Are we entering an era of cross-newspaper snark? Yesterday it was Daily News blogger Mariel Garza making fun of an L.A. Times editor who finds Los Angeles ugly and who had the poor sense to say so in print. Today it's the Battle of the Beef.

The cash-strapped Times, you'll remember, spent something like $1,700 to taste-test cloned beef with celebrity foodies at Campanile — and reported the results prominently on Sunday's front page. Well, today's Daily News front page answered with a more humble experiment. Let's do this as a Q-and-A:

The Times tested $35 Porterhouse steaks — what did the Daily News sample?
"Premium" burgers from McDonalds, In-N-Out, Fatburger, Carl's Jr. and Burger King.

Any roasted fingerling potatoes or sauteed hedgehog mushrooms?
It appears not.

Total cost of food for the Daily News?
$19.71

The Times' testing panel included big-name chefs and Huell Howser — ten in all. The DN's?
Food editor Natalie Haughton, Graphics editor Gregg Miller, a high school football player and the owner of Dandy Don's Homemade Ice Cream.

Did they meet at Campanile or perhaps at the Valley equivalent?
Uh, no. The Daily News office in Woodland Hills sufficed.

The LAT's wine cost perhaps $66 a bottle. At Chez Woodland Hills?
Hahahaha.

After all that, the Times panel found no difference between cloned and regular beef. Who won the Daily News test?
The new McDonald's Angus Third Pounder, all 760 calories of it. "Best in class," said the judges.

Just for kicks, which burger fared worst?
Burger King's Angus Steak Burger: "Didn't taste like a hamburger...Not very appealing."

Both stories on page one, two days apart — coincidence?
I think not.

Photo: Andy Holzman/Daily News