Yesterday's puzzle was accompanied by a note describing the president as a fascist -- not an especially groundbreaking charge. Also, this is consistent with our house editorial policy (announced in early 2017) of opposition to the president.

It was interesting to see how many subscribers we lost (a lot!) as a result. There has been no similar exodus in the past when we have run clues critical of the president.

The alternative to our policy would be running clues that simply name, without critical context, a person who has hurt, overtly and with a degree of malice that should be clear to anyone, far too many of our friends and our solvers. That's why we have that policy.

And that's why we accept whatever number of cancellations may follow. Our editorial policy absolutely stands.