New York Times Dragged After Crossword's Swastika Shape During Hanukk

People are calling out The New York Times for a recent crossword layout shockingly in the shape of a swastika, and to make things worse, it debuted on the first night of Hanukkah.

Sunday's tone-deaf puzzle debuted with a ton of criticism -- featuring a massive swastika in the dead center of the grid. The puzzle's designer described it as a simple "fun whirlpool shape," but obviously not everyone had the same thoughts.

Many blasted NYT for the antisemitic design -- regardless of whether or not it was intentional ... with one saying, "How did this get approved without somebody noticing?" and another noting, "A hidden Happy Chanukah message in today's @nytimes crossword?"

Disgusting! Only the New York Times would get Chanukah going with this is the crossword puzzle. Imagine what they would do to someone who did this and was not ideologically aligned with them? I’ll give them the same benefit of the doubt they would give those people… EXACTLY ZERO pic.twitter.com/eZHr0SQbT4

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 18, 2022 @DonaldJTrumpJr

Even Donald Trump Jr. blasted the news org ... writing, "Disgusting! Only the New York Times would get Chanukah going with this is the crossword puzzle."

NYT seems to be sticking to its guns ... because a spokesperson for the company told The Jewish Chronicle, "This is a common crossword design: Many open grids in crosswords have a similar spiral pattern because of the rules around rotational symmetry and black squares."