Well since all classic crossword puzzles are supposed to be symmetric I can see how this could randomly happen. But I'm disappointed that the editors either missed it or allowed it.
Is it really a 'Special Chanukah Edition'?
I just looked it up. Dec.18 is the first day of Chanukah 2022, ugh.
I said that to be ironic.
It would have to be a coincidence, but it is remarkable all the same. Did you complete the crossword?
I'm too dumb and lazy to complete Sunday NYT puzzle. Sunday New York Times is $12, $15-$20 in some cities. So no.
Years ago my main client was a start-up mostly populated with former Boeing engineers and university students (we/they were designing a cancer detection microscope). Their company habit was every day to copy the NYT crossword to a transparency. Put it on an overhead projector. And all do it together at lunch.
We could usually finish it on the lunch break.