Technology

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you're bossy.

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 March 9, 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: Homophones

• Green: In the public eye

• Blue: Iconic puppets

• Purple: HBIC

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Starting with the same sound, spelled differently

• Green: Metaphors for public scrutiny

• Blue: Muppets

• Purple: They feature a boss

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

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 #1001 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Starting with the same sound, spelled differently: WAREHOUSE, WEARABLE, WEREWOLF, WHEREFORE

• Metaphors for public scrutiny: FISHBOWL, HOT SEAT, MICROSCOPE, SPOTLIGHT

• Muppets: ANIMAL, BEAKER, FOZZIE, GONZO

• They feature a boss: COMPANY, E STREET BAND, MAFIA, VIDEO GAME

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for March 9, 2026

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

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 lovey dovey.

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 March 9, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 9, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Cute enough to eat

The words are related to affection.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe pet names.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Endearments.

NYT Strands word list for March 9

• Pumpkin

• Bean

• Nugget

• Endearments

• Muffin

• Dumpling

• Peanut

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 always in a hurry.

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 March 9, 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 March 9, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Quick.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter H.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. 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...

HASTY

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.

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.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity for how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for March 9, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for March 9, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for March 9 Pips

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 5-3, placed vertically; 2-0, placed vertically.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 4-3, placed vertically; 5-3, placed vertically; 3-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 2-0, placed vertically; 3-0, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 6-1, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for March 9 Pips

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 5-1, placed horizontally.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 5-1, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 2-4, placed vertically.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally; 6-3, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 6-3, placed horizontally; 3-0, placed vertically.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally; 1-1, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for March 9 Pips

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-1, placed vertically.

Equal (0): Everything in this orange space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-1, placed vertically; 0-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (1): Everything in this purple space must be equal to 1. The answer is 4-1, placed vertically; 0-1, placed vertically; 1-1, placed vertically; 1-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this red space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-0, placed vertically; 2-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this dark blue space must be equal to 3. The answer is 0-3, horizontally; 1-3, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed vertically; 3-4, placed horizontally; 3-5, placed horizontally; 2-3, placed horizontally.

Number (18): Everything in this space must add up to 18. The answer is 0-6, placed vertically; 6-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally; 5-4, placed horizontally; 6-5, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 66-5, placed vertically.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.

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

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is easy for people who watch women's sports.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, 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 the latest 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: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. 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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Centennial State teams

• Green: Midwest football cities

• Blue: Racecars

• Purple: Colorado coach

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: A Colorado Athlete

• Green: NFC North Cities

• Blue: Types of Racing

• Purple: Coach___

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

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: Sports Edition #532 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• A Colorado Athlete - BRONCO, BUFFALO, NUGGET, ROCKIE

• NFC North Cities - CHICAGO, DETROIT, GREEN BAY, MINNEAPOLIS

• Types of Racing - BMX, DRAG, HORSE, STOCK CAR

• Coach___ - CARTER, K, PRIME, SPEAK

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections 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.

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.

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You can get lifetime access to all 14 languages for just $159 (reg. $646.20) when you use StackSocial’s code LEARN. And yes — lifetime means you can brush up before every trip from now until forever.

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Back for Season 2, Dreaming Whilst Black is a sharp, must-watch satire about the entertainment industry, and the barriers blocking Black artists in TV and film.

Co-created by, co-written by and starring Jamaican-British filmmaker Adjani Salmon, the show's timeliness cannot be understated. As Robert Daniels writes in his Season 1 review for Mashable, "While Black directors like Jordan Peele, Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, Barry Jenkins, and Steve McQueen are respected, award-winning auteurs, the film industry hasn’t become that much easier for young Black directors. Black creatives are largely still shut out of filmmaking because of institutional racism, economic hardship, or by simply not knowing the right people."

SEE ALSO: The cast of 'American Fiction' on the importance of telling diverse stories in Hollywood

Dreaming Whilst Black Season 1 focused on Salmon's protagonist, aspiring filmmaker Kwabena Robinson, as he tried to get a foot in the industry door and make Jamaica Road (a film inspired by his grandparents of the Windrush generation) without "selling out." Season 2 looks at the immense pressure he's under once he's in the door.

"I feel like Season 2 for us, especially seeing the landscape and especially being a show that's about the industry, it just felt right to reflect the times and reflect our peers," Salmon tells Mashable.

"It felt like a fun challenge to tackle the present in terms of when you get these big opportunities, or when Black or brown creatives get these opportunities, is it as good as it's made out to be? Or when something's given with a good intention, does that mean that it always turns out, which you've seen play out more recently — intention versus impact. So we just thought it would be best to tackle that in a comedy. How else?"

"...being a show that's about the industry, it just felt right to reflect the times and reflect our peers."

This season, Kwabena takes on his first TV job, Sin and Subterfuge, which is a "genre-busting Regency drama" with colorblind casting, which may or may not be related to a show that actually exists. And through Kwabena's highly stressful experience with casting, rewrites, shoots, and micromanagement from the top, the show raises interesting questions around historical context, limited resources, on-set politics, and the realities of colorblind casting itself.

"It felt like the easiest thing to call out, to visualise what we're talking about," Salmon says. "Because I know which show you referring to, but actually, there are quite a few shows that have done this, where they've done colorblind casting. I think especially with conversations with our casting director, is that idea that maybe we should move towards color-conscious casting, which is something that we do, where not everybody who we write do we write them the same race that we cast. For example, Alexandros in Season 2, initially he was written British, but a Greek actor came in and he was great, but then we had to rewrite. So, I guess the consciousness in the casting was rewriting the script to acknowledge the actor that we have."

In Season 2's first episode, we get a glimpse into the industry's weak attempts at inclusive storytelling with a string of fictional TV shows that Kwabena turns down, including Mandem in Outer Space and Grime and Punishment. And according to Salmon, the list of potential fictional TV shows the writers came up with was long (and not so fictional).

"Oh, man, we had loads. I will say, because we like to joke that Dreaming Whilst Black's a documentary, and we don't make up race-related jokes, I will say a lot of the shows that we came up with are shows that we either know about, or that had existed, or had been pitched," says Salmon. "We may have reworded stuff — you know, copyright infringement — but it just represented, again, this idea of intention versus impact, when it's like, 'Oh, we need more diverse content. Great. What do we do?' and you just start throwing ideas out there. What you see is probably not the craziest of ideas that we came up with, but the ones that were safest to play out."

You can watch Salmon's interview with Mashable above.

Dreaming Whilst Black is now streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S. and BBC iPlayer in the UK.

March marks an interesting month at the movies. Hollywood is still waiting for the Academy to award Best Picture at the 2026 Oscars. In terms of major releases, the biggest movie hitting theaters is Project Hail Mary, the Ryan Gosling space adventure based on Andy Weir's popular novel. Other than that, March is a fairly quiet month for new movies.

Two of the most feared Titans in the universe—Godzilla and Kong—have returned to Apple TV. After a two-year break, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is now streaming on Apple TV. The show has aired two episodes since its February 27 premiere. Despite the hiatus, Apple's Monsterverseshowhas immediately become a streaming success.

The smartphone is now the universal computing device, but there have been a few attempts to replace it, from smartwatches to AR glasses. However, they all come up against the same problem: the smartphone as a form factor is just too good, and it probably won’t be replaced anytime soon.

Even though Apple TV kind of marches to the beat of its own drummer when it comes to how much new content it adds and when (*quickly looks at watch), if you put your mind to it, you can still find some upper-crust TV show titles to watch—or rewatch, as the service does have some of the best shows in the world.

You might think that storage is expensive and scarce today, but kids these days have no idea what it is like to scrounge every kilobyte you can. Which is why a floppy disk hack from the early '90s promising twice your data seemed too good to be true. In a lot of cases, it was.

If you store your 3D printer filament on a shelf or out in the open, chances are you’re storing it wrong. If you live in a very dry climate, that might be fine, but for those in more humid environments, the moisture in the air is likely what’s ruining your 3D printing projects—here’s how to fix it.

What I've learned over the last 15+ years of paying internet bills is that it doesn't matter what kind of gear you have, how many devices you run, or which settings you've optimized. Ultimately, if your internet service provider (ISP) is bad, you'll never have a stable connection.

How often do you replace your phone? For over a decade, I've been on a two-year cycle on a phone contract. With my last phone, and iPhone 14 Pro, I lengthened that to three years. Now my three years are up, but I don't feel any need to upgrade to a new phone.

When your smart home goes down, all those clever automations that make your life easier stop working. There are some handy tricks that homelab users often use that help keep Home Assistant running or minimize the impact if it does go down.

Want to do more with the Linux terminal? You might not instinctively put videos and the command line together, but with FFmpeg you can actually do a lot with a video file just by typing a simple command in your terminal.

Your physical Ethernet port has lasted the test of time despite slowly getting phased out. Lots of modern laptops and smaller PCs don't even have this familiar connector anymore, and some people may not know what Ethernet is. This can make people think a wired connection is just old news, something slow and clunky from the dial-up days. We will show you that your computer's often-ignored Ethernet port is actually a hidden Swiss Army knife. It can make dedicated high-speed links for moving files between devices, give power to remote equipment, and let you set up advanced networks way beyond just getting online.

Twin Peaks remains one of the most iconic television shows of all time, marking a major cultural shift and creative transition in TV between the 1980s and 1990s. The show took the familiar formula of the classic murder mystery that was popular at the time and flipped it on its head by purposefully obscuring the murderer and blending unexpected elements of surrealism and horror into it.

Pennsylvania has become the latest state to propose legislation to fight dynamic pricing.

The state's Senate Bill 1205 would prohibit "unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce," namely, promoting or engaging in dynamic pricing. In the bill, dynamic pricing refers to changing the prices of essential goods or services within a 24-hour period based on demand or other factors, including the use of artificial intelligence.

SEE ALSO: AI has made us all surveillance targets. This tool helps you fight back.

Dynamic pricing is a practice that's become more common among retailers in recent years. Wendy's walked back the decision to engage in it in 2024 after backlash, but apps like Uber have "surged" prices during busier times for a while now.

A similar practice is surveillance pricing, which uses customers' behaviors and characteristics to set different costs for the same items. And algorithmic pricing uses data — sometimes generalized data, such as when demand is highest, and other times personalized data, such as one's demographic — to determine cost.

In November, New York's Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act went into effect. This law requires most businesses that engage in algorithmic pricing to have a clear disclaimer near the price stating, "THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA."

Other states considering legislation concerning surveillance pricing are Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, according to the Arizona Capitol Times.

In December, food delivery service Instacart ended its controversial price tests following a Consumer Reports investigation that found that it priced the same products differently for different customers, sometimes as much as 23 percent. But that hasn't stopped the likes of Sony from experimenting with dynamic pricing.