​The New York Times sparked a backlash after it published a crossword puzzle on the eve of the first night of Hanukkah, also known as “Jewish Christmas”, which critics say has the shape of a swastika, DPA reports. /TCA on Tuesday. The creator of the Sunday puzzle described it as a “funny vortex shape”.

The December 18 box, titled “Some Theme Is Missing,” immediately caused a stir among social media users who drew attention to its special shape.

Donald Trump Jr. was among the users who criticized the post.

“Disgusting! Only the New York Times would start Hanukkah with this crossword,” he wrote. “Can you imagine what they would do to someone who did the same and did not have the same ideology as them? I offer them the same presumption of innocence that they would offer those people. Fix zero,” he added.

Online comments on The New York Times website were no less critical. “Count me as one of the many commenters who saw the swastika right away,” wrote one user. “It would be nice if the crossword editors fixed it and someone took responsibility. Who cares if it was “unintentional”? Isn’t that what editors are needed for?”, he added.

“Abolish the swastika. You show poor taste considering the high level of anti-Semitism in the US right now,” wrote another.

“You’d think you’d make sure the cartoon didn’t have a famous hate symbol after you’ve already made this mistake,” another user wrote. “The NYT really needs to express this publicly, especially since it happened at the beginning of Hanukkah.”

In his own public comment on this crossword, its creator Ryan McCarthy described it as a “funny vortex shape”.

“I’m excited to publish my first crossword puzzle in The Times on Sunday!” McCarthy wrote. “At first I tried to do it in a 15×15 grid, but then I decided to expand the grid into a Sunday crossword with a fun swirly shape,” he added. (Source Agerpres)