Some puzzle-makers feel the tastes of gatekeepers are outdated and fear that crosswords won’t find relevance with upcoming generations. There are, perhaps, ten jobs like his in the country-overseeing puzzles that reach huge audiences every day-and many are filled by white men who have been running the show for more than 20 years. Patti Varol, a veteran editor and constructor in the close-knit community known as the “crossworld” describes Agard as a “beacon of inclusivity” who is “revolutionizing the way puzzles are edited and vetted and published.” I expect Agard to say something about this, about the way that he has used his position to draw women and people of color and LGBTQ people into the square-and, in the process, turned a once-maligned puzzle into what one prominent blogger called today’s “most interesting, innovative, and provocative daily crossword.”īut Agard also defies the old mold, wielding the Final Say as a young biracial person. There has been resistance.Īgard, a 26-year-old puzzle phenom who has been in the job about eight months, has done unprecedented work on this score. Critics have called out editors of major puzzles for publishing far more puzzles made by men than women, for the “old white guy sensibility” that has long set standards for the industry and for spectacular slips that prove just how real the blind spots are. There has been mounting protest in the world of crosswords, as there has been in entertainment and politics and every other arena where marginalized groups have felt excluded and disenfranchised. “The after is not great,” said a grimacing Hoda Kotb.Įntertaining as that all was, it is not exactly what I’m expecting Agard to say. The answer OREO has appeared in major crosswords literally thousands of times, almost always clued with humdrum language like “Twistable treat.” In February, USA Today ran the clue “Cookie that some people eat with mustard,” throwing the Internet into such a frenzy about the little-known practice that the hosts of TODAY did a segment on the clue and tried the recipe. When I ask Erik Agard what he is most proud of doing so far in his position as the editor of the crossword puzzle at USA Today, one of the nation’s highest-circulating papers, he brings up Oreos.
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