MUKBANG
- Pat P
- Jul 5, 2025
- 1 min read
And from Pat: I was surprised to see The New York Times Sunday crossword on April 27, 2025 use a Korean clue for one of the answers. I had no clue what it was, even though I had 3 of the 8 letter answer. So what did I do? I emailed Judy and Barbara to see if they could help.
Of course they knew. Barbara got back to me immediately with the answer. She said mukbang had been mentioned in Hometown Cha Cha Cha. I don’t remember that either!
When I finish the puzzle, I always read ‘Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle’. He rates the puzzle easy, easy medium, and so forth. (It kills me that the puzzle that took me a week to finish-with the help of my husband-he rates as easy.) He usually is derisive and caustic about the puzzle construction, and every week I ask myself why I read his blog. That’s an excellent question I don’t have an answer for…yet.
Anyway, he has an excellent discussion on what mukbang is, and I’m including it here.
It’s amazing to me that Korean culture has permeated our society to the degree that words like mukbang are in the Sunday crossword. Wohoo!
I am so impressed that Pat will phone a friend or two to complete a puzzle…..I have it on high authority that Judy doesn’t look answers up and may leave her crosswords unfinished. Kudos to you Pat!!