CULTURE

Footer Column 2

Footer Legal

Footer Main

Nav Bar

OTHER

SPORTS

Subscribe, at any level, to play

Thanks for your interest in Defector Crosswords!

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Plans start at $8/month.

Subscribers enjoy unlimited, ad-free browsing.

Register to continue

Or click here to subscribe for unlimited, ad-free access!

Our gift to you: This year's post is unlocked. Register your email to get even more free articles.

Welcome to the 2025 Hater's Guide!

Just register your email:

This blog is free to read.

This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

Randy Moss speaks at his NFL Hall of Fame induction; his bust has been replaced with the head of Randy Moss the journalist

Journalismism

How To Tell Randy Moss From Randy Moss: A Defector Strategy Guide

<div dir="ltr">
Mike Tanier has covered the NFL for 20 years for Football Outsiders, the New York Times, The Messenger, Bleacher Report, Sports on Earth, and other ancient empires. He&#8217;s a co-author of Aaron Schatz&#8217;s FTN Football Almanac and the author of the Y/A novel for grownups Long Snapper&#8217;s Blues. He lives off Exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike with his long-suffering wife, two sons and a 70-pound American Bully named Frank the Tank. His newsletter, <a href="https://too-deep-zone.ghost.io/">Too Deep Zone</a>, has officially launched.
</div>

Mike Tanier

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON WRITING IN LARGE BOOK WITH QUILL PEN (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

Three Newsrooms Imploded Around Me In Under A Year

Tom Ley

The OpenAI logo is being displayed on a smartphone, with the Microsoft logo visible on the screen in the background.

Semafor’s AI Partnership Is The Same Old Shit

Lauren Theisen

Elias Lindholm celebrates with his teammates after a goal

It’s Canuck Time

Ray Ratto

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, seen doing a kind of triumphant here-I-am gesture at the opening of The Sphere in September of 2023.

Las Vegas Mayor To John Fisher: Maybe Try Staying In Oakland

Kathryn Xu

A Genshin Impact app by miHoYo Limited logo is seen displayed on a smartphone.

Video Games

How To Win In Gacha Gaming

Patrick Redford

San Francisco Ballet in Aszure Barton and Sam Shepherd's Mere Mortals // © Chris Hardy. Dancers flank Prometheus as he gears up to steal fire from the gods.

Arts And Culture

Maybe It’s Not So Bad Being ‘Mere Mortals’

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner attends the Team Principals Press Conference during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 27, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Racing

Red Bull Boss Christian Horner Under Investigation For Alleged Misconduct Toward Team Employee

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

Diana Moskovitz

London Police Service Chief Thai Troung, center, and Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann of Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section hold a press conference in London, Ontario, on February 5, 2024.

It’s Hockey’s Turn To Reckon With Sexual Violence

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Must Klay Thompson Travel Far And Wide ‘Til He Is Beside Someone Who Is Not Draymond Green?

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 05: Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers (L) and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs stand on stage during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium on February 05, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images)

Funbag

There’s No Such Thing As A System Quarterback

Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Brent Suter high fives fans as he walks around the field with players to end their season at Coors Field on October 1, 2023 in Denver, Colorado.

It’s Time To Fixate On How Your Favorite Baseball Team Will Disappoint You

Barry Petchesky

05 February 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Halberstadt: A sheet of music from the piece "ORGAN2/ASLSP" by John Cage lies in front of the organ in the Burchardi Church before the start of the sound change. After two years, the sound of the slowest piece of music in the world, performed in Halberstadt in the Harz Mountains, has changed for the 16th time. On Monday, the 639-year organ piece ORGAN²/ASLSP ("As SLow aS Possible") by artist John Cage (1912-1992) underwent a sound change. This means that the six-sound piece that has been played in the Burchardi Church since February 2022 has become a seven-sound piece. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa (Photo by Matthias Bein/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The Song Goes On Even If We Don’t

Luis Paez-Pumar

Phil Foden of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Manchester City at Brentford Community Stadium on February 05, 2024 in Brentford, England.

Soccer

Manchester City Is Ready To Pounce

Samer Kalaf

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times doing a PBS interview

New York Times Pays Thomas Friedman To Compare The Middle East To Bugs

Pro-Commanders Spin Somehow A Bigger Mess Than Commanders

Baylor Bears head coach Scott Drew yells after being called for a technical foul during the Big 12 college basketball game between Baylor Bears and Iowa State Cyclones on February 3, 2024, at Foster Pavilion in Waco, Texas.

College Basketball

A Coach Got T’d Up For Being On The Court!

David Roth

Metlife Stadium across the Hackensack River in Secaucus, New Jersey, on June 15, 2023. Activist Bill Sheehan has turned mountains to clean up the river, polluted by industry, ten kilometers (6.2 miles) from Manhattan, even if much remains to be done. "It didn't take me long to realize that the river needed a full-time advocate," he says of the hemmed in by an ultra-dense urban grid. (Photo by KENA BETANCUR / AFP) (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Let Us Discuss What The World Cup Final Means For “New York New Jersey”

Maitreyi Anantharaman

A Boykin Spaniel competes in the 147th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Presented by Purina Pro Plan at Arthur Ashe Stadium on May 09, 2023 in New York City.

Crosswords

The Crossword, Feb. 5: Ring Ring

The Sixers And Joel Embiid Are Back In The Bad Times

Dwayne Johnson and Vince McMahon at a press conference

Pro Wrestling

WWE Presses The Panic Button, Summons The Rock

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

a sea otter eating a crab in Monterey Bay

Creaturefector

Hungry Sea Otters Can Change The World

Dennis Young is the news editor at Front Office Sports.