A syndicated crossword puzzle that used the term “Shylock” as clue for the puzzle answer “Jew” got the newspaper company Tribune Media Services in trouble, Mediaite reported.
Shylock was “the Jewish usurer and antagonist” in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, Merriam-Webster’s dictionary explains.
In its apology, Tribune Media Services stated “the puzzle should not have been distributed with that clue.” It “will not be used again in a Tribune Media Services crossword.”
The Anti-Defamation League, which requested the apology, called the clue “an extreme lack of sensitivity,” according to Mediaite.