diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 97d1a0b7..9b5a1c55 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ GNU findutils NEWS - User visible changes.      -*- outline -*- (allout)
 * Major changes in release 4.5.15-git, 2014-MM-DD
 
 ** Bug Fixes
+#45585: unclear description of -newerXY in manual page.
 
 #45090: oldfind incorrectly omits test/..test (or any file whose name
         begins with ..).
diff --git a/find/find.1 b/find/find.1
index f49218ec..1de9a588 100644
--- a/find/find.1
+++ b/find/find.1
@@ -673,20 +673,10 @@ option is in effect, the
 modification time of the file it points to is always used.
 
 .IP "\-newerXY \fIreference\fR"
-Compares the timestamp of the current file with \fIreference\fR.
-The
-.I reference
-argument is normally the name of a file (and one of its timestamps is
-used for the comparison) but it may also be a string describing an
-absolute time.
-.I X
-and
-.I Y
-are placeholders for other letters, and these letters select which
-time belonging to
-how
-.I reference
-is used for the comparison.
+Succeeds if timestamp \fIX\fR of the file being considered is newer
+than timestamp \fIY\fR of the file \fIreference\fR.   The letters
+\fIX\fR and \fIY\fR can be any of the following letters:
+
 .TS
 ll
 ll