JustASC

New York Times crosswords puzzle editor Will Shortz responded to my query — and apparently, Elie Wiesel’s complaint — about a clue that referred to Wiesel’s Holocaust memoir as a “novel.”

This is from the Times puzzle blog:

Editing Crossword Puzzles

Do clues and answers in crossword puzzles really matter? Much of the discussion here at Wordplay is because the answer is yes. I think it’s fair to say they especially matter in New York Times puzzles. Sometimes we quibble about whether the cobbler crust can be on the bottom but sometimes much more important issues are at stake.

The June 17 puzzle included this clue for 47 Across: “Night” novelist. The answer is the Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie WIESEL. Several readers objected, including Professor Wiesel himself, who contacted The Times through his Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. Novel implies fiction, and for someone constantly dealing with Holocaust denial, this is understandably objectionable.

Is this an error worthy of correction? Perhaps, but the answer is not quite so simple.

The blog quotes the Wikipedia entry on “Night,” which discusses the difficulty some scholars and reviewers have in categorizing the literary genre of “Night” — novel? Memoir? “Nonfiction novel”?

The blog continues:

Still, there is accuracy and then there is avoiding unnecessary conflict. Here’s what Will Shortz had to say: “In retrospect, my feeling is … if Mr. Wiesel says the book is not a novel, then I respect that. I will do my best never to refer to the book as a novel again.”