In the 1970s Will Shortz submitted a crossword to the New York Times with a word so scandalous that the editor rejected it. The word: bellybutton. Fast forward over four decades and Shortz himself is the Times crossword editor who is now the gatekeeper, selecting puzzles from the nearly 200 submissions he gets a week. (Bellybutton has appeared once during his tenure. Clue: “navel.”)
“I wouldn’t [publish a word in the crossword] that is pornographic…But it depends on the term,” Shortz told me. “‘Sex toy’ has been an answer twice. That’s something I have no problem with. But certainly [former editors] Margaret Farrar and Will Weng wouldn’t have done it. ”
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