New York Times slammed for publishing swastika-shaped crossword puzzle

The New York Times has come under fire for publishing a crossword that social media users think resembles a swastika.

The newspaper is being slammed by social media users, with some claiming that this is not the first time the publication has done something like this.

The puzzle titled "Some Theme's Missing" was published on the first day of Hanukkah, a Jewish festival. It was created by Washington DC-based consulting manager Ryan McCarty, who has formulated 22 other puzzles for the paper, the New York Post reported.

The newspaper is being slammed by social media users, with some claiming that this is not the first time the publication has done something like this.

"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," wrote a Twitter user.

"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 Twitter user pointed out that one of the clues was for Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. The Nazi soldiers had marched through the gate in 1939.

"Folks are making hay over today's @nytimes crossword layout. If the swastika is unintentional, you'd think an editor along the way would have caught it. And on the first day of Hanukkah, no less," claimed another.

The New York Times, in a clarification issued through DailyMail.com, 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."

However, the publication has not issued any apologies for it. It was accused of publishing swastika-shaped puzzles in 2014 and 2017 as well.

The swastika was used by Hitler's Nazi Party and neo-Nazis. Since World War II, the symbol has come to be associated with military brutality, fascism, racial bias, and genocide. The use of the emblem is banned in Germany.

The symbol is used in various cultures, and Adolf Hitler adopted it as a German national symbol in 1920.