Puzzle Punk't

I was successfully punk’t today by, of all things, The New York Times.  Within the crossword puzzle’s answers is secreted this:  DUE TO BUDGET CUTS THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE WILL END TOMORROW (17; 34; 40; 60 across).

Once I solved the puzzle and was outraged by the thought of the puzzle’s theme I looked at the paper’s date and realized I had been made a fool of on this first very fine day of April.  However, before I realized my foolishness I rationally considered just how important the NY Times crossword is to me.

If the crossword was actually dropped what would I do?  At first I thought I would just cancel my subscription all together.  Then I thought, well, I can subscribe to a limited number of issues weekly; settling on Friday, Saturday and Sunday since those days of the week are the most difficult.  When sanity returned I had to admit the puzzle is at least important enough to me to consider cutting back on this budgeted item since it’s a fairly expensive proposition.

I have to confess the NY Times is as much a prescription as it is a subscription because of its beneficial qualities to my mental, educational and emotional well-being; not to mention the snob appeal.  No puzzle there.