NYT Tech Guild Strike (no puzzle write-up today)

Dear readers,

The NYT Tech Guild is on strike. 

From The Guardian:

The Guild is asking that readers honor their picket line by boycotting the Times’ selection of games, including Wordle and the daily digital crossword, and to avoid other digital extensions such as the Cooking app.

Annie Shields, a campaign lead for the News Guild of New York, encouraged people to sacrifice their streaks in the wildly popular Wordle and Connections games in order to support the strike.

You can read more about the strike here (nyguild.org).

Since the picket line is "digital," it would appear to apply only to Games solved in the NYT digital environment—basically anything you solve on your phone or on the NYT website per se. If you get the puzzle in an actual dead-tree newspaper, or if you solve it outside the NYT's proprietary environment (via a third-party app, as I do), then technically you're not crossing the picket line by solving. Still, my blog is going dark today, in solidarity with the striking workers, and I'm asking readers to consider honoring the digital picket line by not using the Games app (or the Cooking app) at all until the strike is resolved. No Spelling Bee, no Connections ... none of it. My morning Wordle ritual is very important to me, but ... I'll survive, I assume. 

Maybe the strike will be resolved today in time for Election Night coverage. Let's hope. At any rate, this blog will return to normal operations tomorrow, though with daily reminders about the Tech Guild strike and the digital picket line.

Feel free to discuss the puzzle in the Comments. Take care, and ... well, vote, obviously. 

See you tomorrow,

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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THU 12-8-22 / NEW YORK TIMES GUILD WALKOUT (puzzle answers now included)

THEME: [It may be represented by an X] (6)

Dear readers, 

The New York Times Guild is on STRIKE today and I do not, as a rule, cross picket lines, so no puzzle today, no puzzle write-up today. The blog will return to a regular schedule on Friday, Dec. 9, at which time I will also solve today's (Thursday's) puzzle and add basic information about it to this post [see below]. 

Please consider supporting the strike by not engaging with the NYT on any platform today. 

If @NYTimesGuild members don't have a deal soon, we’re asking readers to not engage in any @nytimes platforms tomorrow and stand with us on the digital picket line! Read local news. Listen to public radio. Pull out a cookbook. Break your Wordle streak. pic.twitter.com/gzQCL58ir7

— NYTimesGuild (@NYTimesGuild) December 7, 2022

You can read a full story about the strike here:

A 24-hour strike at The New York Times, a historic demonstration in which more than 1,100 employees are expected to participate, will take effect Thursday at midnight. Here's my full story: https://t.co/FtT30FaNXw

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 8, 2022

Thanks for your patience and understanding. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

Here's the Thursday puzzle grid:

Constructor: Grant Thackray

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: PIRATE (47D: One with an eye patch,  "hook hand" and peg leg, as represented in this puzzle's grid) — there's an "I" covered by a black square (the "eye patch"), the letters FLUSH in the shape of a hook (the "hook hand"—FLUSH being a potential poker "hand"), and then a LEG (in SHAKE A LEG) that you have to convert to PEG in order to make sense of the cross (APOP) ... 

• • •

No time for a proper write-up. See comments for reader reactions. 

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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