Taylor

@zumita Totally agree. I almost wrote in to the Times to complain about this one. Hindu is the religion. Many people who celebrate Holi and Diwali MIGHT speak Hindi, but that would be like saying Christmas is a Spanish holiday. I’d have to check the etymology, but I’m pretty sure Holi and Diwali aren’t even Hindi words. Likely Sanskrit origin?

@Lynn but Hindi isn’t the culture. Maybe we’re being a bit pedantic, but if we can’t expect pedantry from the NYT, where can we? :)

@Mark Carlson It's the New York Times Sunday Crossword . . . pedantry is the whole point! :) To me, the fact that languages are spoken by many in many different countries is exactly why "Hindi Shindig" for Holi/Diwali doesn't make sense as an answer. Let's set aside the fact that holidays are religious and/or cultural affairs, and "Hindi" is neither a reference to a religion or a culture (as you correctly point out, it's a language spoken by many around the world of many different cultures and religions). The corollary here would be a clue of "Christmas and Easter?" and the answer being "Spansih Shindig." Sure, some speakers of Spanish celebrate Christmas and Easter, but no one would classify those holidays as Spanish holidays. The fact that this does suggests a cultural blindspot that's offensive to many: it seems to assert all Indian cultures are more or less the same and we can't be bothered to let being accurate get in the way of clever word play - just lump 'em all together and have fun!