That Shameful Singles-Party Puzzle!

Carlos Chavez of Orange County, California, writes:

A reader referred to a part of the sample population at a singles party as “attractive.” (October 11, 2015) In whose opinion? I am a big fan of yours and jump to the column in Parade before I read much else of the Sundaypaper.  But I fear you played to body (facial) shaming the way the question was presented. You could have changed it to a trait like “right handed.”  The result would have been the same.

Marilyn responds:

Yes, the result would have been the same, but how much fun would it have been?! Anyway, attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder, and facial characteristics are only one minor aspect of it. Women find all sorts of things attractive, many of them having zilch to do with faces. Regardless, the puzzle question is posed to the beholder and makes no judgment about what the beholder might find attractive.