LA Times Crossword · 9-Across · 4 letters
Cruelty-free target of poaching LA Times Crossword clue
Editorially reviewed September 7, 2026
Answer · 4 letters
PEAR
PEAR is the four-letter answer. “Poaching” first suggests illegal hunting, but a pear can be poached by cooking it gently in liquid. “Cruelty-free” tells you to make that switch.
Different crossing letters? Check another fit →The word that changes the scene
Read “target” as the ingredient being cooked. A pear simmering in wine or syrup makes sense of the whole phrase: it is a target of culinary poaching, not an animal pursued by a hunter. The contrast is the joke; no rare definition of PEAR is needed.
Why a pear rather than an egg?
An egg is another familiar poached food, so it is a reasonable first thought. EGG has three letters, whereas this entry needs four. PEAR matches both the cooking interpretation and the recorded P E A R fill. “Cruelty-free” is part of the clue's misdirection, not a claim about every food-production method.
References behind this explanation
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Where this clue appeared
9-Across in LA Times Crossword puzzle for August 29, 2026.
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