Cultural Zeitgeist and the Cryptic Clue

​On Saturday, April 14, 2018, Fraser Simpson published a simple clue in the Globe and Mail cryptic crossword that made me want to cheer:
 
           Actress McGowan stood up (4)
 
Why cheer for this? You may ask. It’s just a straightforward double meaning clue. The actress in question is Rose McGowan. And if someone stood up, they rose from their seat.
 
Here’s why.

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With just four words, Fraser Simpson has managed to not only construct a perfect clue but to capture a cultural zeitgeist. The surface read of this clue has gut-punching emotional depth because actress Rose McGowan is one of the very brave women who risked enormous professional, personal, and legal repercussions when she stood up in October of 2017 as part of a small but growing number of women publicly accusing film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and igniting the #MeToo movement. 

Rose McGowan (top, centre) is one of the famous actresses who stood up as part of the #MeToo movement.

Making someone's accomplishment a part of your puzzle isn't just a means of honouring them on the day it's published, it's a way of recording their work for posterity, given that puzzles are often republished and solved anew decades after their original publication. I cannot think of any other clue I’ve solved that has managed to convey a cultural zeitgeist so succinctly.

​Can you?
 
Hats off to you, Fraser Simpson.