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Ep 68: The Aesthetics of Crossword Puzzles | A Discussion with Robbie Kubala
In this episode, Brandon Polite (Knox College | he/him) talks with Robbie Kubala (University of Texas at Austin | he/him) about the aesthetics of crossword puzzles. We begin by briefly discussing why Kubala finds crossword puzzles interesting and worthy of philosophy attention. We then discuss the reasons why some philosophers reject the claim that crossword puzzles merit aesthetic experience, namely: (1) they're too rule-governed, (2) they're only solvable once, (3) they only have one solution, and (4) they're too goal-oriented. From there, we turn to consider Kubala's reasons for believing that crossword puzzles do merit aesthetic experience. The first of them is the most central to his view. Following C. Thi Nguyen's account of the aesthetics of games, Kubala argues that crossword puzzles are striving activities that give rise to two kinds of practical harmony. The first is the harmony of solution, or the felt pleasingness of the fit between a practical obstacle (e.g., a crossword clue) and its solution. The second is the harmony of capacity, or the felt pleasingness of our own agential capacities (e.g., crossword solving abilities) fitting the demands of the world (the difficulty of a clue). There are times, however, when a crossword puzzle outstrips our capacity to solve it. These cases give rise to a negative aesthetic experience of disharmony, which Kubala suggests is similar to experiencing the sublime. After considering the sublime, we apply the harmonies of solution and capacity to Kubala's own experiences as a competitive crossword solver. We next discuss the distinct between British-style cryptic crosswords and American-style non-cryptic crosswords. The latter rely primarily on knowledge of trivia, vocabulary, or cultural references to solve, whereas the former depend on one's abilities to reason through the hints embedded within their clues' wordplay to suss out their solutions. The difficulty of cryptic crosswords lends credence to the position that some advance that they're aesthetically superior to non-cryptic crosswords -- a position that Kubala himself doesn't advance. We then discuss other, although arguably less central, aesthetic aspects of crossword puzzles apart from those pertaining to our agency: namely, their linguistic and visual aspects. Like poems, crossword clues can make us aware of just how evocative language can be -- how just a short phrase can cause our imaginations to run in all sorts of directions. And like Piet Mondrian's paintings, crosswords can reveal the visual appeal of grids. We conclude by considering whether crossword puzzles count as works of art. Reasons for thinking they can be are the individual styles that crossword constructors can develop, the critical discourse that crossword puzzles have spawned, and the existence of crossword connoisseurs. References: Robbie Kubala, "The Aesthetics of Crossword Puzzles," British Journal of Aesthetics (2023) | https://doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayac049 Robbie Kubala, "The Art and Style of Crosswords," The Philosophers Magazine (2023) | https://www.philosophersmag.com/essays/319-the-art-and-style-of-crosswords C. Thi Nguyen, *Games: Agency as Art* (OUP 2020). Chapters: Introductions The Aesthetic Interest in Crossword Puzzles Value Skepticism about Crossword Puzzle Crossword Solving & Aesthetic Striving Crosswords & the Sublime Competitive Crossword Solving Cryptic v. Non-cryptic Crosswords Crosswords, Poetic Language, & Visual Art Are Crossword Puzzles Art? Conclusion SUBSCRIBE TO THIS CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/c/PhilosophersDiscussingArt?sub_confirmation=1 * Subtitles edited by Athko Ehrnstein
