“What’s the point of church NYT” is trending on Google, and it’s not because The New York Times said something controversial about organized religion.
The search query stems from Thursday’s mini crossword from The New York Times Games, which asked players to name the point of church in five letters and put the word in 7-across.
The fact that it was trending on Google implies that gamers struggled with the clue, which plays off the multiple meanings of the word point.
Point can refer to the purpose of an activity, a key argument or the sharp part at the end of a structure or sword.
To complete Thursday’s mini crossword, you had to think about something that’s literally pointy.
(Spoiler: The correct answer was “spire.”)
But some folks playing the game might have assumed that the crossword’s creators were trying to say something clever or wise about church. After all, in the past, The New York Times has shied away from theological debates, not even during the Christmas season.
In December, famed Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote about the Bible’s Christmas story under a headline that landed with a thud among some Christians.
It read: “A Conversation about the Virgin Birth that Maybe Wasn’t.”