I have a lot to say about the NYT Mini Crossword clue "Google alternative" because as a writer, riding the Google rollercoaster is tough. But I don't want to anger the Google gods. After all, you're here because of Google, and I want you to come back tomorrow.

What makes this clue extra tricky is that Google’s biggest competitor, Bing, doesn’t fit into the crossword puzzle, because we’re looking for a five-letter word. Other, lesser-known search engines, like DuckDuckGo, are too long. We have to delve into the internet of the 2000s to find the solution.

To be clear, we're talking about sites that let you search for pages online, not email or cloud service providers.

Brave and Qwant are among the few alternatives to Google that fit the picture, but they are not the answer.