Read tweets by Awkwafina or Olivia Wilde on learning that they’ve been immortalized in the black-and-white grid-it’s the bookish version of handprints on a slab outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Hoelscher appeared, replied to Levy, and said she’d submitted the puzzle with no men, but wasn’t surprised when the Times editors changed that.Ĭrossword editors are strange arbiters of cultural relevance. Clues and answers that are stereotypically masculine are “general interest ” clues and answers that are stereotypically feminine are “niche” or “obscure” … We’re so far from that a few puzzles with exclusively women’s names wouldn’t get us there … “we acknowledge the systemic forces that threaten women, we speak up when we see those forces represented in crosswords, and we call on our community to do better.” Responding to Levy’s lament, a commenter wondered: “Why is it desirable/necessary to have women’s names predominate in crossword puzzles … I ignore the male/female body count.” Levy’s response was a perfect, full-throated call to arms for inclusivity in the crossworld:īecause women are underrepresented in puzzle content and creation.

Alas, 66-Across, DEE, was clued as “Billy _ Williams,” not as the letter or the grade.

“I went through looking for men’s names with mounting excitement: What if there weren’t any?” she wrote. Jenni Levy, an internist and a writer on the review site Diary of a Crossword Fiend, applauded how Hoelscher’s puzzle “passe the crossword Bechdel test.” But Levy bemoaned a “missed opportunity.” In comments sections on crossword blogs, alongside off-color jokes about hypothetical titles for a Melania Trump memoir, a debate raged. Some of the Times’ 600,000 digital-crossword subscribers finished Hoelscher’s puzzle with their thumbs, extending their solving streaks, and crossword bloggers (yes, they exist) favorably reviewed the puzzle’s theme, non-thematic vocabulary, and clues. Hoelscher posted a photo of the newspaper her husband rose early on his day off to buy, and veteran crossword constructors, as they’re called, offered congratulations in a Facebook group that develops constructors from underrepresented groups. Like lots of nerdy subcultures, the crossword puzzle has a buzzing ecosystem, and it whirred into action. It was Presidents’ Day the theme was memoirs by first ladies. Martin James McGrath Morris Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich of Honey & Co.Last month, Sally Hoelscher published her first crossword puzzle in The New York Times.

Margaret Atwood Freddie Bitsoie Sandra Cisneros Lynn Cline William deBuys Ashley Ford John Grisham Roshi Joan Halifax Joy Harjo Anne Hillerman Cheryl Alters Jamison Craig Johnson Asma Khan Phil Klay Jon Krakauer Valeria Luiselli Deborah Madison Emily St. Purchase your books by festival authors directly from CW below: So if you missed the festival but are looking for a signed copy of one of their books, please call us or come in to browse.

Bestselling, prizewinning authors and literary legends like Margaret Atwood, Joy Harjo, Colson Whitehead, Sandra Cisneros, Jon Krakauer, amongst others, spent time in our mini-bookstore in the lobby of the Convention Center and signed hundreds of books, which we now have in stock. The Inaugural Santa Fe Literary Festival was a huge success!Ĭollected Works was very proud to have been on-site all weekend as the official bookstore of the Santa Fe Festival.

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