a very much elite, hyper educated, white, New York City thing, where if you didnt know chess and your classics you were screwed.

When Shortz became editor of The Times crossword in 1993, things began to change. Shortz brought pop culture into crosswords, Tausig said. Yet Shortz doesnt always get it right. A few years ago, Shortz included the word beaner in a puzzle. Its baseball slang for a ball that hits the batters head. But its also, as I did not know at the time, an offensive term for Hispanics, he said. There was a lot of anger over that.

Even Sharp, who is one of Shortzs biggest critics, said that Shortz changed the New York Times, radically in terms of how fun it wasturning away from being a test about arcane knowledge and toward a kind of playful, wordplay-oriented kind of puzzle.

Although crossword constructors and solvers are overwhelmingly left-wingShortz surveyed attendees of his American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in March 2017 and found that close to 90 percent voted for Clintonthere is no consensus among editors, podcasters, and solvers on what should be included in a puzzle.

So how do constructors decide whats in and whats out? Patrick Berry, a constructor whose puzzles have appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker, said that he strives to keep his puzzles apolitical, which is difficult. It becomes an endless series of judgment calls. Is this slang term offensive? Is that world leader merely unpleasant, or too toxic to even mention? Berry said.

While there are some answers that constructors and solvers all agreed were objectionable, such as racial slurs, the community is divided on other types of clues. Berry thinks that mainstream crosswords shouldnt have Curse words, certain bodily functionsnotorious figures like Harvey Weinstein [because] puzzles are meant to be entertaining, and that stuff generally isnt. Yet omitting these terms is a political choice as well. Some people (me) find curse words and bodily functions very entertaining, and who counts as a notorious figure is up for debate. While Berry wont put references to Nazis in his puzzles, not everyone feels that way.

Shortz will include Nazi if it is clued in a non-offensive way. Ive had Nazi in the puzzle a number of times. But usually I clued it Raiders of the Lost Ark villainor Soup Nazi from Seinfeld, he said. A reference to notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, however, caused him to reject a puzzle. I just found that so offensive, that I just didnt want that in the New York Times crossword, Shortz said.

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 nowis, 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 peopleobjected to that because in their mind, it suggested fat shaming, he said. And I went to the dictionarygluttonous is basically one who overeats. Its not a matter of fat shaming, he claimed. Its just what the word means. But he took the word out so as not to offend readers.

Yet Sharp believes Shortz and The Times havent gone far enough. Last year he posted a link to an open letter to the then Times puzzle executive director asking that women and/or non-binary puzzle lovers comprise at least half of Wills test solving team and more diversity to all of its editorial staff. (The letter noted that The Times has frequently had more than half of its creators be non-male, but urged that there should be a formal policy).

For most of the history of crosswords, All the constructors were men pretty much men, said Tausig. He ensures that half of the constructors he publishes are women or non-binary. More diversity means that Puzzles deal with different material now, he said, including fewer sexist terms like hag and clues about director Ava Duvernay.

This year Tausig published a non-binary themed puzzle by a non-binary creator. He received a few angry emails and lost some subscribers, but most people loved it. Recently The Times has pushed for more diversity as well. On January 10, 2022, the paper announced a crossword constructor diversity fellowship to provide mentorship and support for constructors from underrepresented groups, including women, people of color and the L.G.B.T.Q. community. Shortz is serving as one of the members of this fellowship.

More contentious than non-binary creators or Nazism is Donald Trump, who is verboten in many crosswords, and has only appeared twice in The Times (and only once since he was elected president) in comparison to Obamas 73 showings (to be fair Obama was a 2-term president, but still). This isnt about like censorship, its about whats fun. I dont know if theres any way to make to put Trump in a puzzle and have it be fun, said Tausig, who shies away from using any clues that would jolt readers out of the bubble of the game. Yet dictators like Chairman Mao and Idi Amin routinely show up in crosswords with little outcry.

Why is it okay to have other dictators [than Hitler] who also murdered millions of people?...How directly involved did you have to be in mass murders? asks Neipris.

IDI has been an answer 120 times since Shortz began editing the puzzle, most recently on July 5 of this year. Former Times editor Farrar did not allow Idi Amin in a puzzle because he was such a despicable person, Shortz said. Nowadays, no one loves to have Idi Amin in a puzzle, but sometimes he makes the interlock work, so its all right. Sharp also notes that few words are three letters beginning and ending with I, but he thinks theres another reason for Amins popularity. Its a European biasIts people who dont have the experienceof dictators in Africa. They could just look at their names and think of them as just words.

Hitler is harder to think of as just a word, even though, as Sharp said because HITLER is six letters and ends in ER the word, he Probablywould have helped out some constructor but nobody wants to think about Hitler when theyre doing their puzzle. (Adolf has shown up more recently as an answer: unpopular baby name March 12, 2017.)

Similarly, Mao is a useful word for constructors. 75% of all entries are five letters or fewer. So giving up MAO makes construction harder, whereas giving up DONALD TRUMP has no effect, said Berry. Another reason is that Maos reign is further back in history, so theres a layer of removefeelings about Trump remain immediate and visceral.

Not everyone has trouble with seeing Trumps name in a puzzle. Hayley Gold, whose book on the crossword culture wars, Letters to Margaret will be published this year, said, If someones a prominent figure in the world, I personally believe that theyre fair game to be in the puzzle. And it doesnt mean that you support their views necessarily.

Can a puzzle truly be apolitical in such a politically-charged country?

Berry thinks so. Clues are supposed to be based on facts, not opinions. Most clues really will end up being neutral and I think thats a good thing overall, he said. As much as Berry tries to be apolitical, his views sneak in. A blandly factual clue like [Transgender four-star admiral Rachel] for LEVINE makes a quiet but powerful statement for inclusivity Since I find it difficult to write a neutral clue for, say, NRA or MAGA, I instead avoid using those entries altogether.

Other constructors dont avoid NRA, which has appeared 569 times in The Times, although not always in reference to the gun group. Most recently on December 8, 2021, NRA was clued as food industry lobby, in brief. MAGA, however, has never shown up.

Gold cautions that criticism of crosswords can sometimes go too far. In my experience, Will Shortz has been the nicest guy in the world. I hate all the articles that tried to slander him and make it like, Oh, hes this old white dude. And hes trying to keep puzzles, sexist and racist.Change is slow and change is happening.

Correction 2/1/2022 10:52 a.m.: This article has been updated to accurately reflect correct surnames.

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