dimanche 31 décembre 2023

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday, January 1, 2024

by

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for January 1, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle was a toughie for me, needing five guesses; but there’s nothing about it that should make it particularly hard. So maybe you’ll have better luck. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 1, Wordle #926! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of them are common letters today. The remaining letter is medium-ish.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Think of beautiful artwork on a wall. Not hanging on a wall, though.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Nope, not today!

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels in today’s word.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with M.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with L.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is MURAL.

How I solved today’s Wordle

This one was annoyingly tough for me. After my first two guesses, I had R, A, and U, all yellow. I couldn’t think of anything that fit until I hit on GUARD, which I was sure had to be it, but nope. I had another “aha!” moment with RURAL, but the first letter was wrong. Took me a good long time to remember that MURAL exists.

Wordle 926 5/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:



Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Monday, January 1, 2024

by

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Monday, January 1, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 1, NYT Connections #204! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

NYT Connections board for January 1, 2024: WAY, WEED, WHEEL, WEDGE, WATER, WEE, GREEN, FEUD, WHY, PYRAMID, SEED, GREEK, MILLIONAIRE, WHOA, CAESAR, PLANT.
Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

There are some more TV references today!

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category - How to take care of a vegetable.

  • Green category - How to eat a vegetable.

  • Blue category - Ways you can win money (or watch someone win money)

  • Purple category - Alliterative sounds.

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

The purple category is based on the words’ construction, but if you just leave this category for last it will be pretty obvious. The yellow category also has a wordplay bonus: the words can each be more than one part of speech. (You don’t need to know that to pick them out, though.) 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.


BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • A WEED can be in your lawn or something you smoke; it’s also a verb for a gardening chore. 

  • A WEDGE is not a type of shoe today, nor a metaphorical device for a political argument. Today we celebrate the WEDGE salad, a thing that looks delicious but that I am never sure how to actually eat.

  • A WHEEL can be made of cheese, it can help a car to roll, or it can be that thing you spin on TV to make Vanna White (documented friend of Lifehacker) turn the letters. 

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: GARDENING NOUNS/VERBS

  • Green: KINDS OF SALADS

  • Blue: CLASSIC GAME SHOWS, FAMILIARLY

  • Purple: W + VOWEL SOUND

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is GARDENING NOUNS/VERBS and the words are: PLANT, SEED, WATER, WEED.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is KINDS OF SALADS and the words are: CAESAR, GREEK, GREEN, WEDGE.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is CLASSIC GAME SHOWS, FAMILIARLY and the words are: FEUD, PYRAMID, MILLIONAIRE, WHEEL.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is W + VOWEL SOUND and the words are: WAY, WEE, WHY, WHOA.

How I solved today’s Connections

I wanted a Las Vegas connection with PYRAMID and CAESAR, but for some reason FEUD and MILLIONAIRE stuck out to me. They reminded me of game shows, and somewhere in the back of my memory I recalled watching a $64,000 PYRAMID at my Grandma’s house. (I was mixing up the $64,000 Question with the $100,000 Pyramid, but close enough.) 🟦 

CAESAR and GREEK next to each other made me think of salads 🟩 and I picked out the gardening words pretty quickly after that. 🟨 The remaining “W” words seemed like a strange group, but they’re pretty much all what they look like—syllables starting with W. 🟪

Connections 
Puzzle #204
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!



samedi 30 décembre 2023

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, December 31, 2023

by

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for December 31, 2023 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficulty; there’s nothing too hard about it, but it uses an often-overlooked letter. I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 31, Wordle #925! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of them are common letters today! 

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

It will remind you of seasonings, or perhaps negative emotions.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Nope, not today.

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one regular vowel today, and one sometimes-vowel.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with Y.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SALTY.

How I solved today’s Wordle

ARISE and TOUCH got me a few yellows; I figured putting the S and T together would be a good bet, so I went with STAMP. But that wasn’t it, and I still had a ton of options. I considered different places the T and A might go, and settled on SALTY when I recalled that a lot of stumpers turn out to end in Y.

Wordle 925 4/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:



Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, December 31, 2023

by

Happy New Year’s Eve! If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, December 31, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 31, NYT Connections #203! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

NYT Connections board for December 31, 2023: COUNTDOWN, KISS, NICE, DETAIL, BALL, CLUB, RESOLUTION, CHAMPAGNE, GROUP, TOURS, FIREWORKS, PARTY, DIJON, DEFINITION, TEAM, CLARITY.
Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

Yes, but if you know why champagne is called champagne, you’re halfway there.  

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category - A bunch of people working together.

  • Green category - I can see clearly now…

  • Blue category - Time for a European vacation.

  • Purple category - Hooray!

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

Only the ambiguity we’ve come to know and love! 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.


BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • CHAMPAGNE can be a sparkling wine, or the name of the region in France where it’s produced.

  • A RESOLUTION can be a pronouncement we make about our lives going forward; or it can be the pixel count of, say, a TV screen.

  • A PARTY can be an event where you get dressed up and dance with friends, or it can be a group, as in “PARTY of Five” or, for that matter, the Donner PARTY.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: ORGANIZATION

  • Green: SHARPNESS, AS OF AN IMAGE

  • Blue: PLACES IN FRANCE

  • Purple: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is ORGANIZATION and the words are: CLUB, GROUP, PARTY, TEAM.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is SHARPNESS, AS OF AN IMAGE and the words are: CLARITY, DEFINITION, DETAIL, RESOLUTION.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is PLACES IN FRANCE and the words are: CHAMPAGNE, DIJON, NICE, TOURS.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is HAPPY NEW YEAR! and the words are: BALL, COUNTDOWN, FIREWORKS, KISS.

How I solved today’s Connections

So many New Year-themed words! But obviously they can’t all be in a New Year’s Day category. 

I started with RESOLUTION, which goes with CLARITY and other words relating to DETAIL. 🟩 DIJON in the same board as CHAMPAGNE was a dead giveaway that it meant the other Champagne, the place in France. 🟦 

CLUB, TEAM, GROUP stood out, but it took me a minute to link them with PARTY. 🟨 And then finally we’re left with what we thought we had at the start–a COUNTDOWN to a BALL drop, followed by a KISS amid the FIREWORKS. 🟪 

Connections 
Puzzle #203
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!



vendredi 29 décembre 2023

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, December 30, 2023

by

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for December 30, 2023 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is on the easier side; I got it in four but it probably should have been three. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 30, Wordle #924! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They’re all common letters today!

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

It’s numerical. 

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Yes, there is a letter that is doubled up. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is only one vowel, but it appears twice.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with T.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is THREE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

ARISE and TOUCH were enough to tell me the answer had to be TH⬜⬜E, with an R in one of the spots. I guessed THERE. It was THREE. 

Wordle 924 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:



Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, December 30, 2023

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If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, December 30, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 30, NYT Connections #202! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

NYT Connections board for December 30, 2023: PANDA, BEAR, SAND, STRING, SPEED, TRAIN, DESERT, WIND, ORCA, DOVE, SKUNK, BASS, TOURIST, CHAIN, ZEBRA, SERIES.
Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

Not really! There’s a technical term used in one of the categories, but you’ll understand it even if you never learned the word for it. 

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category - The only category today where all the animal-looking words really are animals.

  • Green category - One right after the other.

  • Blue category - Secret doubles.

  • Purple category - Watch out, it’s a…!

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

Yes. There’s a fill-in-the-blank for purple, and the blue category features words that are in a quirky linguistic grouping. 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.


BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • A BASS can be an instrument if you pronounce it “base,” or a fish if you pronounce it, uh, “bass.” (You know what I mean.) Your big hint here is that you do not have to choose.

  • A BEAR is an animal (or an unpleasant situation) but this one goes in a fill-in-the-blank category today, alongside several non-animals. 

  • A TRAIN does not have to be a locomotive; it refers to a CHAIN of things, like the boxcars that are linked together behind the locomotive.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: BLACK-AND-WHITE ANIMALS

  • Green: SEQUENCE

  • Blue: HETERONYMS

  • Purple: ____ TRAP

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is BLACK-AND-WHITE ANIMALS and the words are: ORCA, PANDA, SKUNK, ZEBRA.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is SEQUENCE and the words are: CHAIN, SERIES, STRING, TRAIN.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is HETERONYMS (that is, differently-pronounced words that are spelled the same) and the words are: BASS, DESERT, DOVE, WIND.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is ____ TRAP and the words are: BEAR, SAND, SPEED, TOURIST.

How I solved today’s Connections

So many animals—but why is TOURIST here? It must be a trap! 🟪 I kept looking for non-animal words and settled on SERIES, which must go with CHAIN and TRAIN. 🟩

Unable to figure out what DESERT or WIND went with, I realized that four of my animals are black and white: ORCA, PANDA, SKUNK, and ZEBRA. 🟨 Finally, I was trying to figure out the last four, and getting annoyed that I didn’t know how to pronounce them in my head—is that BASS like the fish, or like the musical instrument? That’s when I realized all the remaining words had two pronunciations. 🟦

Connections 
Puzzle #202
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!



How to Make Dull, Dingy Linoleum Floors Look New Again

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In the more than 160 years that linoleum has been around, it has cycled in and out of fashion multiple times. Most recently, it went from being ripped out of kitchens on home renovation shows at the end of the 20th century to winning favor again over the last few years as natural and biodegradable flooring option. While linoleum flooring is durable and can be long-lasting, it does require some maintenance—otherwise it can start to look dingy, dull, and perpetually dirty, and intricate patterns can begin to fade.

But dpending on the age of your linoleum flooring, the room where it's installed, where you live, and how it was maintained over the years, it's often possible to restore its luster and shine.

Why linoleum floors always seem dirty

If you've tried washing your linoleum floors but can never get them to actually look clean, you're not alone. In all likelihood, you're dealing with multiple layers of film and ground-in dirt on floors that need a deep-cleaning.

As a real estate professional specializing in remodeling, Jim Gray of Agent Advice has completed dozens of home renovation projects over the years, and has seen his fair share of linoleum floors requiring restoration. "These floors can take a beating from everyday wear and tear, and before long, they start looking dull and worn," he says. "The culprit is usually just a buildup of dirt and grime from years of traffic."

How to make linoleum floors look new again

A quick clarification before going any further: The process described below is for linoleum floors that look dull and dirty, but are otherwise in good shape. If you're dealing with century-old linoleum in a damp basement that starts to crumble when you try to pick it up, that's more of a historic preservation issue, which isn't the focus here. (Though it is the focus of this blog post from the Tenement Museum in New York City.) OK, here's what to do:

Sweep the floors

Before anything gets wet, use a vacuum or broom to sweep the linoleum floors, getting rid of as much dirt, dust, and other debris as possible.

Remove the layers of dirt and wax

Fill a large bucket with about a gallon of warm water, one cup of white vinegar, and a squeeze of mild dish detergent. Sprinkle baking soda over one section of the floor, then run a mop over that same section using the water/vinegar solution—but only enough to dampen the baking soda, rather than washing it away. "Vinegar cuts grease, baking soda scrubs gently," Gray says.

Next, use a brush to scrub that section of the floor until it looks sufficiently clean. If there are any areas that still need work, mix some baking soda with just enough water to make a paste, then scrub it in, like a spot treatment.

Repeat this process on all the sections of the floor. Then, fill a bucket with clean, warm water and use a clean mop or clean cloths to rinse the floors.

In most cases, this should be enough to strip the old layers of wax off the linoleum—without having to deal with harsh chemicals. But if you'd prefer that route, you can purchase a dedicated floor-stripping product, or mix one cup of ammonia with one gallon of warm water, scrub that into the floor instead, and then rinse—just be sure to open windows for ventilation, and wear gloves and eye protection. Keep in mind that while some experts swear by ammonia, others think it's too harsh for linoleum, so it's a good idea to start with a small patch test on an inconspicuous spot on the floor to see how yours holds up.

Wax the floors

Now that the floors are cleaned and stripped, the last step is applying a new layer of wax. "Waxing protects surfaces, returning radiance," says Gray, who recommends rewaxing twice a year.

When in doubt, choose a wax or polish specifically made for linoleum floors—or at least one that specifies that it's safe to use on them. Armstrong Shinekeeper ($32.03 for 32 ounces) and Bona Multi-Surface Floor Polish ($18.69 for 32 ounces) are two longtime favorites. Regardless of the wax or polish you choose, follow the directions on the packaging, as they differ from product-to-product.



jeudi 28 décembre 2023

You Can Get This $50 eSIM Card for $20 Right Now

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International travel is expensive enough before factoring in how much mobile carriers charge for data packages, but this aloSIM digital SIM card comes with $50 of data credits and is on sale for $19.97 right now (reg. $50).

aloSIM saves you the hassle of physical SIM cards; instead, you download the eSIM to your device and keep it forever. Just like regular SIM cards, this one will only work on one device, so if you also want data access on your laptop—or you eventually upgrade your phone—you’ll need a new eSIM.

Once you download the eSIM, all you have to do is add a data package that meets your needs. There are over 170 locations available, and a variety of data allowances and time frames to choose from, so you can only pay for what you’re actually going to use. Data doesn’t rollover, though—any leftover data will disappear after the time stated at redemption.

One crucial tip for using aloSIM, though: install your eSIM and activate data plans before you leave for your trip. Otherwise, you’ll be messing around with slow airport wifi and running into problems when you should be enjoying your vacation.

You can get aloSIM with $50 in travel data credits on sale for $19.97 right now, though prices can change at any time.



The Newest Echo Show 8 Is Down to Its Lowest Price Yet

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The latest Amazon Echo Show 8 was released in September, bringing some cool new features to the third-generation Echo Show device. And right now, Amazon has dropped the price of its best smart display device with a 40% discount, bringing it down to $89.99 (originally $149.99), the lowest price it has ever been since its release, according to Camelcamelcamel's price history.

A great bedside or kitchen companion

Echo Show devices make a great kitchen or bedside companion, especially for those who are visually inclined and/or like Alexa as their smart home assistant. This third generation has seen some great improvements over the previous generations, mainly in the audio department and with specs that make it perform faster.

One of its new features is spatial audio, which can analyze the acoustics of the room it’s in and auto-adjust its sound balance to improve the quality. Obviously, it’s still a single stereo speaker, so don’t expect it to blow your mind. The Amazon Echo Show 8 gives you a 1,280 by 800-pixel eight-inch touch screen (hence the name) with Bluetooth. The camera is a 13MP sensor that supports auto-framing, so you'll always be the center of attention on your video calls. The processor is an upgrade from the previous model, featuring an octa-core processor with Amazon’s AZ2 neural engine, which gives you a smooth user experience.

This sale means the Echo Show 8 is currently the same price as the older, slower Echo Show 5—even its second-generation predecessor still goes for around $130, making it far and away the best buy in the group. (It is also much cheaper than the more premium Echo Show 10, which is currently priced at $244.99).

The Echo Show 8 is a great device for those who like to follow recipe instructions with video in the kitchen or take hands-free calls. You probably won't find a similar or better discount on it for a while.



How to Figure Out Whether Your Floors are Vinyl or Linoleum (and Why You Should)

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Let's say you recently moved into a new home, and want to deep-clean and then properly maintain your kitchen floors. That should be a relatively straightforward task, but unfortunately, you aren't entirely sure whether they're vinyl or linoleum. The good news is that there are a few simple ways you can make that distinction so you can care for the flooring in the best possible way.

The difference between vinyl and linoleum floors

First, let's talk about the difference between vinyl and linoleum floors. According to Joe Ferguson, an architectural joiner at Skirtings R Us, traditional linoleum is made from natural, eco-friendly materials, while vinyl which is typically made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC)—a durable plastic. "Compared to linoleum, vinyl is often easier to use for DIY projects, and can be removed piece by piece," he says. "Although available in tiles or planks, linoleum is often laid out by sheet."

How to figure out whether you have vinyl or linoleum floors

Keeping those differences in mind, here are a few tips for determining whether your floor is vinyl or linoleum, courtesy of John Peña, a real estate agent and the CEO of Peña El Paso Realty Group and Keith Sant, founder and CEO of Kind House Buyers:

Look at the material

For Peña, one of the easiest ways to determine whether the flooring is vinyl or linoleum is by looking at the texture and pattern of the material. "Vinyl flooring usually has a printed pattern that mimics the appearance of natural materials like wood or stone, while linoleum has a more uniform and consistent pattern," he says. "Also, vinyl flooring often has a glossy finish while linoleum tends to have more of a matte finish."

Check for trademarks or labels

Sant suggests looking for trademark signs or logos on the flooring itself: "These can often be found hidden in corners, or along the edges of the floorboards, and can provide valuable information about the type of material used in your flooring."

Along with trademarks, logos, and labels, Peña also recommends looking for serial numbers or other codes that may identify the type of material on the backside of the flooring.

Test the flexibility

Another way to determine the type of flooring is by doing a simple test (in an inconspicuous spot). "For example, vinyl flooring tends to be more flexible and can be easily dented or scratched with a sharp object," Sant says. "On the other hand, linoleum is more durable and resistant to scratches and dents."

Why identifying your flooring type matters

Why go through this hassle? First, knowing whether your floors are vinyl or linoleum will allow you to properly care for them. "Vinyl and linoleum require different cleaning methods and products, so knowing which one you have will help prevent damage to the material," Peña says.

It will also give you a better idea of how long you can expect the flooring to last. "While both types of flooring are durable, linoleum tends to have a longer lifespan and can withstand more wear and tear compared to vinyl," Sant says.

Finally, this knowledge could come in handy if your floor gets damaged and you want to replace some or all of it. "Knowing the type can help with selecting the right materials and tools needed for the job," Sant says.



The Slow Living Movement Can Reduce Your Stress (and Save You Money)

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After emptying your bank account on holiday gifts, testing the limits of your stress with family time, and forcing your brain to clock into work the week between Christmas and New Year's Day—well, there's nothing like the new year to force you to take stock of what really matters in life. Faced with society's fixation on speed and convenience, you may have seen the term "slow living" crop up as a solution.

Slow living emphasizes a mindful, intentional lifestyle that prioritizes well-being over nonstop, cog-in-the-machine productivity. While I'd never urge you to hop on board the latest finance trend (in fact, I warn against it), there's some merit to the slow-living mindset. Slow living requires being intentional about how you spend your time and, of course, money. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the frenetic pace of modern life, implementing some slow living practices could help provide more fulfillment. Here’s an overview of the movement and how to decide if it’s the right fit for you.

What is slow living?

Slow living pushes back against a culture obsessed with busyness, multitasking and constant stimulation. The goal is to bring more mindfulness to all aspects of your life. This includes slowing down to appreciate life’s little moments, focusing on one task at a time, and making conscious choices rather than rushing on autopilot. Slow living gives you permission to savor life by doing things like:

  • Practicing mindfulness through meditation, yoga or just spending time in nature

  • Single-tasking instead of multitasking

  • Disconnecting from technology and social media

  • Saying no to jam-packed schedules and activities

  • Cooking more meals at home instead of rushing through fast food

  • Growing your own vegetables and herbs

  • Walking or biking rather than driving, whenever possible

Is slow living for you?

Slow living is ideal for anyone who feels overwhelmed, overworked or over-scheduled. But it does require some life changes that may not work depending on your circumstances. Ask yourself the following:

  • Do you want to live more in the moment?

  • Does life feel too rushed and hectic?

  • Are you open to simplifying and letting go of clutter?

  • Can you make space for more mindfulness each day?

  • Are you willing to cut back on busywork and obligations?

If you answered yes, experimenting with a slower approach to life could lead to more happiness and fulfillment. You might be suffering from a scarcity mindset, when you can cultivate an abundance mindset instead. This involves focusing on all that you have instead of what you don’t. When you embrace the idea that you can achieve financial security in your life, you’ll be in a better position to make sound financial decisions.

Adopting the slow-living mindset

In addition to time, slow living can apply to your finances as well. It encourages conscious spending aligned with your values instead of mindless consumerism.

One of the easiest strategies of more intentional living: Pay with cash. Using credit and debit cards makes it easy to overspend without noticing. Paying with physical cash increases your awareness of what you're spending in the moment. Withdraw a set amount each week to use for food, entertainment, etc. When it runs out, your spending must slow down.

Another slow-living strategy that helps your wallet is to literally slow down your decision making when it comes to spending money. Before making any non-essential purchase, wait 24 hours and consider if you really need it or just want it in the moment.

With slow living, you can help your wallet by:

  • Avoiding impulse purchases and unnecessary clutter

  • Repairing possessions instead of replacing them

  • Renting, borrowing or buying secondhand when possible

  • Supporting local businesses and farmers markets

  • Taking DIY approaches to tasks when practical

The savings from more intentional purchasing can be invested in what matters most—time with family, hobbies, passions and community. Start gradually introducing new habits and routines focused on intentionality over speed. The work you put into a little extra intention just might pay off through reduced stress, more savings, and a greater sense of fulfillment.



mercredi 27 décembre 2023

How to Choose Between Alexa and Google Assistant

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If you’re looking to have a hands-free experience with your smart home, you need a voice assistant. By merely talking in the direction of a device enabled with the assistant, you can get information about the weather, time, local businesses, or anything else from their knowledgbase. You can control smart devices or send an email or SMS, and it’s all done by interacting vocally with the assistant, who speaks in a human-ish way. There are three well-known voice assistants: Siri, which is exclusive to Apple devices, Alexa, which is operated by Amazon, and Google Assistant. Since people are generally Apple or Android loyalists, it makes sense that if you run Apple products, you’d stick with Siri for your assistant. For everyone else, which voice assistant should you choose: Alexa or Google? 

When it comes to smart home technology, there are two factors to consider: the hub you’ll use to connect your smart devices so you can control them, and what voice assistants you might want to use. You don’t need a voice assistant to use a hub—you can just operate your devices through your phone or another display device. You can also use a voice assistant without a hub: The app on your phone or another display device is really all you need. That said, there's no denying that using them together is the real power play.

Amazon gave their assistant a name, and their devices other names like Echo, Pop, etc., making it easy to distinguish what we’re talking about. With Google, we’re talking about three separate entities: Google Home, an app that runs on a display device and controls all your smart devices; Google Assistant, the voice assistant; and Google hubs, like Google Minis, Google Displays or Google Studio, a smart speaker. I’ll be specific about what aspect of Google I’m referring to from here on out. 


Smart home speakers and displays to consider:


The differences in "voice"

If the actual sound of the voice you’re speaking to is important to you, being able to choose the tone is helpful. Google Assistant offers a wide variety of vocal tones, including male-sounding and female-sounding voices. There are even options for kid-sounding voices to respond to your child, if they’re set up within Google Assistant.  You can also choose the language, and even how chatty the assistant is. 

Alexa has tapped into some celeb voices as options for their assistant, but you can also choose from generic female- and male-sounding voices. Some celebs are only for a limited time, like Santa Claus; others, like Samuel L. Jackson, are perpetual. These celebrity voices also come with a one time fee of $2.99, but that might be worth it to you if you’d really like Melissa McCarthy to tell you the time. While Alexa doesn’t have a kid voice for the assistant, you can set up your kids to have their own voice recognition. 

How accurate each assistant answers questions

Both assistants offer multiple voice recognition accounts within a household, which means it will recognize you and your partner and your kids and remember preferences for each. This is imperfect, but getting better all the time. 

As you start working with your assistant, you’ll realize that the bench of vocabulary your assistant recognizes is really important. You’ll get to know how to ask it questions in a way that makes it easier for the assistant to process, and more likely to get a response you want. Many reviewers have noted that Google Assistant seems to have a larger capacity in this area, and that’s not altogether surprising when you consider how long they’ve been experimenting with vocal processing.  This is where we start to see a big difference between Google Assistant and Alexa: In 2019, an independent study showed that while Alexa and Google Assistant both had roughly the same understanding of questions being asked, Google Assistant delivered correct answers 93% of the time, versus 80% of the time for Alexa. 

How each assistant integrates with other services

Each assistant is mostly good at integrating with its own services, as well as your smart home devices. For instance, if you use Amazon music, you’ll want to use Alexa, which integrates well. While Google doesn’t have their own music service, per se, they heavily favor Spotify and make it difficult to use Amazon Music.  If you use YouTube, you’ll want to use Google Assistant.  Google also ties into all of its products, from your personalized calendars and email to Google flights, payments, and photos. Amazon has grown a wide berth of services, but they largely center around shopping. If shopping is the thing, then Alexa has the advantage of quick and easy ordering, plus calling and messaging. 

The parental controls

How your kids will interact with a voice assistant should be a top consideration for parents. You’re enabling your kids to order up ‘Baby Shark” on command, and more than one child has “accidentally” done some serious credit card damage by shopping via the assistants. Both systems have parental controls, but there are some differences. Google will require the Family Link app, where you can set up kid profiles and select content restrictions and parental controls. You can filter music, video, news, podcasts, calling, and the types of questions Google Assistant will answer. Amazon’s devices and app come with FreeTime, a set of features that can control screen time, purchasing, and what your kiddo can see and hear. 

How the ecosystems compare

Half the reason to use the voice assistant is to control your smart-home devices, and in both cases, you can simply ask the voice assistant to do so by asking your phone. However, if you have hubs, it gets easier, because you won’t need your phone around you, just a hub that’ll pick up your voice. The next thing to worry about is what devices you can add to Alexa or Google Home. Generally speaking, if a device is Google Home compatible, it is also Alexa compatible. There are a few exceptions, notably Blink and Ring products, since they’re Amazon, and only some Google Nest products work with Alexa. 

However, I have recently been surprised to see Alexa gain some footholds here. For instance, the Brilliant hub, which I recently reviewed, only supports Alexa, and the latest Samsung TVs will support a Chromecast, but not Google Assistant. It’s just Alexa. I don’t know if this is a harbinger of what’s to come. 

Privacy

While everyone deserves to control where their data is going, it’s an ironic concern to have when you’ve moved a listening device or camera into your home. Its job is to observe. Despite the many layered promises of both companies, you have to approach using these devices with a little skepticism about their security, in my opinion. 

Amazon attaches the data to your account and even lets you listen to recordings of the various interactions you’ve had in the history section of their site. Google similarly attaches these various queries to your account, and you can view a log of them in Google Assistant. 

Both services use the data to improve and train the assistants, stores it on their servers, and can use it for “business purposes,” via Alexa’s privacy overview. Not to be outdone, Google’s privacy policy expands to claim purpose for service improvement, new services, and personalized services. Remember, if you don’t pay for the product, you are the product. 

A dual family

It’s worth noting, there’s no reason you can’t have both assistants in your home. While I run a mostly Google outfit, I’ve recently set up some Alexa features so I can use Alexa-specific devices more easily. The assistants never mistake each other, since you have to start commands with “Hey Google” or “Alexa…”. That said, most people choose one, and the best choice for you will largely depend on what you’d use an assistant for. In either case, getting started is easy and the more you use your assistant, the more natural doing so will become.



Try This Method to Organize Your 2024 Goals and Accomplishments

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If you want to try a more organized approach to meeting your goals in the coming year, try this monthly schedule designed around both setting tasks and tracking your accomplishments. 

The first step is to create a personal single source of truth, or SSOT, which is essentially repository for all the information and resources related to your work and goals. You can use Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, or any other software that lets you create folders and keep your files organized—the goal here is just to have all the files you regularly use (or plan to frequently use) in a single hub.

Step two is to set your goals at the start of each month. You'll essentially be using Agile Results, which you may have read about before: It's a goal-setting system where you set objectives in the short- and long-term. On the first day of each month, map out five concrete goals for those next four weeks. Track them in your SSOT, where you’ll end up with 12 sets of monthly goals. Your five goals should be specific, detailed, and doable by the end of the month (I'm sure you've heard of SMART goals before—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). And it might help to have broad, annual goals to structure your smaller, progressive steps, so feel free add a sheet of yearly goals into your SSOT, as well. Then track your goals each month within your folders. 

Your last basic step is to make sure you regularly review your accomplishments (and shortcomings). At the end of each month, evaluate your original list of goals (and if you created an annual goal list in your SSOT, add your new successes to that larger list too). Revisiting them is important for more than just productivity—tracking your achievements can help you get a raise, make your performance reviews easier, or help you fill out a resume for your next job. 

Tracking your goals incrementally throughout the year can help you stay on track, and you'll be less likely to forget the wins you racked up month after month. And at the end of the year, you’ll have a portfolio of everything you were able to get done—all in one place. 



You Can Get a Google Display Hub for 40% Off Right Now

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One of my favorite smart tech hubs is the Google Nest Display, and it's 40% off today at Walmart. You can control all your smart devices through apps on your phone, but a hub makes a great addition to your home. It allows you to have a remote spot where you can control all of your smart devices, including for guests like house sitters or babysitters. And some hubs like the Google Nest also work with voice commands and a Google Assistant, so as long as you're within earshot you can just speak to the hub and your Assistant will do the rest.

The Nest Display ups the ante a bit with its video interface. Instead of just being a speaker like a Google Mini, you get an interface to control those devices, and you can use it to watch videos from any provider or make video calls.

If your kitchen doesn't have a hub yet, this sale is a good time to grab one

I think kitchens are the best place for a Nest Display. It lets you handle a lot of tasks while your hands are busy cooking, like making video calls, watching recipe videos, and interacting with the Assistant by just speaking to it. I love having a hub in my kitchen to get quick measurement conversions or double check what oven temperature I should use. I can also control music throughout the house during a dinner party, or check my alarms and cameras before turning in for the night. The kitchen is the hub of my house, and that hub needs, well, a hub.

Normally the Google Nest Display is $99.99, but at the time of writing, this Walmart sale takes the price down to $59.98.



The Best True Crime Podcasts of 2023

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True crime is the most popular genre in podcasting, which makes coming up with the best of the year a huge challenge. Here’s a list of the shows that kept us up all night in 2023: the ones with top-notch reporting, unforgettable people, and the kind of twists that will have you at the edge of your seat. 


The Bakersfield Three

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I recently got completely swept up by The Bakersfield Three, a 15-part true-crime about a group of friends in Bakersfield, California, who went either missing or were murdered around the same time. I started episode one in the morning, snuck in listening time at every moment I could, and was done by the end of the day. The Bakersfield Three moms teamed up, working as one, in unbelievable ways, to raise money for Secret Witness and for sonar equipment for their community—but also to help solves the case, boots-on-the-ground style, and provide each other with support. Host Olivia LaVoice uses their findings with her own, untangling the web they wove before their disappearances/murders, attempting to sort out what happened, what their last days were like, and how everything is connected. Olivia spends time with each person, interviewing the people in their lives. These interviews are devastating. And the thing that seems to connect these people is that each one had one tiny slip that sent them on a downward spiral. The Bakersfield Three is a thorough, intimate piece that unfolds like a door-stopper novel you can really cozy up with, if murder is the kind of thing you like to cozy up with. (My mom started listening and gave the very valid feedback that the first few episodes were confusing. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but hang in there. It gets easier and is worth it.) There are strange romances, three moms that become united heroes, three people who seemed to have everything going for them until they didn’t, and there’s one hell of a twist. I don’t want to spoil anything, but something happens in episode 11 that had me floored. Happy binging.


Blind Plea

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When Devin Gray killed her abusive partner in self defense, she opted for an unknown sentence in exchange for pleading guilty, also known as a "blind plea." It was a risk she took to avoid going to trial in a broken justice system in front of an unpredictable jury. She was, after all, a Black woman who murdered a white man in Alabama. Blind Plea follows her story in detail from the night of the murder to the night to after her release, calling out the issues with the American justice system and the realities that many people face every day while dealing with them. Episode one was one of the most compelling episodes of true crime I’ve heard, and the pulse of this story doesn’t stop pumping. 


Intrigue: Million Dollar Lover

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Carolyn Holland is 80, rich, and a widow who claims to have fallen in love with a homeless man named David Foute, 23 years younger than her, who has moved in with her. Is this a love or con story? That’s what Intrigue: Million Dollar Lover is all about. Some—like Carolyn’s daughters, who are not having it—claim David has eyes on Carolyn’s fortune. They have reason to be nervous—not only is David much younger, he admits to have being a crystal meth addict and drug dealer who spent time in jail for making pipe bombs that police believed were linked to a possible attack on Walmart. (Dave thought, and still thinks, Walmart was intending to microchip us all.) But is it any of our business if an 80-year-old woman finds sex and love? This is more complicated than that. Carolyn’s love for Dave might stem from her own trauma, which is intricately laced to his. This isn’t just a juicy story, the show is well-made, too. BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell seems to be the third corner of the love triangle—it’s like Carolyn and Dave have let her live inside their world. She hears and observes everything and talks to everyone, making her a character in the story. Million Dollar Lover might be a love story, it might be a story of financial abuse, but it’s definitely a gripping family drama.


The Girlfriends

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In 1995, Carole Fisher was looking for love, so her friend Mindy introduced her to Bob Bierenbaum, a Jewish plastic surgeon who flew planes and spoke several languages. (Mindy had dated him and was passing him along.) He was "perfect on paper," a fact that allowed Carole to dismiss several red flags, like him telling her that his ex-wife Gail was missing and presumed dead. Carol and Mindy start talking about him and along with a bunch of other girlfriends, start a sort of armchair detective club where they attempt to track down what happened to Gail. It started as a joke. But the dots start to connect and on The Girlfriends, Carole Fisher tells the story of how her girlfriend gang of dicks found more than they bargained for, uncovering truth that the system hadn’t. Much like Do You Know Mordechai?, this is a mystery backed by a group of friends that I desperately want to join. Murder isn’t fun, but this podcast is. 


The Coldest Case in Laramie

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From the people who brought us Serial (Serial Productions and The New York Times) comes The Coldest Case in Laramie, a story about an unsolved murder that took place 40 years ago in Laramie, Wyoming. It’s hosted by Kim Barker, a journalist who was in high school when the murder occurred. This isn’t so much a whodunnit—there are lots of conflicting versions and unresolved conclusions—but more a story about the inherent nature of true crime and journalism, how stories are reported, and how we decide to tell them. There is a lengthy segment of interrogation that will freeze you in your seat. When I finished it, I went back to episode one again and listened all over again, because the twist made me reevaluate everything I just heard. 


The Retrievals

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The Retrievals is a roller coaster of a story that will strap you in and have you engrossed from the very beginning. It takes us to 2020 to a fertility clinic at Yale, where a nurse was secretly replacing vials of a pain-reducing opioid with saline solution, causing the women to go through painful procedures without any relief. And no one believed them. Poignant, challenging, and thought-provoking, it expertly tells not just a jaw-dropping story, but shares the voices of the women impacted—the very voices that were quieted in the first place. Though there are parts that are difficult to hear, The Retrievals’ excellent reporting and production makes this urgent story utterly gripping.


You Didn’t See Nothin

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Yohance Lacour brings us to a 1997 hate crime that took place on the South Side of Chicago and changed his life forever in the compelling You Didn’t See Nothin. The show starts with the day of the attack when Yohance was in his early 20s, writing plays, selling weed, and living with his dad when the terrible media coverage of the attack drove him to take things in his own hands, working with a local neighborhood newspaper to investigate the crime. After a 10-year stint in prison, Yohance is back in Chicago, bringing a new perspective with archival audio and new interviews with those involved. Yohance tells this story in an animated, poetic way that makes you feel like you’re inside a pop-up book. The story is a mix of true-crime investigation, personal memoir, and some of the best narration I’ve ever heard, and it’s winning in every single one of those categories. Yohance steps into this show boldly—within seconds, you want to hear what he has to say, and he has quite the story to tell.


The 13th Step

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Reporter Lauren Chooljian started getting tips about the founder of New Hampshire's largest addiction treatment network, who was allegedly sexually harassing and assaulting women. For New Hampshire Public Radio's The 13th Step, she shares everything she found, exposing what could be considered the addiction treatment industry’s equivalent of the #MeToo movement.  But the podcast is also about her own role in an investigation that put her in danger, and the risk that journalists take to expose the truth. The 13th Step blows open a shady world most people don’t know much about, but it’s also a risky project in and of itself, and you actively feel that risk in every richly produced episode. 


Believe in Magic

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Jamie Bartlett of The Missing Crypto Queen has returned with another investigation, this time about Megan Bhari, whose bunk charity (Believe in Magic, also the name of the podcast) wooed celebrities, drew political acclaim, and funded a Disney World trip for her and her mom. Believe in Magic gets dark fast. (Spoiler alert: Megan dies.) And it’s not just a story of two scam artists covered in pixie dust, it’s a story of maybe FII (fabricated or induced illness, or Munchausen by proxy). Much like The Missing Crypto Queen, this story feels like a live wire flicking and alive, and Jamie has invited us along for every twist, turn, and dead end. And much like The Missing Crypto Queen, I doubt this story is over. The podcast Scamanda was topping all the charts this year—I think this one is similar, but better. 


Witnessed: Devil in the Ditch

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Witnessed: Devil in the Ditch is a true-crime podcast that takes you to surprising places. New York-based writer Larrison Campbell returned to the southern town where she grew up to try to find out who murdered her grandmother. But it’s not only true-crime, it’s a memoir of a girl who goes home to find her grandma and how family deals with something nuts, like having a matriarch maybe-killed by her nephew. Larrison doesn’t come down and shake the community members by the shoulders, demanding answers. She listens and lets us observe with her. She’s showing us the town, which allows a lot of the mystery of this case to reveal itself, letting us come to our own conclusions. I would call this a memoir-style podcast that lets us feel for ourselves what it’s like to be in this twisted situation. 


Ghost Story

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Tristan Redman is a serious journalist who doesn’t believe in ghosts—except for the one who may have been living in his childhood bedroom when he was a teenager. Fast forward a decade or so: Tristan is married and discovers that his wife Kate’s great-grandmother Naomi Dancy happens to have lived (and was murdered) next door in 1937. For his podcast Ghost Story, Tristan has started gathering stories from other people who have lived in his old bedroom who report seeing the ghost of a faceless woman. Naomi was stabbed in the eyes, allegedly by her brother, which would make this a grisly true-crime story. But Tristan believes the faceless woman is Naomi, and that she has a message: It wasn’t her brother who killed her, but her husband. And so the true crime story turns into a ghost story, or maybe it’s the other way around.


I’m Not a Monster

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At 15, Shamima Begum left the UK to join ISIS, and for I’m Not a Monster, BBC journalist Josh Baker tracked her down to find out why. This story made headlines, but few people were able to hear Shamima’s perspective—probably because doing so is incredibly dangerous. Josh put himself in the line of fire to explore the controversy of her return, and of the UK government rescinding her citizenship. Even when the series was over, Shamima’s story haunts me, and I found myself relistening to her words again and again. Josh is a phenomenal reporter: he carefully tells this explosive story closer to the source than any of us would want to get. 



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