Taking Back Sunday + Dashboard Confessional Are the Definition of Emo, According to the New York Times

Are Taking Back Sunday and Dashboard Confessional the epitome of emo? That's what a recent answer in the Daily New York Times Crossword puzzle would have one presume.

Recently, the famous crossword puzzle that gets syndicated to more than 300 other newspapers and journals used both groups as a joint clue that pointed to the answer, "emo band." Does this mean the creators of the crossword, long edited by NYT puzzle maven Will Shortz and assembled by a team of participating freelance contributors, hold Taking Back Sunday and Dashboard Confessional as the end-all-be-all of emo music?

It looks like that may be the case, as Taking Back Sunday's own John Nolan pointed out. The band's lead guitarist, who makes up the emo-rock outfit with lead vocalist Adam Lazzara, bassist Shaun Cooper and drummer Mark O'Connell, was just one who noticed the nod in the New York Times' puzzle.

"'Taking Back Sunday or Dashboard Confessional' is a clue in today's NY Times crossword and I don't know the answer," Nolan informed his Twitter followers last week (Oct. 9).

A short while later, the musician cleared that up with the following: "Ok, so it's emo band. Which means according to The NY Times, Dashboard and us are literally the definition of emo."

Of course, to longtime listeners, it's no puzzle that each act represents a building block of emo music. Beyond those two acts, the malleable art form originated in the '80s DC hardcore scene, grabbed a foothold in the Midwest, impacted rock, gave birth to neon, went mainstream, went hip-hop and more.

But are Taking Back Sunday and Dashboard Confessional both synonymous with the term "emo band"? It'd be hard to argue otherwise when the New York Times Crossword says so.