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An auction gimmick, no calendar of its own.
Season 61 never runs on its own calendar, but a genuinely new auction-budget tournament and two crossover episodes give it real format credit against that total containment.
A rhythm worth tracking.
Thirteen episodes run from January into July 2025, opening with a five-episode Name Your Price tournament — chefs bid a preliminary or finale budget on the basket's fourth mystery ingredient, with real stakes on the unspent total. Two standalone crossover episodes follow, one tied to a White Lotus promotional push and one to a Superman release. The entire run sits inside Season 60's own window.
The #42 slot.
Slot #42 of 62 in the Chopped Editor's Canon. Season 61 pairs a genuinely new tournament mechanic with a familiar containment problem. A five-episode Name Your Price tournament has chefs bid a budget on the basket's fourth mystery ingredient, with real stakes on the unspent total, and two crossover hours — one tied to a White Lotus promotional push, one to a Superman release — add further texture. But the season's entire run sits inside Season 60's own window, and it overlaps roughly four months of Season 59's tail besides, a total containment plus a second touch much like Season 25's own profile. The tournament and crossovers are enough to edge Season 61 above Season 25, though not past Season 49's own two-tournament, double-bind calendar just above it.
4 moments, no spoilers.
- Eps 1-5 · Name Your Price
A five-episode tournament has chefs bid a preliminary or finale budget on the basket's fourth ingredient, with unspent funds carrying real stakes into the finale. Watch it as a genuinely new tournament mechanic for this format.
- Thai Takedown! · White Lotus tie-in
A crossover episode ties into a White Lotus promotional push. Watch it as a lighter touch than the season's own tournament gimmick.
- Superhero Chefs! · Superman tie-in
A second standalone hour leans into a Superman release, with in-costume cameos presenting the basket. Watch how it sits alongside the ordinary closed-door hours around it.
- Every episode · inside Season 60
This season's whole six-month run airs somewhere inside Season 60's own window, while also overlapping roughly four months of Season 59's tail. Watch this as total containment on one side and a real touch on the other.