Free Republic

The New York Times appears to be drunk on its hatred of American capitalism. The liberal rag stooped to burying its Marxist swipes at freemarkets in its — *checks notes* — crossword puzzle. The 49th clue in the newspaper’s Feb. 22 puzzle read, “Vice encouraged by capitalism.” The pathetic answer: “Greed.” How clever. Did The Times consider the fact that it once courted hundreds of millions in bailout money from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu when its news operation was on the verge of financial ruin? AQR Capital Management Managing Principal and Chief Investment Officer Cliff Asness slapped The Times...

There are certain food pairings that people come up with that outsiders just don't understand, like peanut butter and pickle sandwiches or Cheetos and milk, to name a few. But one weird combo made the final cut into a popular crossword puzzle and it’s sparking some questions among people on the internet. It all started with a crossword puzzle that appeared in the Feb. 12 edition of USA Today. The clue said, "Cookie that some people eat with mustard," and "Oreo" was the only thing that fit. Don’t think about it for too long—you could get queasy. Well, Brett Murphy,...

A group of eagle-eyed puzzlers, using digital tools, has uncovered a pattern of copying in the professional crossword-puzzle world that has led to accusations of plagiarism and false identity. Since 1999, Timothy Parker, editor of one of the nation’s most widely syndicated crosswords, has edited more than 60 individual puzzles that copy elements from New York Times puzzles, often with pseudonyms for bylines, a new database has helped reveal. The puzzles in question repeated themes, answers, grids and clues from Times puzzles published years earlier. Hundreds more of the puzzles edited by Parker are nearly verbatim copies of previous puzzles...