King-Like, in a Way
Brendan Emmett Quigley and Ben Zimmer may require backup singers.
Royal Shakespeare Company actor Sam Marks prepared to portray England’s King Henry V at Westminster Abbey in London, before a 2015 service to commemorate the 600th Anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.Credit.Nick Ansell/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
April 14, 2021
THURSDAY PUZZLE If you are the sort of person who attends crossword tournaments, like the upcoming American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and the ongoing Boswords, then the two gentlemen who made this puzzle need little introduction.
Ben Zimmer is a linguist who writes for The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic and is a former language columnist for The New York Times, among many other word-related pursuits. He is also a lot of fun on a crossword cruise (we sailed together on a Times Journeys crossing in 2017). Brendan Emmett Quigley has had an unbelievable total of 187 puzzles in The New York Times, including Variety puzz
Donald McNeil, 65, resigned from The New York Times on February 5
The reporter, who joined the paper in 1976, led a student trip to Peru in 2019
On the trip McNeil was accused of using racial slurs during a discussion
McNeil resigned after The Daily Beast reported the controversy on January 28
The departure of the experienced journalist divided the Times newsroom
On Tuesday the Beast reported on an email McNeil sent to friends and family
He accused the students who quoted him as having had false memories
McNeil will not comment publicly on his resignation until he leaves on March 1
A couple of weeks ago, the crap hit the fan at the New York Times.
Veteran science reporter Donald McNeil was squiring a bunch of 1-percenters on a “Times Journey” to Peru. If you aren’t familiar with them, Times Journeys are sort of like National Review or the much mourned Weekly Standard cruises where people with money spend a lot of it to rub shoulders with people most folks have never heard of. Apparently, the Times Journeys are focused on high school kids, which might be a good business idea for the Lincoln Project (you can see it, the visit to the Turkish prison led by John Weaver).
Sophie Shepherd was 17 in July 2019 when she went on the trip to Peru
She had just finished her senior year at the prestigious boarding school Andover
It s unclear if all of the other students were from Andover or other schools
McNeil argued with white kids on the trip about racism and used the N word at lunch
Shepherd said it wasn t his worst comment and that he also told her it was frustrating that black Americans keep blaming the system
McNeil resigned last week after his comments on the trip were shared by a Daily Beast article
It has also emerged that Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet wanted to fire him in 2019 but the union stopped it