Technology

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 21, 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 21, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for March 21 Pips

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

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

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-1, placed horizontally.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 2-0, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for March 21 Pips

Greater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.

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

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 0-2, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically; 1-2, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-0, placed vertically.

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

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 1-2, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for March 21 Pips

Number (5): Everything in this purple space must add up to 5. The answer is 3-2, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 6-3, placed horiontally.

Number (5): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 5. The answer is 6-3, placed horizontally; 1-1, placed vertically.

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

Number (5): Everything in this light blue space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this red space must add up to 5. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 1-0, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this green space must add up to 5. The answer is 2-1, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed vertically.

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

Number (5): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 5. The answer is 0-5, horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this green space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-1, placed horizontally.

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

Number (5): Everything in this purple space must add up to 5. The answer is 4-1, placed vertically; 6-1, placed vertically.

Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 6-1, placed vertically.

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

When you're shopping for a laptop, there are plenty of features to consider. Some are obvious—like a fast processor or, for gamers, a dedicated graphics card. After all, no one wants a sluggish, unusable machine.

Despite the many worthy alternatives, I always find myself coming back to Plex. I know people have strong opinions on Plex, partly because it's the corporate face of self-hosting and partly because it has paywalled features that feel like they should be free.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is for people knowledgeable about gymnastics.

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.

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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: 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: Gymnastics

• Green: The ring

• Blue: Hybrid skill players in the NFL

• Purple: Spelled like an NHL team

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Gymnastics Apparatuses

• Green: At the Boxing Ring

• Blue: First Names of NFL Tight Ends

• Purple: Starts of NHL Team Names

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 #544 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Gymnastics Apparatuses - BARS, BEAM, FLOOR, VAULT

• At the Boxing Ring - BELL, CORNER, ROPES, TURNBUCKLE

• First Names of NFL Tight Ends - BROCK, DALLAS, HUNTER, TRAVIS

• Starts of NHL Team Names - FLY, ISLAND, OIL, RANG

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 today's Connections.

For years, we've all seen the same lists detailing "must-have apps" for any new Android phone, but times have changed. Android has been around for a long time, and dozens of once-popular apps have faded away. Still, there are several apps many consider "essential" that you no longer need and should probably uninstall.

Despite being 30 years old, the USB-A standard is as popular as ever. While USB-C has been steadily gaining ground since it was introduced in 2014, USB-A isn't going anywhere. Considering its ubiquity, popularity, and affordability, USB-A outlasting USB-C isn't out of the realm of possibility.

It feels cliché to say at this point, but cameras are a big part of the appeal of Google Pixel phones. I’ve been using Pixel phones for many years, and I’ve become very familiar with the Camera app. With just a few toggles, I have it perfectly set up to my liking.

Windows Notepad is slowly losing many of its best qualities, but that doesn't mean it isn't usable today. Since its quiet debut in 1983, it has stayed a fundamental, lightweight core utility. For most of its history, Notepad's stubborn refusal to modernize made it an excellent tool for quick notes and great code writing. Recent updates have brought both good and bad, but for now, there's no reason to avoid it; in fact, it can end up being your most used program. Its invisible design, technical dependability, and commitment to simplicity make it an unbeatable choice, even as Microsoft risks its legacy by chasing unnecessary generative AI integrations.

You've decided to see what all the fuss is about and have installed Home Assistant. It's up and running, and you've logged in for the first time. Now what? Here are some of the key things to do first.

If you've been using KDE Plasma for a while, you've probably settled into a workflow and think you know most of its features and what it has to offer. However, there's a good chance you've been walking past some of its most useful features without realizing they exist. I've been using Plasma for nearly a decade now, and I'm constantly discovering new things you can do on this desktop environment. Here are five underrated yet advanced features that’ll make you a KDE Plasma power user.

For a long time, 4GB DDR4 RAM sticks were seen as the awkward leftovers from upgrading your machines. While 4GB is too small for a modern PC intended to run games or even multiple Chrome tabs, it's still relevant hardware because it’s relatively modern compared to older RAM standards.

Nothing ruins a professional Excel report like a "Summary" line floating on its own page when you send it to a printer or PDF. While you could manually adjust your print area for every update, the real pro move is automation. Here's how to use the OFFSET function to create a print area that truly thinks for itself.

This was another busy week in tech, with Google revealing changes to sideloading apps on Android devices, big upgrades for Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ IDEA, a new project for Linux-powered phones, and much more Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.

The professional world has pretty much lived by the unspoken rule that Microsoft Excel is the essential foundation for anything numerical. It's universally accessible and really powerful for simple tasks. However, it gets pretty unwieldy and slow when you're trying to clean complex data, process large amounts of information, or do any kind of advanced statistical modeling.

If you spend enough time around Linux users, you will eventually notice something interesting about desktop environment discussions. They almost always revolve around the same two names. GNOME gets mentioned because many major distros ship it by default. KDE Plasma gets attention because of its enormous customization capabilities and constant visual polish. Occasionally, someone brings up a tiling window manager like i3 or Sway and explains how using the mouse is apparently inefficient now.

Bambu Lab makes the most popular 3D printers in the world, earning a reputation for ease of use, reliability, and great value. But not everyone is in love with the company’s walled garden approach, which involves locking out third-party slicers and a heavy dependence on the cloud.

PC troubleshooting is usually quite the odyssey. Between needing multiple programs to cover all the bases, not having the slightest idea what's wrong in most cases, and the ever-looming chance that the machine will reboot, freeze, or bug out in the middle of the troubleshooting process, it can all be pretty frustrating.

How does eharmony’s matching algorithm compare to Match?

It all comes down to how much time you have and how much effort you’re willing to put in.

eharmony asks you to take a 20-minute Compatibility Quiz (it might take you less or more time depending on how much you think about your answers and how forthcoming you are). It feels a bit like a Rorschach test; there’s a section that asks you to look at pairs of abstract shapes and choose which one appeals more to your emotions. I’m not saying this is a good or a bad thing, but it’s definitely something to know before you download the app. Once you’re finished answering the questions, the app uses the data to assign you a compatibility score with other users. You'll then be able to peruse a "Discover List" of potential matches, but spoiler alert: you'll have to cough up some cash to move forward (I'll cover this in a bit).

Match, on the other hand, is more straightforward. The initial questionnaire takes about five minutes, and then you can see who’s out there. It’s similar to Tinder in that you can “like” and mutually match or skip profiles. The algorithm also sends daily curated matches (Highlights) — potential matches the app thinks you’ll find compatible with, based on your stated preferences and in-app behavior.

SEE ALSO: What we're getting wrong about dating, according to a Kinsey scientist What about the interface?

The uglier an app interface is, the less likely I am to use it, regardless of its functionality. Fortunately, both of these legacy apps have gone through some serious modernization recently to compete with the swiping giants. But if I had to choose which platform has a more aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly interface, Match wins hands down.

When I first tested eharmony, I struggled during onboarding. The interface makes some questions (like your gender preferences) look like you can only choose one thing, when in reality, multiple selections are possible. Also, eharmony’s dated hunter-green color scheme just doesn’t do it for me. But the biggest UI offense? Once you finally get through the quiz, you are dumped into a feed of aggressively blurred photos with a bright orange banner constantly nagging you to buy a subscription. It comes across as cluttered, restrictive, and pushy.

SEE ALSO: My awkward first date with an AI companion

Match, on the other hand, greets you with a warm and inviting purple-and-pink color palette. The app makes it clear which selections were single-choice versus multiple-choice. More importantly, the interface itself is far more open, and the app doesn't spam you with upgrade banners every time you click a button. It just feels like a much cleaner, more modern place to spend your time.

How much do these platforms cost, and what features do their subscription tiers offer?

OK, so the No. 1 question people ask about eharmony is “what does it cost?” and rightfully so because it’s expensive and the push for a paid subscription is predatory. That said, you’ll probably need to spring for a paid membership with Match to meet your forever person, but it’ll cost you a lot less, and your results will likely be more aligned with your expectations.

Here’s what you’ll pay and what you get:

eharmony

eharmony’s free version is pretty much a joke — it’s basically a teaser for what could be, but maybe isn’t (if that makes sense). You literally cannot see unblurred photos or have unrestricted messaging without paying for a premium membership. Once they’ve convinced you to pay up, you have to choose a six, 12, or 24-month subscription. Prices fluctuate, but you’re usually looking at a minimum of $59.90 a month for a shorter six-month plan (or around $25.90 per month if you commit for two years). That’s kind of pricey if you ask me.

If you do pay, eharmony's premium tiers (Light, Plus, and Unlimited) will give you the bare minimum: unlimited messaging, the ability to see unblurred photos, distance searches, and the ability to see who viewed your profile.

But, wait, it gets worse: In June 2025, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took eharmony to federal court for "misleading and deceptive conduct." Users complained they were trapped by hidden auto-renewals they didn't know they were agreeing to, and some were even chased by debt collectors for hundreds of dollars.

Match

Match is less predatory and more transparent in its pricing, and you can explore the app without being constantly badgered to upgrade. Match lets free members chat with their mutual matches and rate up to 50 profiles a day in their Recommended Stack. When you’re ready to upgrade, Match's premium tiers start at $44.99 for a one-month plan, though that price decreases if you commit to an annual subscription. Premium features include unlimited likes, unlimited rewinds, and the ability to rate an unlimited number of profiles on the "Discover" tab. The more you pay, the better the features. The highest tier will get you Priority Likes and automatic Boosts.

You can also pay for a la carte add-ons, like "Private Mode" (which hides your profile from everyone except people you choose to contact) or one-off "Boosts" that bump your profile to the top six search results for 60 minutes.

The best thing about Match's premium subscription? There's a three-day refund window. If you pay for the app, browse for a few days, and realize your local dating pool is a total dumpster fire, users have reported successfully asking for their money back within those first three days. With eharmony, you’re locked in.

AI is everywhere. But what is AI? We are hearing people tell us that AI is already smarter than humans in a lot of ways. But what does that mean?

AI can be a great tool. It can be our virtual assistant, it can help us fill out emails and meal prep, or perform the mundane, day-to-day tasks that you don't want to do. New use cases for AI are being released every day.

But doesn't it also mean that some people could be using AI to take shortcuts that we would want human intervention in, like, I don't know, nuclear war? Militaries are already looking into how AI is going to be used in the battlefield to predict not just troop movement, but drone strikes. Do we want literal human life and death on a wide scale being determined by a computer?

Mashable's Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko tries to figure it out in our latest Mashable Rant.

For more on The AI Doc, look for Mashable's recording of The AI Panel: Or What Being an Apocaloptimist Looks Like, which featured filmmaker Daniel Kwan, producer Ted Tremper, and co-producer Diane Becker, along with Mashable's own Kristy Puchko as moderator.

And for your chance to see The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist early and at no charge, check out Mashable's advanced screenings in L.A. and New York.

The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist opens in theaters on March 27. Look for more Mashable coverage out of SXSW.

A NASA rover has discovered signs of an ancient river beneath Mars' surface, using ground-penetrating radar to reveal buried layers of sediment left behind by flowing water.

But this was not a lazy river. This was likely a larger and faster-moving channel than many scientists had accounted for, perhaps comparable to medium-size rivers on Earth. 

Before NASA sent the Perseverance rover to Jezero Crater, geologists already believed the basin once held a bygone body of water. Orbital images showed classic delta landscapes on the surface, with fanlike deposits where a river might have emptied into a lake. 

Perseverance's findings add compelling direct evidence from below the surface. They suggest the Martian river, existing between 3.7 and 4.2 billion years ago, was part of a larger system than space satellites could see. Its currents may have been capable of carrying sand and small rocks downstream.

The new data, published in the journal Science Advances, also show the river was likely stable over a long stretch of time, not merely a flash flood with sudden mudflows. That matters because it bolsters the idea that Mars once had better conditions for supporting simple life. 

SEE ALSO: Two weeks in isolation: The quiet routine before Artemis 2 blasts off

Mars today is cold and dry, with a thin atmosphere that lets water quickly evaporate or freeze. But billions of years ago, the planet probably had a thicker atmosphere and a warmer climate. Rivers and lakes may have lasted long enough to carve valleys, move sediment, and reshape entire regions.

The rover collected the underground data as it drove across the floor of Jezero Crater. Its instrument, the Radar Imager for Mars Subsurface Experiment, or "Rimfax" for short, works by sending radio waves into the ground and interpreting the echoes that bounce back. Different materials — sand, rock, or ice — reflect the signals in distinct ways. By studying those patterns, researchers can map hidden ancient landscapes.

Billions of years ago, Mars probably had a thicker atmosphere and a warmer climate, able to sustain robust rivers and lakes. Credit: dottedhippo / iStock / Getty Images Plus illustration

During 78 traverses, the car-sized lab on six wheels collected data from more than 115 feet underground, according to the new paper. That's nearly two times deeper than the rover has peered below the surface in the past. 

The radar images show steep, slanted layers that usually form when water has shuttled sediment and dropped them in stacks. Over time, those stacks build up into recognizable shapes. On Mars, they now sit buried under dust and volcanic debris. 

China's now-defunct Zhurong rover, part of the 2021 Tianwen-1 mission, also used underground radar to discover evidence of a vast ancient Martian ocean, which may have covered about one-third of the Red Planet's surface at one time. Its location is about 3,000 miles away from Perseverance at Utopia Planitia — the place where NASA's Viking 2 lander touched down in 1976. 

The Chinese radar revealed ancient beaches that extended nearly a mile, buried 30 to 115 feet below the surface. Several U.S.-based scientists, including Michael Manga at UC Berkeley, helped analyze the data. 

"The fact that you can go to Mars with a rover and move over the surface and look underground is kind of mind-boggling to me," Manga told Mashable last year. 

Highlighted areas on NASA's Perseverance rover show the components of the Radar Imager for Mars Subsurface Experiment, or 'Rimfax' for short. Credit: S.E. Hamran et al. / doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00740-4 / NASA / JPL-Caltech

Researchers say the new Perseverance work may have implications for where scientists look for biosignatures in the future. Sediments formed in water are prime targets because they can trap and preserve chemical clues about the past. 

Perseverance is collecting Martian rock and soil samples to send back to Earth, though the future of that mission remains doubtful. Mars Sample Return has been in limbo since a review found it would cost upward of $11 billion and take nearly two decades to achieve. NASA leaders say they're trying to salvage it with a new approach. 

In September, NASA announced a sample collected by Perseverance contained fossilized material that ancient alien microorganisms could have created. Though the evidence is strong, NASA scientists say they can't rule out other non-biological explanations for what the rover found. 

Perseverance scientists say they've exhausted what they can learn about the sample on Mars, but advanced tools on Earth could probe it for complex organic molecules, cell structures, and DNA. 

"This finding by our incredible Perseverance rover is the closest we've actually come to discovering ancient life on Mars," said Nicky Fox, NASA's associate administrator for science.