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Looking for spoiler-free NYT Connections hints or just wondering why Connections is trending today? We've got what you need to understand the clues for today's puzzle without spoiling any of the answers.

Of course, Mashable has also provided daily hints and answers for Connections, Wordle, and Strands for years, so we can help you if that's also what you need.

While we are focused more on meanings than hints in this story, sometimes learning that many of the words have completely unrelated meanings is a clue in and of itself. Connections frequently includes clues that involve words within words and other visual clues.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for September 4, 2026 Cringy meaning

Causes embarrassment or discomfort.

Opine meaning

To state an opinion.

Stied meaning

Confined a pig in a pigpen.

That's meaning

Points to specific people, things or ideas.

Cake donut meaning

A small, holed round baked treat.

Candy corn meaning

A triangular orange and yellow treat, often associated with Halloween.

Cherry tomato meaning

A small, sweet red vegetable.

Pizza pie meaning

A large, round baked Italian dish.

Conger meaning

A large eel.

Gulper meaning

An eel with a large mouth used to swallow its prey.

Moray meaning

A family of large eels.

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Ribbon meaning

A piece of satin used to tie things together.

Bowling ball meaning

A spherical object used to knock down pins.

Eye meaning

The organ used for sight.

Moon meaning

Earth's natural satellite

Orange meaning

A bright citrus fruit, commonly grown in Florida.

Have you learned the meanings and still want the things? Check out the hints and answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're fashionable.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for September 4, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Well-rounded

• Green: Tasty

• Blue: Sea creatures

• Purple: They throw a fit

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Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Spherical things

• Green: Food whose name is two foods

• Blue: Kinds of eels

• Purple: Accessories inside starting and ending letters

Play our Big Guessing Game: Make your predictions now for a chance to win a new Apple Watch. Time's running out!

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1177 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Spherical things: BOWLING BALL, EYE, MOON, ORANGE

• Food whose name is two foods: CAKE DONUT, CANDY CORN, CHERRY TOMATO, PIZZA PIE

• Kinds of eels: HOT WHEELS, MATCHBOX, MICRO MACHINES, TONKA

• Accessories inside starting and ending letters: AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX, SUM

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're a comics fan.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for September 4, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: To the rescue

The words are related to being superhuman.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe extraordinary traits.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

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NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Heroes.

NYT Strands word list for September 4

• Courageous

• Fearless

• Heroes

• Lionhearted

• Intrepid

• Brave

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a gambler.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for September 4, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for September 4, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A bet.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

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Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter J.

Play our Big Guessing Game: Make your predictions now for a chance to win a new Apple Watch. Time's running out!

The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

WAGER

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

There are some products that are so successful that the brand name becomes the default term for that product. Brands such as Band-Aid, Photoshop, and Scotch tape are often used for any products of that kind, and the same is true of Kindle. While the Kindle has been the dominant force in the eReader market for a long time, a tiny eReader makes me believe that things are starting to change.

The Pixel Tag gives Android users their first true first-party rival to Apple's AirTag, backed by Google's massive Find Hub network. But after looking into how it actually works, one omission stood out immediately, and it's the single feature I've wanted from an Android tracker for years.

When Even Realities introduced its G2 smart glasses, there were some fair criticisms of its interface limits and performance. However, I had the opportunity to try them on at IFA 2026 — and they've found new purpose at a time when the backlash against Meta's camera-equipped glasses is fiercer than ever.

ESP32 boards are cheap and versatile, making them highly popular in the maker community. Setting them up isn't always that simple, but there's a tiny OS you can run on an ESP32 that allows you to use one as if it were a very small PC.

The streamers are loading up on new and returning shows to kick off the month, giving viewers plenty of options for weekend streaming. Netflix has two shows that made the cut for this list. One is a reality show featuring an extremely popular influencer, and the other is the second season of a Guy Ritchie show. Elsewhere, a British motoring show returns for an all-new season on Prime Video.

Intel has had a colorful history over the years. While many people have made the switch to AMD Ryzen, plenty still remain loyal to Intel—and for good reasons.

Dyson's beauty lineup may be most famous for its multi-styling Airwrap and luxurious hair dryer, but the product range doesn't stop there.

In fact, it's growing. At the Dyson Unveiled event on Sept. 3, the brand announced two new beauty products: the Dyson AirSmooth dryer brush and the Corrale CoolShine straightener.

The products aren't available to purchase just yet, but we've gathered everything to know about them so far.

Dyson AirSmooth dryer brush: Price, release, what's new The Revlon One-Step finally has a Dyson analogue. Credit: Dyson

The Dyson AirSmooth dryer brush will retail for $249 and be available to purchase starting Tuesday, Sept. 8. The brush is the first dedicated dryer brush released by Dyson. Before this product, anyone looking to get a dryer brush experience from the brand would have to invest in a Dyson Airwrap.

SEE ALSO: I tested the best Dyson Airwrap dupes under $300: This underappreciated multi-styler deserves consideration

Dryer brushes have been an option from other brands for quite some time. One of the most popular budget options (and an early Airwrap dupe) was the Revlon One-Step. T3's AireBrush and Drybar's Double Shot are both options priced more in line with Dyson at $149.99 and $155, respectively, but both have dropped down to near $100 in the past.

So what makes the Dyson brush special? According to the brand, that'd be the PivotFlex and anti-snag tech behind the brush's design and bristles that allow for the smoothest possible styling (literally and figuratively). The bristles themselves can flex up to 90 degrees, while the open base allows for optimal diffusion of the air. Rounding out the experience is intelligent heat control that monitors the temperature 100 times per second, and universal voltage for easy travel.

Dyson Corrale CoolShine straightener: Price, release, what's new The Dyson Corrale CoolShine straightener. Credit: Dyson

The Dyson Corrale CoolShine straightener will retail for $329 and be available starting Sept. 15.

The original Corrale straightener (not to be confused with the Airstrait) dropped in 2020, with a cordless look designed to optimize the straightening experience. At the time of writing, the Corrale is available for $539.99 and on sale for $399.99.

This new Corrale seems to want to combine the heat-minimizing Airstrait tech with the efficacy of the original Corrale. As the name suggests, cooling is built into the process, thanks to a cool attachment that houses heat-extracting pipes. The effect is that hair is cooled immediately after it's styled with heat, which can help reduce heat damage and lock in styles. Unlike the original model, this Corrale will feature a cord, so charging is no issue.

Cloud-based smart homes have been the norm for over a decade now. There are inherent problems with cloud-based smart devices though, with privacy being at the forefront of those issues. UGREEN just surprised everyone and announced the first turnkey local smart home hub that actually matters.

Just how much will the foldable iPhone Ultra cost? That's the biggest lingering question ahead of Apple's big iPhone launch event on Sept. 9.

Leaks point to a price of $2,000 or more, and now, a new report from the analysts at the market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC) projects an average selling price of $2,550. The IDC has a solid reputation and is well known for its mobile market research in particular.

The foldable iPhone Ultra is a brand new product category for Apple, so there's no baseline to say how much it could cost. However, the latest IDC report backs reports that the iPhone Ultra will launch at above $2,000.

We should note that the iPhone Ultra won't necessarily set you back $2,550. The average selling price could be quite a bit higher than the starting price, as many consumers will pay more for configurations with more storage. Despite the high price, the IDC projects that Apple will sell more than 17 million iPhone Ultras by the end of 2027 and bring in more than $45.7 billion from the foldable.

"Apple’s entry into the foldable market has done more than reignite growth in a category that was losing momentum," said Nabila Popal, Senior Research Director of IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker in a statement. "It has fundamentally altered the market’s trajectory. Without Apple, foldable shipments would have declined at a double-digit rate year over year." 

The $2,550 estimate gives us a clearer idea of what to expect from the iPhone Ultra. Some Apple analysts have projected a $2,399 launch price for the iPhone Ultra, and it could cost up to $3,000 with more storage.

IDC projects that Apple will capture around 40 percent of the global foldable market and account for more than half of the total value of foldables.

According to the IDC, the iPhone Ultra is expected to be such a hit that it will propel the foldable market forward as the only mobile category that experiences growth in 2026. The firm expects the rest of the global smartphone market to decline this year due to higher prices driven by ongoing global memory shortages.

"Perhaps most notably, Apple is positioned to challenge Huawei and Samsung for leadership in markets where they have long dominated, an extraordinary outcome for a product expected to be less than two years into its lifecycle," Popal said.

Top Apple Deals we found this week:

• Apple AirTag 2 (4-Pack) — $79.99 $99 (save $20)

• Apple AirPods 4 — $99 $129 (save $30)

• Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4) — $649 $749 (save $100)

• Apple iPhone Air (256GB, unlocked) — $849.99 $999.99 (save $150)

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• Shop all the best Apple Labor Day deals

A year after the launch of GPT-5, OpenAI has announced the arrival of GPT-6 Astra, which will begin rolling out immediately. The AI company called Astra "the world’s most intelligent and aligned model."

OpenAI Astra marks a new generation of models for the AI company, but also carries new risks.

The day before Astra's launch, OpenAI confirmed that Astra had been deemed a "critical" cybersecurity risk, but that the company would move ahead with a launch with safeguards in place. The company's Preparedness Framework tracks risk in three domains (chemical/biological, self-improvement, and cybersecurity), and an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to Mashable that Astra is the first OpenAI model to be designated a critical risk — the highest threat level — in any domain.

Strangely, in its blog post announcing Astra, OpenAI did not call Astra its most advanced model, but only "the most capable model we have ever broadly deployed." The company also released a detailed system card outlining the model's training and safety risks.

How to try GPT-6 Astra

OpenAI will be rolling out GPT-6 starting today, though it may not be available to everyday users right away.

OpenAI said that GPT-6 Astra will be available at launch to select organizations, but that it will be available to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise users "over the coming days." It will also be available via the OpenAI API and AWS.

The API pricing will be:

• $10 per million input tokens

• $50 per million output tokens

You can learn more about pricing and availability at the GPT-6 Astra webpage.

GPT-6 Astra: Cybersecurity and safety

OpenAI wrote that "with the right tools and access, GPT‑6 Astra can find previously unknown security flaws and develop new ways to exploit them across many well-protected systems without a person guiding each step." As a result, Astra's most advanced cybersecurity skills will only be available to a select group of testing partners, and OpenAI said it's tightened security around the model as well. Per OpenAI, these safeguards are designed to prevent two outcomes:

• Stopping malicious actors from using Astra to develop new exploits or carry out cyberattacks against critical systems

• Stopping the "model itself [from] causing cyber harm when taking an unauthorized (or misaligned) action"

On the ExploitBench cybersecurity benchmarking test, OpenAI reports that GPT-6 achieves a perfect 100 percent score, even at its lowest-tested reasoning level. On the ExploitGym Honeypot benchmarking test, OpenAI reported a perfect 0.0 percent score.

GPT-6 shows significant improvement over GPT 5.6 Sol on the ExploitBench benchmarking test. Credit: OpenAI

Despite posing existential cybersecurity risks, OpenAI said in its announcement that GPT-6 is generally safer than its recent predecessors. In particular, the company said, "GPT‑6 Astra is significantly safer in higher-risk scenarios."

The GPT-6 Astra system card reports better scores on safety evaluations measuring risks such as promoting emotional reliance in users, engaging with self-harm requests, and inappropriate responses to users under 18.

OpenAI says Astra achieved higher scores than other recent models in safety evaluations (higher scores are better). Credit: OpenAI

At the same time, OpenAI admitted that "GPT‑6 Astra’s monitorability has decreased relative to GPT‑5.6 Sol," meaning that the model may be more difficult to understand and control.

"We have found that GPT‑6 Astra is more capable of controlling its own CoT than GPT‑5.6 Sol, and less likely to include incriminating information in its CoT," reads an OpenAI blog post. "In adversarial settings (where we push the model to evade our monitors) we find that the model is able to remain undetected when strategically underperforming in evaluations (sandbagging) and can sometimes evade our internal monitors when asked to perform certain sabotage tasks."

GPT-6 Astra: Hallucination rate

OpenAI provided fewer details on the hallucination and factuality rates of GPT-6. In previous system cards, OpenAI provided specifics about its models' propensity for inventing facts or repeating users' own misinformation.

That being said, the system card states that GPT-6 has made strides in this regard, generating fewer mistruths and hallucinations than GPT-5.6 Sol and other recent models.

Credit: OpenAI

"We find that Astra makes substantially fewer factual errors than GPT-5.6 Sol and is significantly less likely to reproduce user-reported hallucinations. These improvements are particularly pronounced at very low latency and reasoning settings."

Hallucinations remain one of the most stubborn problems with AI models.

GPT-6 Astra: Benchmark performance

OpenAI released benchmark scores for GPT-6 Astra, showing marked improvement on most common benchmarking tests compared to both GPT-5.6 Sol and Fable 5.1, which Anthropic released earlier this week. Notably, GPT-6 Astra scored lower on Humanity's Last Exam (with tools).

Highlights include:

• Terminal-Bench Science 0.1: 64.6 percent

• FrontierMath Tier 4 (v2): 97.6 percent

• GPQA Diamond: 96.0 percent

• Humanity's Last Exam (w/ tools): 57.2 percent

• ExploitBench: 100 percent

• Exploit Gym: 42.4 percent

• ARC-AGI-1: 98.5 percent

  ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Once you've applied for more than a handful of jobs, keeping track of them can become a job in itself. You need to remember where you applied, when you applied, how you applied, who you spoke to, what the salary was, and whether you ever heard back.

Classroom technology is the focus of a new report from the American Psychological Association (APA), which argues we should be focusing less on bans and more on the specific harms of flashy new tech.

The report, which includes a long list of findings and recommendations for educators and parents regarding all kinds of EdTech, hones in on a new genre of educational technology that increasingly relies on game-like features such as earned rewards, flashy graphics, and customizable avatars to increase student engagement.

In the absence of authoritative scientific evidence, the association cautions against tools — including AI-powered ones — that claim to improve intelligence, thinking, or learning writ large.

SEE ALSO: Mamdani's AI ban may not be enough to protect NYC students Screen time can be misleading

Raw screen time numbers, whether too much or too little, aren't an effective indication of how well a student is learning, the report authors found. "What young people do on screens matters as much as, or more than, how long they spend on them," the report reads.

Likewise, a student's perceived engagement or confidence with a program isn't enough to gauge whether they will have positive learning outcomes. Basically, a student winning an educational game or completing assignments effectively does not directly translate into becoming smarter, according to the APA.

Instead, the APA urges educators to test how well students can apply learned skills in real-world contexts outside of the technology itself, whether it's an app, computer game, or chatbot. If students struggle, the report says, the tech has failed.

To this end, the association recommends school districts evaluate new classroom technology on its ability to foster "durable knowledge and skills," and encourages schools to steer clear of tech that enables multitasking, relies on self-management from students, and has human-like qualities.

Be wary of AI and gamification

The APA urges educators and parents to exercise even greater caution with generative AI. "AI can help a student produce a better essay, but the improved final product does not necessarily mean the student has become a better writer," said Nicole Barnes, APA’s executive lead psychologist for education, in a press release. "Just as we need to separate engagement from learning, we will increasingly need to separate performance from learning."

The APA also joined other groups in calling for greater investment in AI literacy among young learners, teachers, and parents. Recently, coalitions of parents and educators have lobbied for AI moratoriums that curb the introduction of generative AI tools and promote digital and AI literacy programs as a precursor. Both New York City and Los Angeles's chool systems have instituted partial pauses on AI and reductions in screen time for the 2026-2027 school year.

Child psychologists have long warned about the impact of lifelong screen time and personal devices on children as they age through school. As criticism of social media's impact on young minds has increased, so too have warnings about platform features designed to grab and retain attention. These include controversial design elements like autoplay, recommendation algorithms, and tailored advertising.

Many of these features replicate the motivational structures of gaming, more commonly referred to as "gamification." The concept has been put under the microscope by advocates across industries, many of whom argue that constant, dopamine-driven reward systems are degrading critical cognitive skills and executive functioning.

The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL bring back notification lights with a feature called HiLight. It's a nice touch, but Google isn't the first to modernize this idea, and its version currently trails what's already on the market.

Most Windows users just want to get to the desktop, so they blindly accept whatever Microsoft wants them to install. That indifference is exactly what Microsoft is counting on, and it's shaped the OS for years in ways that frustrate people who actually pay attention. If people paid more attention to what was going on, Windows wouldn't have nearly as much bloat as it does now, and it would be much faster.

It's that time of the weekend again, time to start thinking of what Raspberry Pi projects you're going to be working on before Monday rolls around! Today, I'm showing three unique projects that can run on either a Pi Pico or a full-size Pi.

If you've got a Galaxy Z Fold you aren't using anymore and don't plan to sell, you can put it to good use even if its screens no longer work. Thanks to the phone's versatility, courtesy of its massive foldable display and beefy hardware that's quite capable even in older Galaxy Z Fold models, the most popular foldable around can fulfill a variety of roles.