Beefector

Birdfector

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

Animals

Creaturefector

Science

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

An Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) licks nectar from the Ethiopian red hot poker flower (Kniphofia foliosa). the wolf is really into it

These Beautiful Wolves Are Freaks For Nectar

a profile shot of a mummified saber-tooth kitten, which looks like a big brown cat

This Saber-Toothed Kitten Mummy Is So Stinking Cute That I’m Gonna Cry!

a pygmy seahorse that is red and pink with little bumps on its body hides in a coral that looks exactly like it

A Small And Beautiful Seahorse Reveals An Even Smaller And Reclusive Worm

a mossy stick insect of the species Trychopeplus mashpiensis dangling from some moss

Mossy Stick Insect STUNS In New Photos

Barry Petchesky

A 16 foot sculpture of a pigeon named dinosaur at the Highline in New York City on November 4, 2024. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/AFP)

Arts And Culture

The Big Pigeon Isn’t Scary Enough

Two elephants interacting with a water hose. one is attempting to shower with it and the other is gripping it tightly in her trunk

The Shower Beef Between Elephant Mary And Elephant Anchali, Explained

Creature Drops: A Big Baby From Patagonia

Everything You Might Want To Know About Peanut, The Squirrel Star Turned MAGA Martyr

An African giant pouched rat in a little red vest, yellow collar, and little silver bell sits on a person's lap

How Ivory The Contraband-Sniffing Giant African Pouched Rat Gets It Done

a giant red-eyed tree frog sculpture at the rainforest cafe

Life's Rich Pageant

Who Lives At The Rainforest Cafe?

ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY - AUGUST 28: Dolphins swim in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Atlantic City on August 28, 2022 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. With warming waters, dolphins and other mammals have been seen swimming and feeding closer to the shoreline. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Animals, Ranked By How Magical They Are To See

a small shelled cephalopod known as a paper nautilus or an argonaut drifting in the dark ocean on a little yellow piece of litter

The Argonaut Octopus Has Mastered The Free Ride

BROOKS FALLS, ALASKA - AUGUST 11: A brown bear shakes his fur while fishing for sockeye salmon on August 11, 2023 at Brooks Falls, Alaska within the Katmai National Park and Preserve. The bears feast at the falls between July and September, as millions of salmon swim upstream to spawn. Many of the same bears return to the falls annually, gorging on salmon to fatten up before hibernating for winter. The bears have become something of an internet sensation, as "bearcams" livestream bear activity at and around the falls to viewers worldwide. Commercial salmon fishing in Alaskan waters has often pitted business interests against wildlife conservationists in Alaska, which has more national park and wilderness land than anywhere in the United States. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Bear Wins Fat Bear Week By Defeating Bear That Killed Her Cub

UNITED STATES - 2013/08/27: Brown bear (Ursus arctos) or grizzly in Brooks River near Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska, USA. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Great Outdoors

Fat Bear Week Delayed By Bear Killing Bear

Patrick Redford

Sports Highlight Of The Day

The Sports Highlight Of The Day Is This Idiot Dog Starting A Fire

Kathryn Xu

Vintage color photograph of a chimpanzee in a skirt, stupid blouse, wristwatch and boots seated at a cluttered desk in a faux office, typing on a red typewriter. (Photo by Found Image Holdings/Corbis via Getty Images)

Point/Counterpoint: Monkeys Typing Shakespeare

A. Frog is a freelance writer living in Japan.

A. Frog

A female green and gold bell frog eating the leg and holding the leg of a male frog

I’ve Never Messed Up So Bad

Matt Ufford is the head of video and audio at Yahoo Sports.

Matt Ufford

A yellow-headed caracara close to reasonably priced children’s clothes and locked-up deodorant. Photo: Matt Ufford

Wings Week

Let The World Come To You On The Wings Of Vagrant Birds

Peanut Butter the dog gets going on his speedrun attempt

Video Games

Peanut Butter The Dog Hits A Two-Run Blast, And The Crowd Goes Wild

Greenfinches and Goldfinches on and around a bird feeder.

You’re A Birder, James Hetfield

Kelsey McKinney

Life Lessons

Berry Thief, My Enemy; Berry Thief, My Friend

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

I Have Become A Crazy Dog Person

Albert Burneko

A Huge Frickin’ Swarm Of Honeybees Came To My House!

Honeybee drinking nectar from a flower in Markham, Ontario, Canada, on September 10, 2022. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto)

The Sports Highlight Of The Day Is The First Honeybee Ever To Pull A String

Ray Ratto

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 02: The shadow of a cemetery worker is cast on reclaimed gravestones in London City Cemetery on March 2, 2009 in London, England. The cemetery is piloting a scheme whereby graves over 75 years old become eligible for reclamation. New interments will be placed into the existing graves, the headstones will be turned around and re-used, carving the names of the newly deceased. Once a grave has been earmarked by English heritage the cemetery must wait one year to see if family members claim the existing grave. By conserving as many memorials as possible the City of London hopes to maintain the historic cemetery landscape and sustain buriel provisions for the future. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)