#10 - "First Name Basis"

[Hector]

Peter, I appreciate that your decision was made thoughtfully and with the best intentions, and I'm grateful for your explanation.

[ChrisKochmanski]

I feel much better after reading Peter's explanation. I now understand his choice, and as it happens, I recently experienced the very thing that inspired it. (If you're aiming to avoid spoilers, you shouldn't find one in this comment. Please don't even try to interpret my choice of the word "thing." It only makes sense if you know what Peter was after in that part of the puzzle.)

[pgw]

Hey all,

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. After discussions here, on the blog, and privately, I decided to remove the puzzle. Thankfully after making that decision I looked at it with fresh eyes and found a good alternative that allowed me to just change minipuzzle 6 and leave the rest as is. It's now up on the blog:

https://pgwcc.net/2019/05/14/puzzle-9-s ... ame-basis/

You can still find my comments on the puzzle as originally published, but there is no longer a link to that version.

pgw

[LesY]

The new #6 is great on a couple of levels. Totally had to google for the "I-can't-say-what" and curious how many would know it off the top of their heads - this crew continually impresses me so I'm betting someone does!

[Al Sisti]

My final thought on the original #6, and it may sound odd and maybe even callous: I am over the moon that, finally, after WAY too many years, so many of you/us took such strong umbrage to 1A, unlike its "accepted" (I felt a little bile rising as I typed that) use in the eye-opening video to which Peter pointed us. I for one am okay with Peter's choice to go with his carefully weighed-out first version; to me, it served as proof that it's never too late to do the right thing.

[Anita]

Very clever puzzle in several different ways. We never did get one of the pieces, but arrived at a final answer anyway. I'll be very interested to learn more about the missing, seemingly controversial, piece.

Finally figured out the missing piece (I'd already sent in my answer, which I feel 100% about). Yes, controversial, but I really appreciate PGW's including it. I see he has since changed the puzzle and replaced that piece of it. I for one wish he hadn't. Sometimes we need to be reminded.

[sharkicicles]

I would just like to say I understand both sides of this issue. I am in the camp of “old white guy who will never say that” but on the other hand I applaud Peter for bringing up the issue in his work. In any case, it was his decision to either keep the puzzle as is or remove it, and whichever one he made was “correct” IMO. I am certain in any case, even if you disagree with him, the piece was written with only the best of intentions.

[Laura M]

I've been offline from this forum both because I've been really busy, and also because I don't do well with controversy, but ultimately I wanted to say something. I think that PGW's explanation was very good, and I completely agree with the above commenters Al Sisti, Anita, and sharkicicles. There are some contexts in which we shouldn't censor an offensive word, because we don't want to minimize or erase ("whitewash") the pain that the word caused, and the visceral reminder of how terrible it is. But I also agree with PGW's decision to replace that grid, because I think it's too complicated a topic to address in puzzle format. Once a solver completes the grid, but before the full meta meaning is clear, there is potential for misunderstanding and offense. I don't want a crossword to be a battleground, nor should PGW be vilified for his good intentions. That's all.

[Al Sisti]

I've been offline from this forum both because I've been really busy, and also because I don't do well with controversy, but ultimately I wanted to say something. I think that PGW's explanation was very good, and I completely agree with the above commenters Al Sisti, Anita, and sharkicicles. There are some contexts in which we shouldn't censor an offensive word, because we don't want to minimize or erase ("whitewash") the pain that the word caused, and the visceral reminder of how terrible it is. But I also agree with PGW's decision to replace that grid, because I think it's too complicated a topic to address in puzzle format. Once a solver completes the grid, but before the full meta meaning is clear, there is potential for misunderstanding and offense. I don't want a crossword to be a battleground, nor should PGW be vilified for his good intentions. That's all.

I do have one more thing to point out after 11 PM tonight... (if no one else has already done so).

[FrankieHeck]

My thoughts are similar to those of Laura M. I'll add that though I was aware of the #6 art piece, I didn't actually realize that word was in it, so I was wondering how in the world PGW would justify its use, even after (especially after?) I figured out the theme. But when I saw what I had missed all this time, I understood. I then spent some time researching the painting's history, Ms. Bridges' reaction to it, etc. I'm not an eloquent enough writer to try to say much more, but it was time well spent, and a history that should never be forgotten or repeated.

Controversy aside... the puzzle technique itself was so new to me that I had quite a rush as I figured it out. The grids were murderous, but solving the meta was a thrill. I did take a look at revised #6, but did not figure that one out.

[Al Sisti]

Similar comment – the one I’ve been biting my tongue wanting so say from the start – is that Peter didn’t choose that word capriciously, nor was it a word he just came up with… it is right there, front and center in the painting itself. And Rockwell knew what he was doing, and he knew it would be controversial. How better to show the hateful gauntlet through which this beautiful, brave little 6-year old had to walk than to have her passing a wall with that word, and “KKK” and the splatter of a rotten tomato? One interesting letter that was sent to Look magazine after that 1964 cover said “I am saving this issue for my children with the hope that by the time they become old enough to comprehend its meaning, the subject matter will have become history.” BTW, something I didn’t know was that the girl – Ruby Bridges – arranged for the loan of that painting to the White House in 2011, where she presented it to Pres. Obama.

[FrankieHeck]

BTW, something I didn’t know was that the girl – Ruby Bridges – arranged for the loan of that painting to the White House in 2011, where she presented it to Pres. Obama.

And while I can't find it now, when I was solving the puzzle I read an article where Obama specifically mentioned how that word just reaches out and hits you.

[pgw]

And while I can't find it now, when I was solving the puzzle I read an article where Obama specifically mentioned how that word just reaches out and hits you.

The quote is not from Obama but from an art historian commenting on the painting being hung in the White House. It's on the second page of the Politico article linked in my mid-week post; see here.