Technology

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you enjoy professional sports.

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 October 12, 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: Style

• Green: Attach

• Blue: Winning

• Purple: Same first word

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Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Discernment

• Green: Fasten

• Blue: Sports championship prizes

• Purple: Loose ___

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 #1220 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Discernment: EYE, FLAIR, SENSE, TASTE

• Fasten: HITCH, LASH, TETHER, TIE

• Sports championship prizes: BELT, CUP, JACKET, RING

• Loose ___: CANNON, CHANGE, ENDS, LIPS

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 today's Connections.

So you've found an old CRT PC monitor, or maybe you inherited it from your grandpa. Either way, it's just a heavy old piece of junk, right? Best to just send it off for recycling, because there's no good use for these anymore. Wrong!

A fake cobweb and a few carved pumpkins won't do. Having the best Halloween display on the block means hunting down unconventional and highly interactive pieces that give your neighbors a good scare — or a good laugh. (Let's hope your HOA is a fan, too.)

After covering and monitoring all of the biggest launches of the year so far, we've put together a definitive list of the best Halloween decorations and animatronics of 2026. There's still time to put some up if you haven't already, and as a bonus, many are on sale at this point in the season.

An upgraded 12-foot skeleton Credit: The Home Depot

Skelly can talk now! The Home Depot went high-tech in updating its beloved 12-foot skeleton for 2026. Using a companion mobile app, you can now chat with trick-or-treaters though the animatronic in real time or record up to 30 custom voice lines for it to play. It also has a new moving head, a light-up ribcage, and 20 different eye effects. This marks Skelly's biggest upgrade since it launched with fanfare back in 2020.

This new app-controlled Skelly costs $80 more than the standard version, which continues to be a hit on social media. A video of two Skellies dressed up as characters from the Chicks' song "Goodbye Earl" amassed more than 12 million views on TikTok this fall. Another clip of a fully rhinestoned Skelly is at nearly 2 million views. No bones about it: He's still the reigning king of spooky season.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot 12-foot Giant-Sized Animated LED App-Controlled Skelly $379 at The Home Depot
  Shop Now An even taller headless skeleton Credit: Lowe's

Is there anything scarier than the surveillance state? Lowe's new talking, overall-clad Skeleton Watcher holds its glowing skull in the air for a better view of the neighborhood. (Note: It doesn't actually have cameras in its eyes, but they do light up.) It's the largest Halloween animatronic on the market this year, towering over Skelly at 15 feet tall. This one was on clearance, and on the verge of selling out, at the time of writing.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lowe's Haunted Living 15-foot Talking Lighted Skeleton Watcher Motion-Activated Animatronic $343.20 at Lowe's
$429 Save $85.80   Shop Now A talking zombie parrot Credit: The Home Depot

The Home Depot's new five-foot Rotwing Parrot is an oversized blue-and-gold macaw that fell off the perch. It can say 20 different phrases and answer yes or no questions, sort of like an undead avian Magic 8 Ball. It's one of the most popular items from the home improvement retailer's 2026 Halloween collection, selling out several times over the past few months. It was back in stock the last time I checked, but there weren't many left.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot 5-foot Dead Water Animated LED Rotwing Parrot $179 at The Home Depot
  Shop Now A head-banging skeleton DJ Credit: Lowe's Credit: Lowe's

I think I read somewhere that DJs transport their equipment in protective cases called coffins? Anyway, that's very apt for Lowe's new Bluetooth-enabled DJ skeleton animatronic, which can sync its head-banging to any song on your Halloween party playlist. He's still pretty underground but seems to be on the come-up: A video of him posted on Instagram a few weeks ago has hit almost 2 million views.

The DJ skeleton was out of stock on the Lowe's website in early October, but you might have luck finding it in person at a Lowe's store, or on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lowe's Haunted Living 5.7-foot Motion-Activated Bluetooth DJ Lighted Skeleton Animatronic $299 at Lowe's
  Learn More A salacious singing jack-o'-lantern This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

A crooning pumpkin decoration called Jabberin' Jack went viral on TikTok in September after one perturbed mom pointed out that it included a suggestive song called "Wicked for One Night." (Some lyrics: "How would you like to scream all night? I'll fill you full of fright. / I'll spoil you with my roasted pumpkin seeds." Sir, this is a pumpkin patch.) On second thought, I don't know if I'd necessarily call this one of the "best" Halloween decorations of 2026, but it's definitely one of the most memorable.

The president of Mindscope Products, the company that makes Jabberin' Jack, apologized for the song and told Business Insider that it won't be included on next year's version — so if you want a piece of brief internet history, order one soon. It's currently $5 off on Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Mindscope Products Jabberin' Jack Talking Animated Pumpkin with 8-inch Screen and Built-in Projector + Speaker $39.99 at Amazon
$44.99 Save $5   Shop Now Honorable mention: Homemade Captain Clark animatronics

Halloween creators Wicked Makers, Terror Hauntz, and Haunted Halloween Guy turned some old zombie props into sick DIY animatronics of the deformed pirate monster from Backrooms, A24's hit horror movie based on creepypasta. You can't buy them anywhere, but mark my words: Big-box stores will be selling some versions of these within a year.

Does it really matter what brand or model of GPU you buy? Regardless of who the board partner is, the GPU on the card still comes from AMD, NVIDIA, or Intel, right? So why are you paying more for a "premium" card?

Brand deals usually pay influencers to post. But Jack Doherty says his latest agreement pays him to stop.

The controversial YouTuber and livestreamer says he signed a contract with cryptocurrency casino Shuffle.com without fully reading it, only to discover that its terms prevent him from posting online. Shuffle co-founder Noah Dummett says the agreement is real and has a six-month term. But without the full contract, the scope of the restriction — and whether it can be enforced — remains unclear.

The arrangement appears to have started with a less-than-friendly exchange on X. In late September, Doherty asked whether he should livestream himself trading meme coins. Shuffle’s official account responded: "At this point we will pay you to shut the f**k up."

For anyone unfamiliar with Doherty, his content revolves around stunts, public pranks, and confrontational livestreams. His videos include titles like "I crashed into a cop car" and "I got banned from Disney." Earlier this year, he was removed from the Phoenix Open after appearing to pay a spectator to shout during a golfer’s pre-shot routine.

Recently, Doherty went looking for sponsors. In an Oct. 7 post, he said his $JACK meme coin wasn’t performing as well as he’d hoped and invited brands to contact him. Shuffle resurfaced its earlier response, adding, "legit offer btw."

By the end of the week, Doherty was telling followers he wanted out.

"Hey guys, I think I actually f**ked up," he wrote in a statement shared on X. "I recently signed a contract with a casino called shuffle.com but I didn't read the contract fully... One of the terms is that I'm not allowed to post online anymore, which I thought was a joke but now they're enforcing it."

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Doherty said he was working with his lawyer to resolve the situation, adding: "This might be my last post for a while, I'll try and be back soon."

Dummett’s response suggested the company had little interest in reconsidering. In an Oct. 10 post, he described the agreement as "money well spent to get this mf off the internet." He also said Doherty’s lawyers were pushing to scrap the contract, but Shuffle intended to stand firm.

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I do a lot of writing on my laptop, but it's far from ideal. The problem is that my laptop is full of distractions that can steal my focus, including access to the entirety of the internet as well as highly addictive games such as Slay the Spire. I decided to turn my old Kindle into a distraction-free writing terminal, and it worked better than I was expecting.

We're getting to the point in October where it's perfectly reasonable to put the tombstones, skeletons, and giant spiders on the lawn in anticipation of Halloween. But if you're like me, you'll still want a couple of comedies on your pre-spooky season movie night list to keep things light before all the horror arrives.

A portable charger is a staple of plenty of travel bags. But a power bank reportedly caught fire aboard an IndiGo flight on Sunday, forcing the plane to change course and make an emergency landing in Hyderabad, India.

IndiGo Flight 6E 6115 was traveling from Delhi to Chennai on Oct. 11 when the fire broke out in an overhead luggage compartment. Around 180 passengers and seven crew members were aboard, according to a statement carried by local outlets. Cabin crew extinguished the fire, and the aircraft landed safely at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

Footage shared online shows passengers responding to the IndiGo power bank fire in midair, as reported by People. The video shows passengers standing in the aisle and attempting to contain the flames in the overhead compartment. No injuries were reported.

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IndiGo said smoke had been detected from a passenger’s "personal electronic device." (Local reports identified that device as a power bank.)

"The cabin crew responded promptly, and the situation was brought under control," the airline said. IndiGo arranged another aircraft to continue the journey to Chennai. Authorities have launched an investigation.

Can you bring a power bank on a plane?

The incident puts a familiar travel accessory — and the rules around packing it — back in the spotlight.

IndiGo’s published baggage policy states that power banks must remain within a passenger’s reach, such as under the seat, in a seat pocket, or on their person. They cannot be stored in overhead compartments or checked baggage. Its cabin baggage guidance also prohibits using, charging, or recharging them during a flight.

Those restrictions are part of a wider push to address battery risks aboard aircraft. In March, the International Civil Aviation Organization introduced new specifications limiting passengers to two power banks and prohibiting passengers from recharging those banks during flights.

For U.S. travelers, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration require power banks to travel in carry-on baggage. If your bag gets checked at the gate, the power bank needs to come out and remain with you in the cabin. Battery terminals also need protection against short circuits. Airline-specific restrictions can be stricter, so check your carrier’s policy before packing.

SEE ALSO: Airlines are cracking down on portable chargers over fire risk concerns Why can power banks catch fire?

Power banks typically use lithium-ion batteries, the same rechargeable battery technology found in phones and laptops. According to the FAA, these batteries can overheat and undergo "thermal runaway," a process in which temperatures rise uncontrollably and can produce gases and flames. Damage and short-circuited terminals can also cause battery fires.

The risks have prompted recalls, too. In June 2025, approximately 1.16 million Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks were recalled in the U.S. because their batteries could overheat. That recall covered model A1263 units with qualifying serial numbers.

Reporting on Sunday’s IndiGo power bank fire did not identify the charger’s brand or model.

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When Valve released the Steam Deck in 2022, it wasn't a cutting-edge device by any means, and that was a deliberate choice. Valve carefully balanced performance, power consumption, and cost to create a machine that was almost perfectly suited for its intended purpose.

I'm a big fan of Docker, especially with apps like Papermerge and Actual Budget. Over time, I've ditched some containers like Wallabag for alternatives that work better for me. While I use it for many different tasks, I often spin down containers for apps I'm not actively using at any given time. However, I run some apps 24/7 on one of my homelab laptops. These apps help me monitor, control, and manage my work every day.

TL;DR: MacPaw has launched Email Cleanup within CleanMyMac to bulk-purge years of Gmail clutter, clear heavy attachments, and unsubscribe from junk mail using metadata alone. Test out the full plan with a 7-day free trial ($3.33/month billed annually).

Opens in a new window Credit: MacPaw CleanMyMac   Get Deal

Nobody actively decides to abandon their inbox to chaos, but it happens anyway as marketing promos, newsletter signups, and old threads stack up over time. It’s the ultimate low-reward task that constantly takes a back seat to actual work, compounding daily until the sheer volume of unread messages feels overwhelming to tackle.

To cut through that noise, MacPaw launched Email Cleanup within CleanMyMac, a smart pre-work filter built exclusively for Gmail at launch that lets you reclaim your inbox and shared Google storage in bulk. Located directly in the My Tools sidebar menu, it scans your inbox and groups clutter into actionable categories such as Newsletters and Promotions, Subscriptions, Spam, abandoned Drafts, Senders, and custom Smart Cleanup suggestions.

Rather than deleting threads one by one, you can mass-clear marketing blasts, archive old conversations, or use a single button to unsubscribe from lists you don't read. In the process, it spots heavy, space-hogging attachments, making it easy to free up gigabytes across your connected Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos accounts.

Total privacy with zero snooping

Because people avoid cleaning out their inbox for fear of accidentally deleting critical files or leaking sensitive data, Email Cleanup relies entirely on metadata analysis rather than inspecting your private correspondence.

It scans headers, file sizes, and dates without reading, storing, or sharing message contents, connecting securely through official Google APIs that you can disconnect at any time. It also supports multiple Gmail accounts simultaneously, letting you manage work and personal inboxes from a single unified space without switching between browser tabs.

You're always in control

You stay in full command of the process, as no emails are ever deleted, archived, or unsubscribed automatically without your explicit confirmation. You can review items by sender, year, category, or file size before taking action, and any deleted messages are routed straight to your standard Gmail Trash, giving you a 30-day window to restore anything cleared by mistake.

You can test the entire feature suite risk-free with a 7-day free trial on CleanMyMac's Annual Plan at $3.33/month ($39.96 billed annually), while those who only need basic on-device Mac cleaning can opt for the budget-friendly Essential Trio tier at $1.66/month ($19.95 billed annually).

Ready to turn your thousand-message Gmail nightmare back into a clean slate? Head to MacPaw to test out CleanMyMac’s Email Cleanup with a 7-day free trial.

Comedian and viral creator Kyle Gordon sits down for an interview with Mashable Executive Producer, Mark Stetson, on Say More to discuss his comedy roots, musical parodies, and creative process. From childhood Chris Farley impressions and Christopher Guest influences to shooting the Mr. Jambo music video in South Africa and Eswatini, Kyle opens up about his journey, live shows, and balancing music with comedy.

Kyle Gordon is Everywhere is now available.

Your grocery store’s dairy aisle might seem like an unlikely place to start a conversation about AI safety. But Microsoft President Brad Smith says it offers a useful comparison for how the technology should be regulated.

Speaking to the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast on Oct. 11, Smith called for global AI safety rules, arguing that everyday products like milk face more safeguards than increasingly powerful AI systems.

"Right now, your washing machine is subject to more safety rules than AI. Every carton of milk that you see in the grocery store is subject to safety rules and inspection," Smith said.

His proposed protections go beyond asking companies to promise their technology is safe. Smith wants legal requirements for companies to report safety incidents and notify victims when rogue AI agents breach their systems. He also called for "emergency brakes" that could pause or slow AI systems, alongside rules determining when independent evaluators should review new technology before its release.

"We know how to do this for other products," Smith said. "We should build on that knowledge and think about how to apply it to AI."

Smith's comments echo recent warnings from Bill Gates. The push for stronger AI protections also comes as President Donald Trump has favored industry self-regulation. At a White House meeting in September, major AI companies agreed to voluntary safety standards, including working with independent auditors to assess whether their systems behave as intended.

Smith welcomed that agreement and said Microsoft was happy to sign it. But he argued that voluntary commitments would no longer be enough. "It's a good step, it's a necessary step... But I don't think it's sufficient any longer," he told the BBC.

The problem, in his view, is that responsible companies will follow voluntary rules. Less responsible ones may not.

Who gets to set the rules?

That question has also surfaced in Mashable’s reporting on AI leaders’ calls for stronger safety standards. As Rebecca Ruiz reported in September, experts caution that companies can support safeguards while still seeking control over how those safeguards work.

SEE ALSO: AI leaders say they want safety, but on whose terms?

Pete Furlong, senior manager of policy and research at the Center for Humane Technology, told Mashable that companies’ transparency efforts need to come with expectations beyond those they set themselves.

"It can’t be entirely up to these companies to dictate the terms of their transparency," he said.

Smith suggested the UK could help lead the development of global rules, pointing to the technical expertise of its AI Security Institute. The institute already gets access to major AI models before deployment through voluntary agreements, allowing it to assess their capabilities and risks.

For Smith, the next step is making safety obligations enforceable — including requiring companies to tell people when something goes wrong.

"It's the companies that are not as responsible that you need to worry about," he said.

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When Samsung decided to stop the side button from acting as a power button, a lot of people, myself included, were a little annoyed. There are still some good arguments for why it was a poor decision on Samsung's part, but what the side button has transformed into might be good enough to overshadow the power button for a lot of users.

Meta announced the launch of a new AI model family, Muse Wonder, which is already rolling out to developers. Independent benchmarks indicate that Muse Wonder places Meta firmly at the AI frontier for the first time.

The release comes just six weeks after the launch of Muse Spark 1.3, the latest version of a model family that debuted in April. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta invested heavily in AI recruiting and infrastructure after falling behind rival tech companies, culminating in Meta paying $14.3 billion for Scale AI and naming its wunderkind CEO, Alexandr Wang, then 28, Meta's new Chief AI officer.

Those efforts appear to be paying dividends.

Artificial Analysis, an independent AI benchmarking organization, showed Muse Wonder leapfrogging powerful models like GPT-Astra from OpenAI, Fable 5 from Anthropic, and the newly released Gemini 4 from Google. On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index leaderboard, which uses a weighted composite score to rank AI models, Muse Wonder Full is now second only to Claude Opus 5.5 Max, and tied with Claude Sonnet 5.5 Max.

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The results suggest that Meta has caught up to the AI frontier, after previously being more of an afterthought in the AI market.

That started to change recently with the launch of the hugely popular AI agent Muse, which quickly surpassed 5 million app downloads. In its Muse Wonder announcement blog post, Meta said that the new model family "will soon power experiences in Muse," though it will only be available to paid subscribers.

Introducing Muse Wonder, designed for agentic AI

In the blog post introducing Muse Wonder, Meta emphasized that the model was designed for agentic workflows as well as user safety. (The company said a full report about its safety evaluations "will be available soon.") Wang said the model family was developed under the codename "watermelon," according to CNBC.

"Meta is introducing Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, our most capable models to date, built to deliver state-of-the-art performance on personal and professional agentic tasks — from navigating an insurance claim to making sense of a lease to building a working app," reads Meta's announcement.

Muse Wonder features Active Focus and Active Memory, which Meta said are essential to keep AI agents on task during complex, long-running assignments.

The company defined Active Focus as "the ability to keep working toward your goal when a task gets hard, try other approaches, recover from errors, and follow through, asking for clarification when needed and checking in before following through on anything important." It described Active Memory as "the ability to carry what matters to you across conversations and bring back the details that are relevant to the task at hand."

Finally, Meta said that Muse Wonder models would "avoid sharing private information without permission," which has been a notable alleged issue with Muse. The models will also refuse harmful requests, Meta claimed, while helping organizations and users with cybersecurity defense.

Muse Wonder: Benchmark performance

The independent benchmarking organization Artificial Analysis released a detailed breakdown of Muse Wonder's performance on X and its website. The organization wrote, "Both models exhibit a material jump in overall Intelligence Index score...Muse Wonder Full (max) places in the top three on six of the ten Intelligence Index evaluations, and is particularly strong in agentic knowledge work and scientific reasoning."

Meta also released its own internal benchmark results in a report on Muse Wonder's performance.

Meta released this graph showing its AI models' improved performance over the past year. Credit: Artificial Analysis

The company also released results for a variety of AI benchmark tests:

Credit: Meta How to try Muse Wonder

Muse Wonder is available now to developers through the Meta Model API and Muse Code. The more robust Muse Wonder Full is available now to Muse Code subscribers.

In the near future, Meta said that Muse Wonder will power its popular Muse AI agent, though at a cost. CNBC reported that the new models will be available in Muse for users who pay $20 or $100 per month.

You can also read the full Muse Wonder model card.

Do you, like me, use Claude every other minute as your go-to thinking partner? If so, you probably already know how annoying it is to keep opening the Claude app every time you want to fact-check something, proofread an email draft, or bounce ideas off it. Sure, you could keep the app open all the time, but then you'd have a different problem, with one more app window cluttering up your desktop.

UPDATE: Oct. 13, 2026, 12:34 p.m. EDT As of Tuesday afternoon, copies of 'Grand Theft Auto VI' for Xbox Series X/S are back in stock at Amazon.

If you haven't already secured a pre-order for Grand Theft Auto VI, then Amazon may not be the best place to do it.

As noted on Reddit, "physical" copies of GTA 6 were sold out on Amazon as of Monday morning, with both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions listed as "currently unavailable."

As of this writing, the PS5 version is back in stock. Mashable reached out to Amazon to ask about GTA 6 inventory and restocks ahead of the Nov. 19 release, and we'll update this story if we receive more information.

You'll notice that I put "physical" in quotes because the game, rather infamously, will not ship on a disc.

SEE ALSO: GTA 6 Cyberleek update: Everything leaked so far, what could be next That message doesn't appear when you switch to the PS5 version. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon

You might be wondering how it's possible for a game that's only available as a digital download to sell out ahead of time. If you read between the lines on the Amazon store page, you can put it together. Pre-ordering via Amazon or another physical retailer will get you a box for the game, but the box will only include a download code instead of a disc, according to the fine print on Amazon.

In other words, it seems like Amazon has run out of Xbox boxes with download codes in them for the time being. As a reminder, you can still pre-order the game directly from the Xbox digital storefront on your console, as long as you don't care about having a box to put on your shelf. You can also pre-order Grand Theft Auto VI (and the $99.99 "Ultimate Edition") on the Rockstar Games website.

SEE ALSO: 'GTA 6' official merch is live, and it's already selling out: Where to buy 'Grand Theft Auto VI' for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X $79.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Best Buy Pre-order Here at GameStop 'Grand Theft Auto VI' Ultimate Edition: PS5 or Xbox $99.99 at PlayStation Store
  Pre-order Here at PlayStation Store Pre-order Here at Xbox Pre-order Here at Rockstar Games

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That Ryobi lithium-ion battery for your tools rarely dies without warning. You'll start seeing little hints, like a slight loss of power, or a battery that gets way too warm, and before you know it, you're reaching for a new pack every 15 minutes. While there are several little things to watch for, three main signs will tell you that it's time to head to Home Depot soon and get a new battery.

Solid-state drives last a long time, but not forever. Some familiar utilities, and stuff you do on the daily without giving much thought to it, quietly write far more data than most people realize, shortening the usable life of the drive. Here are three kinds of software that deserve a second look before they become a regular part of your routine, or if they already are.

A celebrity shopping complaint can become everyone's business pretty quickly. This weekend, that customer was Kelly Clarkson. The purchase in question? A $15,000 singing bird.

"Just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store I thought looked really rad and had a few things in mind to buy and literally was looked at as if I couldn't afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me," Clarkson posted on X on Oct. 10. "Wow, dude. You're an idiot and just lost a huge sale."

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The shop in question is the Brooklyn Heights store Art of Play, which sells games, puzzles, toys, books, and home goods. Clarkson called it out by name, comparing her experience to the boutique scene in Pretty Woman, where employees famously dismiss Julia Roberts' character because they assume she can't afford to shop there.

"But y'all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts character in Pretty Woman," she wrote. "For sure, check it out."

The shop, however, had a different explanation for why she hadn't left with the bird. In its Oct. 11 Instagram response, Art of Play said Clarkson had asked about Molly, a singing and dancing mechanical bird used in its magic shows. "Molly is permanently attached to the wall and isn't for sale," the business wrote.

The shop acknowledged that Clarkson's account would resonate with anyone who had felt judged while shopping, but maintained that customers were welcome whether they bought anything or simply browsed. It said the response to her post had brought a wave of unwanted attention.

"Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store," the statement read. "It's been a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after just one mention by a celebrity." The statement also included a nod to Clarkson's own music: "As a talented popular singer once said, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'"

View this post on Instagram

That's not where this feud ended, though. Clarkson then responded with a photo — specifically, one showing a $15,000 price tag labeled "Singing Bird." In a second X post, she alleged that the employee had looked her up and down like an "elevator" and, in a condescending tone, told her that the bird was for sale for $15,000 before offering to find something comparable.

"So you're not only rude, you're also a liar," she wrote. "Got it."

She also pushed back on the idea that calling out a small business was off-limits. "I love small businesses and know they are important, and I always support them, but you don't get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business," she wrote. "It's not that hard to be kind."

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The shop, run by twin magicians Dan and Dave Buck and author Adam Rubin in 2013, offered additional context in a follow-up statement. According to the shop, Molly, the singing and dancing mechanical bird Clarkson had admired, is permanently attached to the shop’s wall and used in its magic shows. But her creator, Seattle artist Bliss Kolb, owns a nearly identical version that could be purchased.

"He told us he would be willing to part with Molly’s twin for $15,000," the shop wrote. "We explained all of this to Kelly Clarkson."

The shop said it had also offered to show Clarkson another singing bird, made by a German clockmaker, which she could have taken home that day. "It costs about $2,000," the statement continued. "She did not stick around long enough to see it."

Online, the disagreement has already become much more about what was available to buy. Some commenters defended Clarkson's right to describe a bad experience.

"We never doubted you queen. Their response was in extremely poor taste," one wrote. Others argued that naming the shop exposed a small business to a disproportionate response. "Wow, you're just determined to destroy a small business, aren't you? I hope they EXPLODE in popularity," said another.

The fallout reached the shop's Facebook page. "Anyone who's been a fan of Kelly’s for years knows that she is incredibly kind, generous, and very humble. And she's far from being a diva. The experience she had at that store had to be pretty bad for her to speak out about it…" wrote one user.

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Others focused on the shop’s response, questioning why it hadn’t apologized or offered to connect Clarkson with the artist. "Why not say, 'We can put you in touch with the maker?'" another user wrote. "I’d bet they’d be thrilled to have Kelly as a customer." One Clarkson fan wrote, "Is the apology in the room with us?"

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Business Insider reported seeing recent negative Google reviews that appeared to be connected to the dispute, but they were no longer visible when it checked again later. It also found polarized responses on Yelp, though it's unclear whether the reviewers had visited the store. Some users questioned the price tag, while others accused Clarkson of using her platform against the shop.

"So a celebrity walks into a small, privately owned business. She doesn’t get exactly what she wants, so she cops an attitude and trashes said small business," wrote one reviewer. "Even if you weren’t lying, you still did the morally wrong thing."

Others shared accounts of shopping there themselves. One woman said she visited over the summer with her family and described a welcoming experience. "I was a little nervous since there [is] some really expensive stuff in there, but I felt very welcome," she wrote.

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Some were harsher. One wrote, "There's no place like Art of Play. It's one of one. Not everything there is for sale, regardless of how famous you are. Go write a song about it. Stop using your online influence to sh*t on a brick and mortar shop that's as dope as Art of Play. If you're near Brooklyn, you have to check this place out!"

This isn't the first time this month that Clarkson has received negative backlash for public commentary: Clarkson's enthusiasm for AI on Las Culturistas prompted disappointed reactions from some fans, as Mashable reported Oct. 2. "Kelly no...this isn't you...," one commenter wrote.

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These disputes come as Clarkson settles into a new TV chapter. The Kelly Clarkson Show ended its seven-season run on Aug. 31, after she announced she was stepping away to prioritize her children. She’s still on television, though, returning as a coach for Season 30 of The Voice, which premiered in September.

As of now, Art of Play says it has reached out to Clarkson directly, leaving open the possibility that the next conversation will happen privately.

"We've reached out to Kelly directly to try and clear the air," the shop wrote. "We really do wish her the best and hope that someday we can all laugh about this misunderstanding."