Brittany Is Known as a Bird Hunting Dog CodyCross Answer

The answer CodyCross is looking for is SPANIEL. The full clue reads 'Brittany __ is known as a bird hunting dog,' and the missing word is SPANIEL (7 letters). That fills out 'Brittany Spaniel,' the historic name for this French gun dog breed. If you landed here trying to crack that clue today, you've got your answer right there.

What the CodyCross clue is actually asking

Just to clear up any confusion: this clue is not about a bird species. The Brittany is a dog breed, specifically one bred for hunting birds. CodyCross is essentially asking you to complete the old formal name of the breed: Brittany Spaniel. The clue format 'Brittany __ is known as a bird hunting dog' uses the word 'Brittany' as the first part of the compound name and blanks out the second word, which is what you need to fill in.

The Brittany Spaniel earned the 'bird hunting dog' description because it was bred primarily as a gun dog, flushing and retrieving game birds like woodcock, pheasant, and quail. So when CodyCross calls it a bird hunting dog, that's accurate and intentional. The clue is wordplay on the breed's identity, not a reference to any actual bird species.

The most likely answer and how it's formatted

Multiple CodyCross solver databases confirm the same entry for this clue. The answer is SPANIEL, seven letters, no spaces, no hyphen. The clue appeared in the CodyCross Midsize Crossword in July 2023, and every published answer listing for it shows SPANIEL as the correct fill.

CodyCross does not capitalize entries differently from any other crossword: the letters go into the grid cells one by one. Whether the app shows uppercase or mixed case on screen is just a display choice. What matters is that you enter S-P-A-N-I-E-L across seven consecutive cells.

Confirming the answer against your grid

Before you type anything in, do a quick grid check. Count the blank cells in the answer slot. If you see exactly 7 cells, SPANIEL fits perfectly. If the count is off, here's a quick troubleshooting check:

1. Count the cells carefully, including any that already have a letter filled in from a crossing answer.
2. Check if any crossing letters are already in place. S A I _ L or similar partial fills should confirm SPANIEL immediately.
3. Note the position of known crossing letters. If the first cell is already an S and the fifth is an I, you're on the right track.
4. If the grid shows 8 or more cells, the clue wording may differ slightly from the archived version, and you may need to consider BRITTANY as the standalone answer (see the troubleshooting section below).
5. Remember CodyCross sometimes reuses clues across puzzle editions, so the letter count is your most reliable confirmation tool.

Singular vs. plural, and capitalization

CodyCross almost always uses singular forms for breed names in fill-in-the-blank clues like this one. SPANIELS (8 letters) is almost certainly wrong here. Stick with SPANIEL. Capitalization in the grid does not affect whether your answer is accepted, so do not stress about uppercase versus lowercase.

How to pronounce Brittany and avoid misspellings

The word 'Brittany' is pronounced BRIT-uh-nee (IPA: /ˈbɹɪ.tə.ni/). Three syllables, stress on the first. This is the same pronunciation whether you're talking about the dog breed or the region in northwestern France the breed is named after.

The spelling trips people up more than the pronunciation. Here are the mistakes to watch out for:

• Britanny (double N) is wrong. There is only one N in Brittany.
• Brittaney or Brittani are alternate personal-name spellings sometimes seen, but not used for the dog breed or the French region.
• Brittney is a different spelling, mostly used as a personal name, never for the breed.
• Spaniel has one L at the end, not two. SPANIELL is a very common typo.
• The breed name is Brittany Spaniel, not Brittany Cocker or Brittany Retriever, so do not second-guess the 'Spaniel' part of the answer.

For the crossword specifically, you only need to spell SPANIEL correctly. But knowing how to spell Brittany helps you recognize the clue quickly next time it appears, which it does in various puzzle formats.

Why it's called a Brittany Spaniel: the short version

The breed originates from Brittany, the peninsula in northwestern France. The place-name 'Brittany' comes from Medieval Latin 'Britannia,' meaning land of the Britons, since Celtic peoples who had lived in Britain migrated to that part of France in the early medieval period. So the name traces back to the same Latin root that gives us 'Britain.'

The 'Spaniel' part of the name refers to a broad type of hunting dog historically associated with Spanish-origin breeds used to flush game birds. French hunters developed the Epagneul Breton (the French name for the breed, which the FCI still uses as the official nomenclature) over centuries for woodcock hunting in the Breton forests. The FCI lists the breed under the English title 'Brittany Spaniel' with France as country of origin.

Here's the naming twist that makes this clue interesting: in the United States, the American Kennel Club dropped 'Spaniel' from the official breed name back in 1982. The AKC now simply calls it the 'Brittany.' That's why the CodyCross clue is structured as 'Brittany __' rather than just asking for 'Brittany Spaniel' outright: it's playing on the fact that the second word got dropped from the common name in the US, but it's still the historical and internationally recognized name.

If SPANIEL doesn't fit: troubleshooting and alternatives

If the grid cell count does not match 7 letters, here are the most likely explanations and what to try:

• 8 cells and the clue is phrased differently (e.g., 'Brittany is known as a bird hunting dog' without the blank): try BRITTANY as the standalone answer.
• The puzzle edition may have a variant clue. Check the exact phrasing on your screen again before assuming the answer is wrong.
• If crossing letters give you something that does not match SPANIEL, double-check those crossing answers first. One wrong crossing answer can throw everything off.
• CodyCross has multiple puzzle types (Classic, Midsize, Adventure). The July 2023 Midsize puzzle is the confirmed source, but clues do recycle across editions with slightly different grid layouts.
• If you still cannot make it fit, try the CodyCross in-app hint system or consult a CodyCross-specific solver database with the exact clue text copied from your screen.

Other crossword puzzles in the bird-and-language space sometimes ask similar trivia from a different angle. You might encounter clues about birds that perform aerial acrobatics, birds famous for migration records, or ranks and titles that include bird terminology. Or, if you were actually hunting a crossword for a bird that has the longest migration, that is a different animal name to look up birds famous for migration records. If a clue is about an actual bird behavior or name rather than a breed, the answer structure will be quite different, so always read the clue wording carefully to spot whether you're dealing with a dog breed disguised as a bird topic, like this one. For comparison, a clue that literally asks for the top of a wave or a bird would have a very different answer than SPANIEL top of a wave or bird crossword clue. If you meant the bird that does somersaults in flight, that would be a different type of crossword clue bird that does somersaults in flight crossword.

Bottom line: if your grid shows 7 empty cells for a clue about Brittany being a bird hunting dog, type in SPANIEL and move on. If you're instead solving a full bird military rank crossword clue, the answer and clue style will be different from the Brittany Spaniel entry. Some puzzles also use similar wording to point to a bird that can make tools bird hunting dog. That is the confirmed, archived, published answer for this CodyCross clue.