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

<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19</p>


Chris Thompson

The rusted hulk of RFK Stadium, which is being demolished.

The Commanders’ D.C. Stadium Deal Is An Abomination

Barry Petchesky

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 20: George Valera #35 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning of game one of a doubleheader at Target Field on September 20, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

What In The Hell Is Going On In The AL Central?

Dave McKenna

PROVO, UT - JANUARY 28: Boxer Conor McGregor sports a Brigham Young hat during the second half of the Brigham Young Cougars game agaisnt the Baylor Bears at the Marriott Center on January 28, 2025 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

Politics

Conor McGregor’s Irish Presidential Campaign Was Brief And Humiliating

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Kelsey Mitchell #0 of the Indiana Fever speaks with ESPN reporter after the game three of the first round of WNBA Playoffs between the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream at Gateway Center Arena on September 18, 2025 in College Park, Georgia.

WNBA

Kelsey Mitchell Is Making Up For Lost Time In The Playoffs

David Roth

Holland Roden, Joe Pantoliano, and Matthew Daddario sitting on a very Hallmark movie coach, all admiring a little Buffalo Bills ornament that Pantoliano (in a Bills hat and goatee) has received from an anonymous benefactor. It's from the trailer of Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story.

The Hallmark Channel And The Buffalo Bills Encourage You To “Go For Four”

Patrick Redford

A'ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces reacts against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on September 16, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

A’ja Wilson Is The Smoothest Operator

<div id="message-list_1773066846.655809">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>Abigail Segel is a contributing writer at Defector. She is also an editor for The IX Soccer and the Equalizer. Her work has been published in the Guardian and the Montreal Gazette.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


Abigail Segel

Sarah Puntigam #17 of Houston Dash shoots during the NWSL match between San Diego Wave and Houston Dash at Snapdragon Stadium on September 07, 2025 in San Diego, California.

Soccer

In A Typically Chaotic NWSL Season, The Only Safe Place Is The Very Top

Sean Kuhn

An Immaculate Grid filled in with the most-remembered people from the Defector/Immaculate Grid collaboration week.

Let's Remember Some Guys

Who Gets Remembered? Crunching The Numbers From 36,000 Immaculate Grids

Israel Daramola

Ray Ratto

College Football

The College Coaches Are Going Through It

Kathryn Xu

Never Try To Catch A Baseball

Veronica Burton #22 of the Golden State Valkyries reacts after making a three-point shot against the Minnesota Lynx during the second half of Game Two in the first round of WNBA Playoffs at Sap Center on September 17, 2025 in San Jose, California.

Ballhalla Is A Mindset

Jalen Hurts looking thoughtful after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in the game at Arrowhead Stadium on September 14, 2025 in Kansas City. The Distraction logo is at upper left.

Podcasts

Teaching Jalen Hurts How To Complain, With Dan McQuade

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks as he presents the new Meta Ray-Ban Display at the 2025 Meta Connect conference in Menlo Park, California, on September 17, 2025. (Photo by Benjamin LEGENDRE / AFP)

The Machines

Mark Zuckerberg Demonstrates That His AI Smart Glasses Suck And Don’t Work

Soraya Roberts

American actor Robert Redford wearing a grey tweed blazer over a matching waistcoat and a white shirt, with a diagonally striped tie, with a grey fedora, in a scene from 'The Sting', filmed in the United States, 1973.

Arts And Culture

Robert Redford Made An Art Of The Double Take

Luis Paez-Pumar

Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool FC celebrates after scoring his team's third goal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 match between Liverpool FC and Atletico de Madrid at Anfield on September 17, 2025 in Liverpool, England.

Liverpool Can’t Keep Getting Away With This … Right?

<p>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 <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

A blank high school scoreboard with a backdrop of the snow-covered Topatopa Mountains in Ventura County, California.

Jamboroo

Scoreboard!

TORONTO, ON - September 17 Head Coach Craig Berube chats to the media.

The Maple Leafs Can’t Seem To Get Out Of The First Round Against Punctuation

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 04: Jimmy Kimmel is seen at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live" on November 04, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Charlie Kirk Is A Means To An End

Aliyah Boston #7 and Lexie Hull #10 of the Indiana Fever celebrate during the second half against the Atlanta Dream in game two of the first round of WNBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on September 16, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The WNBA Won Won Won With 1-1-1

Albert Burneko

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump during a visit to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of their second state visit to the UK.

This Is So Stupid

Nice Hat, Melania


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

a wild octopus americanus, arms unspooled and curling

Creaturefector

Unlike Our Stupid Human Arms, Octopus Arms Are All Equally Beautiful And Talented


<p>Robert Weintraub is the author of four books, including <em>The Divine Miss Marble</em>, now <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Miss-Marble-Tennis-Mystery/dp/1524745367/ref=asc_df_1524745367/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=459515946640&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=6202131795131082661&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9010752&amp;hvtargid=pla-926582175995&amp;psc=1">out in paperback</a>. He has also written for the <em>New York Times</em>, ESPN/Grantland, Slate, Columbia Journalism Review, the <em>Guardian</em>, Football Outsiders, and many other outlets. Follow on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/robwein" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@robwein</a>.</p>


Robert Weintraub

Bubblegum card (from the Bowman Gum Company) features baseball player Hank Thompson, of the New York Giants, 1955.

Hank Thompson Lived A Wild, Tragic, Forgotten Life In Baseball

Hannah Smothers

Reality TV Dating Enters Virgin Territory

Kelsey McKinney

Food

The Not-So-Great Defector Bake Off Suffers Mightily For Biscuit Week

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller depart Union Station after meeting with federal law enforcement officers on August 20, 2025.