whoa nice! Thanks!

For people trying to configure that in mozilla (I am trying to get away from it but for now :/)

• -> Edit -> Settings -> Search
• "Search Shortcuts" -> Add (to add a search engine)
• "Search Engine Name": DuckDuckGo Lite
• "URL with %s in place of search term": https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/?q=%25s (this has to be =%s, lemmy keeps mutilating that to =%25s everytime I save my post)
• "Keyword (optional)": @ddgl (or pick whatever you like - it appears @ddg is hardcoded and gets refused)
• -> Save Engine
• scroll up to the top, "Default Search Engine"
• from the dropdown list, select "DuckGuckGo Lite"

Done.