--- title: Twitter Ranked Unusual Pasta Shapes with Shocking Results description: These 22 lesser-known pasta types were put to the test in a new ranking of everything from croxetti to mafaldine — and much more. canonical: https://time.com/4999013/twitter-pasta-ranking/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-26T21:59:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:48:18.281Z og:title: This Ranking of Unusual Pasta Shapes Is a Masterpiece og:description: From croxetti to mafaldine, here are 22 lesser-known pasta shapes, ranked og:url: https://time.com/4999013/twitter-pasta-ranking/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Ranking of Unusual Pasta Shapes Is a Masterpiece twitter:description: From croxetti to mafaldine, here are 22 lesser-known pasta shapes, ranked twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Guy's Ranking of Pasta Shapes You've Never Heard of Is a Masterpiece > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c9f70981-4f0c-4c6e-9495-39f10882e787&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 26, 2017 9:59 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 26, 2017 9:59 PM UTC Do you know what lumaconi is? How about conchiglie? Not to worry: pasta expert and graphic designer [David Rudnick](http://davidrudnick.org/) is here to help us all. In a now-viral series of 25 tweets in honor of World Pasta Day, Rudnick methodically and incisively ranks 22 of the world’s “non-primary-canon” [pasta shapes](http://time.com/money/4942505/olive-garden-never-ending-pasta-pass/). (So that means penne, macaroni, [spaghetti](http://www.extracrispy.com/video/3734/spaghetti-pie-the-sosta), ravioli or linguine didn’t make the cut.) Instead, Rudnick — using a rubric of his own invention and visual aids throughout the Twitter thread — broke down the little-known pasta shapes based on their friendliness to sauces and ingredients, and general deliciousness of the overall experience. It’s a masterpiece, and few on Twitter can deny that Rudnick is the internet’s new Pasta King. For example, he describes fusilli bucati as “fractal pasta with near-infinite surface areas.” His least favorite of the options on the table is croxetti. “Pasta NOT a place for Graphics Design,” he explains of the disc-like pasta, which is imprinted with a delicate shape. Then there’s trenne, a triangular-shaped penne, which Rudnick examines with academic rigor. “Triangular shape almost conveys [_Bladerunner_\-esque](http://time.com/4867732/blade-runner-2049-footage-comic-con-san-diego/) neo-future noir,” he admits, and its “cold, heartless form befits our age,” but ultimately the shape is “unsociable to sauce.” As for the best non-traditional pasta shape? [Mafaldine.](https://www.marthastewart.com/1104480/mafaldine-shrimp-and-lemon) In careful bullet points, he presents his evidence: It’s “a sauce-holding miracle” and has “enormous surface area yet still fork-navigable.” The final bullet: “Longitudinal Ruffling as art.” (The exacting capitalization is his own.) Who are we to argue? Better idea: time to hunt down some mafaldine in the pasta aisle and get cooking. For a full education on pasta, explore his entire thread, below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4999013/twitter-pasta-ranking/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4999013/twitter-pasta-ranking/"},"headline":"This Guy's Ranking of Pasta Shapes You've Never Heard of Is a Masterpiece","datePublished":"2017-10-26T21:59:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:48:18.281Z","description":"Mafaldine is king","url":"https://time.com/4999013/twitter-pasta-ranking/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4999013/twitter-pasta-ranking/","name":"This Guy's Ranking of Pasta Shapes You've Never Heard of Is a Masterpiece"}}]}] ```