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I found this to be an odd set of paragraphs: For would-be constructors without such personal connections, there’s the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory.
by nkurz 4y ago
I found this to be an odd set of paragraphs:
For would-be constructors without such personal connections, there’s the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory. The Facebook group launched in 2018 with an associated Google form that pairs newcomers with mentors. It has always been explicit about its aims to provide resources to underrepresented groups: “This matching form is intended specifically for [women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and disabled people] as a tool for addressing structural inequities in the crossword industry. Because our mentors’ time is finite, if you’re not a member of any such group, we ask that you refrain from using the form.”
The explicit intentions aren’t enough, though, and in fact at times the group has served the opposite purpose. When professional opera singer Daniel Okulitch, a white man, was inspired to try his hand at crossword construction after he first started regularly solving them during the pandemic, he found his way to the group. In response to a question he posted, Okulitch was contacted by Brad Wilber, a longtime constructor (60 Times puzzles since 2005) and an opera fanatic. A fan of Okulitch’s singing, Wilber offered his services as a mentor. Okulitch has now published three Times puzzles, including two with solo bylines.
On one hand, obviously people should be able to choose on whatever basis they want where to concentrate their volunteer mentoring efforts, and I appreciate the delicacy of their discouraging phrasing. On the other, it seems remarkable that they New Republic would appear to celebrate the restriction of services on the basis of sex and skin color. Can you imagine the reverse, where black women or disabled transexuals are discouraged from applying? Is the article trying to call attention to this tension, or are we expected to take it for granted?
And what's meant by "the explicit intentions aren't enough"? And is the point that Okulitch ("a white man") doesn't qualify under the "LGBTQIA+" heading? Are we supposed to assume that a white male opera singer couldn't be Gay or Bi or Trans or Queer/Questioning or Intersex or Asexual or "+" (anything else)? Or that he is at least one of these, and that's we he was able to participate? Wouldn't it be simpler (and better) to just let people who are excited about crosswords post a message and see if they meet someone interested in mentoring?
- danielfoster 4y agoThis is just one group. Presumably mentors could connect with mentees through other groups and channels.
- conviencefee999 4y agoEh it's safe to say other groups don't exist this is pretty common for many topics and branches for things.
- danielfoster 4y agoLife isn’t always fair.
- ysavir 4y ago> And what's meant by "the explicit intentions aren't enough"? And is the point that Okulitch ("a white man") qualifies under the "LGBTQIA+" heading? Are we supposed to assume that the a white male opera singer couldn't be Gay or Bi or Trans or Queer/Questioning or Intersex or Asexual or "+" (anything else)? Or that he is at least one of these, and that's we he was able to participate? Wouldn't it be simpler (and better) to just let people who are excited about crosswords post a message and see if they meet someone interested in mentoring? I think the point is that despite the given disclaimer and rules, disqualifying individuals are still making use of the group and supporting each other.
- ZeroGravitas 4y agoThe author seemed to be trying to build an article partly on a hook of "trying to be woke backfired" but in this segment, he intentionally conflates the facebook group and the google form for mentoring, which seems to have confused several here.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- pvg 4y agoremarkable that they New Republic would appear to celebrate the restriction of services on the basis of sex and skin color. They don't. That's exactly the sort of tendentious detail-plucking and overinterpretation the site guidelines ask you to avoid.
- unethical_ban 4y ago>The explicit intentions aren’t enough, though, and in fact at times the group has served the opposite purpose. The tone suggests "gosh darnit, a cis white man was able to connect with a fellow hobbyist when he shouldn't have".
- pvg 4y agoI don't think it suggests anything of the sort but even if it did suggest it to someone - again, there's a guideline and a million moderator comments about not looking for a single irritant to respond to in an article. Especially if the response to the irritant is essentially a trope in itself.
- Msw242 4y agoThe frustration you're feeling is that, no matter how obvious the tone or implication, advocates will never acknowledge that it is real because what you are describing is a phenomenon that cannot exist. It's gaslighting.
- squokko 4y agoAll of this is stupid. It doesn't matter who writes crosswords, and all the rest of it, including this comment, and probably mine, is pointless complaining, shouting into the abyss.
- uuuiu 4y agoAnyone can identify within the "LGBTQIA+", you don't even need an inkling of same-sex attraction. It's essentially all-inclusive these days. For example, if probed, the white opera guy could easily have said he's intersex, no-one is going to check his penis for malformations. He could also have said he's questioning his gender, as there's absolutely zero way of verifying this. Anyway, he had a leading role in the Brokeback Mountain opera, so that probably covers it.