Wasn't sure if I was gonna comment on the KAC #NYTXW writeup or not; Kameron's notes were beautifully worded and nailed the issue, and I don't have much new to add to all the praise for his words. But given KAC cited a puzzle of mine, I figured I probably should chime in: (1/13)

A nuance to the way I've noticed Jeff Chen blogs: Jeff tries hard to not do problematic things, but does so in a way that reads as not fully understanding the social issues he's navigating. I think most everyone is aware of this. (2/13)

Y'all know that after the KUBO thing, XW Twitter blasted Jeff for his issues with an entry that previously debuted with no such comments. As I said then, I really disliked the comment, but I've had other qualms with XWI writeups on my puzzles. https://twitter.com/rickycruzart/status/1273684210289524738?s=20 (3/13)

Said qualms: In my debut puzzle (10/3/19) I used the word ABIERTO; as I noted, I disliked it. Even now I'd switch it out. This following Mangesh Ghogre's GANDHI puzzle, I was given the pass to use it because it was a part of my "background". (4/13)

Is it a valid entry? 100%. But I didn't like it; it's vocab I knew from Spanish class, and while I hope native speakers felt seen by it, I wanted other fill. *It shouldn't be dinged*, but I feel uncomfortable getting that pass because I'm Mexican. (5/13)

That's not the point of this thread, but I bring it up bc as someone who loves animation and loves referencing film/TV in puzzles, KUBO feels way more like my "background" than ABIERTO or DULCE (I've never even tried dulce de leche!) (6/13)

All this considered: I'm glad Jeff is genuinely trying to improve! He doesn't get excused for the demonstrably racist comments; Erik and KAC's writeups are spot-on. I'm writing this thread bc I have predictions about what happens next and want to be careful about it. (7/13)

Jeff is struggling to respond to being called out for problematic comments, and clearly wants to be better at this. See: the current XWI note responding to the KAC writeup, compared to the original note: https://twitter.com/adamthenicolle/status/1358291474203426816?s=20 (8/13)

I see myself here: feeling the need to say something, I'll give my immediate thoughts that aren't a proper consideration of the issue, then backpedal and adjust my stance until I feel okay about my position. I've regretted so many of my ranting NYTXW tweets. (9/13)

I imagine Jeff will improve his writeups, but also that at some point he'll make another inadvertent problematic comment. This is NOT a "Jeff's 'true colors' are gonna resurface" thing. This is a "people don't fix problematic behavior instantly like in movies" thing. (10/13)

I'm struggling to find an accurate way to phrase this, but I think this suffices: 1. Expect the XWI notes to improve, but don't expect there to never be problematic comments again, and 2. Don't immediately take future problematic comments to mean that Jeff doesn't care. (11/13)

I'm so jaded from seeing problematic actions (rightly) get called out so often here, and after what's happened this week, I'm gonna take a different approach to this and be optimistic. I truly think Jeff's heart is in the right place. (12/13)

Jeff sent me an email earlier tonight apologizing for his comments on the KUBO puzzle, and I really appreciate the apology. I'm looking forward to seeing XWordInfo become the best resource it can be, and I hope that optimism is what people take away from all of this. (13/13)