Technology

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

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If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

To hit.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

SPANK

Hurdle Word 2 hint

An Alaskan dog.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 17, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

HUSKY

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Hurdle Word 3 hint

To tease.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 17 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 17, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

FLIRT

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Egg-shaped.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

OVATE

Final Hurdle hint

An old book.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

CODEX

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

There is still very little visibility of the Moon tonight, but we are now in a new lunar phase and it will slowly begin to reappear.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Sunday, May 17, the Moon phase is Waxing Crescent. Tonight, 1% of the moon will be be lit up, according to NASA's Daily Moon Guide.

The Moon is too dimly lit tonight to be able to spot any surface details.

When is the next Full Moon?

There are two Full Moons in May, with the next due to take place on May 31.

What are Moon phases?

According to NASA, the Moon takes about 29.5 days to complete a full orbit around Earth, moving through eight distinct phases along the way. Although we always see the same side of the Moon, the changing angle of sunlight as it orbits creates the familiar full, half, and crescent shapes. In total, the lunar cycle is made up of eight main phases:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love a hot drink.

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 May 17, 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: A funnel

• Green: To scam

• Blue: A good cuppa

• Purple: An academy

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Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Conduit

• Green: Swindle

• Blue: Tea-making verbs

• Purple: "School" modifiers

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 #1071 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Conduit: DUCT, LINE, MAIN, PIPE

• Swindle: FLEECE, HOSE, SQUEEZE, STIFF

• Tea-making verbs: BOIL, POUR, STEEP, STRAIN

• "School" modifiers: GRADE, GRAMMAR, HIGH, PRIMARY

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 May 17, 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 always strike out.

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 May 17, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Strike one!

The words are related to a popular game.

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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe a gaming venue.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Bowling Alley.

NYT Strands word list for May 17

• Scoreboard

• Pins

• Lanes

• Bowling Alley

• Arcade

• Balls

• Lounge

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 follow the rules.

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 May 17, 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 May 17, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A rule.

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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 B.

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...

BYLAW

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.

TL;DR: Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business is on sale for $129.97 (reg. $249.99) through May 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC Lifetime License $129.97
$249.99 Save $120.02   Get Deal

Subscription prices keep climbing, and productivity software is no exception. If you’re tired of monthly payments just to use Word or Excel, this Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business deal is a refreshing alternative.

For a limited time, Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC is on sale for $129.97 (reg. $249.99), and this promo runs through May 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

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This version includes the classic Microsoft apps most of us rely on every day: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Instead of subscribing to Microsoft 365, Office 2024 is a one-time purchase, perfect for those who’d rather own their software outright.

As we’ve discussed before with other Microsoft Office deals, the biggest draw is the combination of familiarity with newer AI-powered tools and performance upgrades. Word now includes Smart Compose suggestions to help speed up writing, while PowerPoint adds improved presentation recording tools with voice narration, video support, and live camera integration for remote meetings or presentations.

Excel also gets some of the biggest upgrades this time around. Microsoft says it now handles larger datasets and multiple spreadsheets more smoothly, plus it brings AI-powered insights to help you spot trends and build visualizations faster.

For business users, Outlook remains a huge perk, bundled with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote in the Home & Business edition. Built-in collaboration tools — such as real-time co-authoring, comments, version history, and Microsoft Teams integration — make working with others much easier and more tolerable.

Another practical feature is offline access. Unlike Microsoft 365’s cloud-first approach, Office 2024 works well for anyone who wants reliable software without being online all the time.

This deal is a smart option for freelancers, students, remote workers, small business owners, or anyone clinging to an older Office version and wanting an affordable, up-to-date setup without another recurring bill.

Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business is currently available for $129.97, 48% off, through May 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

If you’re in the market for a compact hybrid sedan, there’s a good chance the Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Corolla Hybrid are both on your shortlist. They’re two of the most obvious choices for drivers who want efficiency and practicality without moving into SUV territory.

Luxury subcompact SUVs are getting incredibly expensive, with many mainstream buyers now questioning whether premium badges are still worth the extra money. In a segment where pricing can climb past $45,000 surprisingly quickly, value is becoming just as important as performance, technology, and cabin quality. That is exactly why one compact British crossover is beginning to stand out against some much more expensive rivals.

Travel can be stressful and annoying even under the best circumstances, and one of my least favorite activities is getting everything connected to the Wi-Fi wherever I'm staying. Will there be a captive portal? Is the captive portal going to work correctly on all devices? How many devices can I connect to the Wi-Fi?

While Linux is a great OS, and getting better on the desktop all the time, you don't have to run it to get the benefit of some great open-source apps. Many open-source programs that are popular on Linux distros have native Windows versions. Here are some of my favorites.

In most cases, having a single SSID (Service Set Identifier) that combines all available Wi-Fi bands on your router is the way to go. But sometimes, it’s better to create multiple SSIDs for one reason or another. I’ve used two SSIDs on my network for years, and I’m not going back. Here’s why you should consider doing the same.

We're still in the early stages of the AI revolution, but there's already plenty of evidence that it won't be purely a blessing. Generative AI has made writing exponentially faster, if not necessarily better, and the result has been a massive increase in submissions of novels, newspaper pieces, and even academic journals, with one publication even warning of a coming "swamp of slop." 

Now, however, the journals are fighting back. ArXiv, one of the largest open-access repositories of preprint academic research, is issuing a one-year ban on all authors who submit "obviously AI-generated work," according to 404media. Moreover, if the offending author wishes to return to the good graces of ArXiv, they will have to first submit to a "reputable peer-reviewed review venue," according to Thomas Dietterich, chair of the publication's computer science division.

SEE ALSO: The fierce battle over AI in schools

He recently took to X to not only clarify the new rules but also place the onus on authors to use LLMs responsibly: "If generative AI tools generate inappropriate language, plagiarized content, biased content, errors, mistakes, incorrect references, or misleading content, and that output is included in scientific works, it is the responsibility of the author(s). We have recently clarified our penalties for this. If a submission contains incontrovertible evidence that the authors did not check the results of LLM generation, this means we can't trust anything in the paper."  

Faulty, misleading references, plagiarism, and invented citations are not the only issues with AI; however, there are others. In November of 2025, ArXiv was forced to shut down its entire computer science review section due to the overwhelming volume of AI-generated submissions, most of which did not even introduce new research results, according to a press statement. 

A funny, counterintuitive consequence of AI-enabled hyperefficiency is the evaluation bottleneck. If, in any given month, there are 100 academic papers submitted for review, it's not too hard to find and publish the best work, but if there are a thousand submissions, even the best-funded journals can't keep up. 

Expect the backlash to grow even fiercer as the power of AI increases and the costs of using it decrease. 

TL;DR: The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Eurovision Song Contest has a reputation for delivering truly memorable performances, and not always in a good way. Rules and convention go out the window with Eurovision, resulting in some absolutely unmissable moments.

Want to watch the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest for free from anywhere in the world? We have all the information you need.

What is Eurovision?

The Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union. This competition primarily features entries from European countries, with each participating nation submitting an original song to be performed on live TV. Competing countries cast votes to pick a winner.

Where is the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest?

The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is the 70th edition of the event. This year's competition will take place in Vienna.

When is the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest?

The full schedule for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is as follws:

• First Semi-Final — 9 p.m. CEST on May 12

• Second Semi-Final — 9 p.m. CEST on May 14

• Grand Final — 9 p.m. CEST on May 16

How to watch the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest for free

The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer.

BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can access BBC iPlayer to live stream Eurovision for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

4. Visit BBC iPlayer

5. Live stream the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can live stream Eurovision without actually spending anything. This is not a long-term solution, but it gives you plenty of time to stream the event before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?

ExpressVPN is the best service for accessing free streaming services from around the world, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Stream the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest for free with ExpressVPN.

Reading in your twenties as a young woman is familiar: you loved it as a kid, burned out after high school, and now books are big again. Most of us were former readers trying to rekindle our love of reading.

Back in the early days of Android, it was common to root your phone so you could "hibernate" or "freeze" battery-killing apps. They wouldn't be able to wake up the device's CPU or consume any system resources. These days, Android has built-in features to stop battery-leeching apps, but you can still freeze apps, and you don't even need root access to do it anymore.

Netflix's documentary catalog is something I can never get enough of, and when I begin my streaming session for the weekend, I am never out of fresh documentaries to binge-watch. Be it true crime, sports, biographies, or science, Netflix's documentary collection is never-ending.

I happen to have a lot of old gaming PC parts scattered around the drawers and bins of my office. This comes from years of building PCs professionally, but it also meant that I could simply repurpose my old gaming desktop into a home server instead of buying a dedicated NAS.

Some Ring doorbells can use AI features to interact with visitors when you're not home. I ditched my Ring doorbell for a Reolink doorbell that runs fully locally, but I wondered if I could recreate a similar feature using a local LLM. I was partially successful.

California lawmakers are deliberating a proposed bill, known as the "Protect Our Games Act," that would require publishers to continue offering access to online games even after developers stop supporting them, according to Ars Technica. 

The bill is part of a wider initiative by the Stop Killing Games preservation movement, which has been active in Europe for some time now. Their mission statement describes them as a "global coalition of gamers, consumer advocates, and developers" seeking to "end the intentional destruction of our digital media" through a combination of class-action lawsuits, formal petitions, and engagement with lawmakers, and they make their stance very clear: "Games are art and have grown into a huge influence for our society. Deliberately rendering them unplayable is the destruction of cultural heritage."

SEE ALSO: eBay rejects GameStop offer: 'neither credible nor attractive'

But as currently written, the Protect Our Games Act would place some serious requirements on game publishers and "digital game operators," including offering a 60-day advanced warning when "services necessary for the ordinary use of the digital game will cease," and even to compensate gamers with either a full refund or a software patch that would continue to make the game accessible in some form. If passed, however, the laws would only apply to game titles released after January 1, 2027, so existing online games would be exempt. 

This question is part of a broader discussion consumers are having about ownership rights in the age of digital media, as both games and movies are increasingly sold not in hard-copy formats (the cartridges, cassettes, and DVDs of the past) but as files downloadable from servers. The problem is especially acute in online gaming, since if the infrastructure supporting it (the servers and software that enable it) is compromised, its functionality might also be compromised. 

Put differently, the question might be posed this way: are games a product consumers buy or a software they lease? Up until very recently, gamers the world over were under the impression they owned a product, with an unlimited right to do with it as they please, but in the era of digital media, gaming companies have been pushing for a subscription model that treats games as a service with a finite and conditional duration.

Whatever decision the California lawmakers reach, don't expect these questions or the people posing them to disappear anytime soon. As of this writing, the StopKillingGames subreddit has more than 14,000 followers, and momentum is on the side of the consumer.

The camera experience has always been a big part of what sets Pixel phones apart from other Android devices. While some features are genuinely exclusive, others aren’t as stuck in the walled garden as you might think. For example: Magic Eraser.