They're Used To Hunt And Peck Crossword Clue

By: Five Letter Words | Last edited: Apr 24, 2025

Trying to solve the challenging "They're used to hunt and peck" crossword clue featured in the Apr 24, 2025 New York Times Mini puzzle? We've pinpointed the precise 5-letter answer you're looking for. However, if you're up for a more interactive puzzle-solving experience, we've got engaging features to help you out. Try revealing the solution gradually with our progressive letter reveal tool, or explore our carefully crafted hints—like a helpful anagram, an alternative clue that shares the same answer, or a detailed definition to guide your thinking. Plus, we've made navigating other clues from the same puzzle easy, allowing you to solve multiple clues seamlessly. Ready to become a crossword master? Let's dive deeper into today's puzzle!

Crossword Answer:

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About This Clue

The April 24, 2025 New York Times Mini Crossword featured the clue "They're used to hunt and peck" with the answer BEAKS. This clue is clever because it contains a double meaning. The primary meaning refers to how birds use their beaks to hunt for food and peck at items. The secondary meaning plays on the term "hunt and peck," which is a common expression for a non-touch-typing method where someone searches for and presses one key at a time with their finger (or metaphorically, their "beak").

Bird Beaks and Their Functions

Birds have evolved a fascinating variety of beak shapes and sizes, each specialized for different feeding strategies. Carnivorous birds like hawks and eagles have sharp, hooked beaks for tearing meat. Seed-eating birds like finches have short, strong conical beaks for cracking open seeds. Woodpeckers have chisel-like beaks for drilling into trees, while hummingbirds possess long, thin beaks for reaching deep into flowers for nectar. Beaks also serve multiple purposes beyond feeding, including grooming, building nests, defending territory, courtship rituals, and regulating body temperature. The diversity of beak shapes provides an excellent example of adaptive evolution, as each species' beak is optimized for its specific ecological niche.

NYT Mini Crossword Tips

When solving wordplay-based clues like "They're used to hunt and peck" in the NYT Mini Crossword, look for multiple interpretations of the phrase. In this case, "hunt and peck" can refer both to bird behavior and to a typing method. The NYT Mini often employs these kinds of double meanings, especially in their later-week puzzles when the difficulty increases. Also, be aware that answers are frequently related to current events, popular culture, or everyday objects and activities. For this particular clue, recognizing the dual meaning and connecting it to birds points toward BEAKS as the answer. The compactness of the Mini Crossword (typically 5×5) means that each clue-answer pair is carefully constructed to fit with crossing answers, so if you're stuck, try solving intersecting clues to get helpful letters.

Related Crossword Answers

More Clues & Answers For The New York Times Mini (April 24, 2025)

ACROSS

• 1. Tiny cotton swab
• 5. Leaves on the stove too long
• 6. They're used to hunt and peck
• 7. "I'm trying to focus here!"
• 8. Button that might make a "Whoosh!" sound

DOWN

• 1. Word pronounced like its first letter (which is followed by four vowels)
• 2. Feature of an extravagant wedding dress
• 3. Signed, as a contract
• 4. Verbal alternative to a tap on the shoulder
• 5. Some backyard parties, for short