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The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you love bright shades.

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 24, 2025 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: The peak

• Green: Actions in Word

• Blue: Vibrant

• Purple: A fashion add-on

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Best years

• Green: Things you can do to text

• Blue: Things known for being colorful things

• Purple: Ending in accessories

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 #866 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Best years: HEYDAY, PINNACLE, PRIME, ZENITH

• Things you can do to text: BOLD, HIGHLIGHT, STRIKETHROUGH, UNDERLINE

• Things known for being colorful things: KALEIDOSCOPE, PEACOCK, RAINBOW, SUNSET

• Ending in accessories: BAYWATCH, COOTIE, HERRING, KINGPIN

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 October 24, 2025

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 today's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're interested in past events.

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 October 17, 2025 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for October 24, 2025 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Through the ages

The words are related to past times.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe the before times.

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 History.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for October 24

• Stone

• Bronze

• Iron

• History

• Industrial

• Space

• Information

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 today's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're familiar with botany.

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 October 24, 2025 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 October 17, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Part of a plant.

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 T.

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...

TUBER

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.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for October 24, 2025

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 today's Wordle.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: How to play Pips, the newest NYT game

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, Oct. 24, 2025:

AcrossDove's soft call

• The answer is Coo.

Write-up on a book jacket

• The answer is Blurb.

Two to one, for one

• The answer is Ratio.

Cupid's weaponry, along with 5-Down

• The answer is Arrow.

Jennings of "Jeopardy!"

• The answer is Ken.

DownW.N.B.A. star Caitlin

• The answer is Clark.

Beyond bizarre, from the French

• The answer is Outre.

What has a "belt" seen only at night

• The answer is Orion.

Supportive undergarment

• The answer is Bra.

See 7-Across

• The answer is Bow.

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

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

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

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Mini Crossword.

The best iPads are better than ever. Within the past year, every model has received an upgrade, meaning Apple's tablets are now equipped with the latest silicon. iPads remain versatile tablets and can even be budget-friendly, if you catch them on sale. The full line-up now includes: the iPad with A16 chip, iPad Mini with A17 chip, iPad Air with M3 chip, and iPad Pro with M5 chip.

At this point, iPads can do (almost) anything your laptop can do thanks to iPadOS 26. Whether you want to stream, browse the internet, illustrate, or edit videos, you can do it on the iPad. Recent developments in the Pro and Air models also set them up as gaming devices.

The rapid pace of Apple's update schedule makes shopping for a tablet all the more difficult. So, we tested every model to help you find the best iPad for you.

Which iPad model should I buy?

The right iPad for you depends purely on your needs. Do you want something that has enough storage and speed for streaming? Do you want to use it to read? Do you want to use a tablet as your primary workstation? Your answers should factor into your decision.

To get you started, we believe the best iPad for most people is the new M3 iPad Air (2025). It has exceptional performance but is also in the middle range for both price and capability.

ANC and spatial audio Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

Apple’s noise cancellation surpasses Sony’s, at least when it comes to wireless earbuds. The technology does away with nearly all low- and mid-frequency sounds. These buds handle high-frequency sounds better than the AirPods Pro 2; sirens and whistles are barely audible. Transparency mode remains clutch for increasing ambient awareness. Also, modes like Conversation Boost allow you to communicate clearly without removing the buds. Much of the same can be said about the WF-1000xM5’s adaptive noise cancellation, though its high-frequency reduction isn’t as effective. Wind resistance is stronger on the WF-1000xM5.

Personalized Spatial Audio performs well on the AirPods Pro 3. Dolby Atmos content sounds immersive and natural. Effects and vocals are placed accurately on the soundscape and transition smoothly with every head gesture. Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format does a convincing job of making music sound livelier. Sadly, the feature works with very few streaming platforms.

Winner: Apple AirPods Pro 3

Read our full review of the AirPods Pro 3.

Audio quality and platform compatibility Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

Sony’s sound technologies are awesome. Its 8.4mm Dynamic Driver X units produce wide sound with enhanced bass and treble that blend beautifully with crisp mids and striking highs. The 10-band EQ with multiple well-engineered presets is perfect for personalizing sound. There’s the Find Your EQ setting that tailors sound to your hearing. My favorite feature, DSEE, is essential for increasing fidelity on low-quality recordings. LDAC codec support boosts bitrate transmission to reveal more detail on tracks when streaming from DSPs (e.g, Apple Music, Spotify) via Android.

Speaking of which, the WF-1000xM5 easily pairs to Android and iOS/macOS devices. The Sony Sound Connect app is multi-platform and places all functionality at the tip of your finger. 

The AirPods Pro 3 sound terrific out of the box (bass and highs are prominent). They just lack the WF-1000xM5’s practical sound customization. Pairing to Android devices can be difficult at times, and about 70 percent of the buds’ features are restricted to iOS. 

Winner: Sony WF-1000xM5

Read our full review of the Sony WF-1000xM5. 

Where they meet in the middle Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

Features are abundant on these two models. Many of the AirPods Pro 3’s top perks were previously discussed, but there are extras worth mentioning, such as heart rate monitoring and Live Translation. Both features work surprisingly well. Other notables include audio sharing, auto switching, “Hey Siri” voice activation (iOS/macOS only), Personalized Volume, and Voice Isolation. The WF-1000xM5 receive many of the same features as the WH-1000xM6 headphones, from multi-level audio settings to smart controls (Quick Attention, Speak-to-Chat).

Comfort and fit are both hit and miss. While the AirPods Pro 3’s new curvy sound port provides optimal fit, it feels unpleasant on the ear after three hours of wear. The WF-1000xM5’s circular design is comfy, but it doesn’t form a secure fit (many experts blame the bundled memory foam tips).

Battery life is almost identical. Both wireless charging cases hold up to 24 hours of listening time. A single charge offers 8 hours of ANC. The WF-1000xM5 can extend playtime to 12 hours when disabling ANC and special features, whereas the AirPods Pro 3 tap out at 10 hours. Charging times are faster on the WF-1000xM5: a 3-minute charge equals 3 hours of use. There is one caveat — you need a PD-compatible charger. The AirPods Pro 3 generate 1 hour on a 5-minute charge.

Winner: Tie And the winner is… Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

It’s too early to call this bout. Therefore, we’re chalking it up to a tie, and for all the right reasons.

The addition of highly anticipated features and improvements to key areas (e.g, ANC, battery life) earns the AirPods Pro 3 high praise. As for the WF-1000xM5, they’re still a force to be reckoned with, powered by singular proprietary technologies that deliver class-leading sound and equally great noise cancellation.

Your choice may come down to pricing. Apple’s buds are the more affordable pair at $249. The current tariff fiasco has caused Sony to raise the WF-1000xM5’s MSRP from $299 to $329. However, they are on sale frequently; Amazon had the buds priced at $190 during its July Prime Day event.

In the end, you’re getting exceptional value from each model that no other luxury rival can match. 

Winner: Tie

TL;DR: Try your hand at piano without someone lingering over your shoulders. Skoove gives you access to a lifetime of interactive lessons with real-time feedback, all for $109.97 (reg. $299.99). 

Opens in a new window Credit: Skoove Skoove Premium Piano Lessons: Lifetime Subscription $109.97
$299.99 Save $190.02   Get Deal

Getting into a new hobby can be a huge investment — especially when that hobby is an instrument. You can try your hand at YouTube videos, but if you’re someone who enjoys a bit more instruction, piano lessons can be an even bigger cost. If you want to save yourself from the awkward “I can only afford one class a month” conversation, you’re in luck. Skoove, an online piano learning platform, is offering a lifetime subscription for new users for only $109.97 (reg $299.99).

It’s time to brush off that dusty old piano or keyboard — whatever floats your boat. Skoove is compatible with all pianos and keyboards, both USB, MIDI, and acoustic. From Mozart to The Beatles to Coldplay, Skoove’s lessons are built to teach you songs you actually want to learn. It focuses on building technique, rhythm, and improvisation piece by piece.

SEE ALSO: Go beyond vocabulary — build real language fluency with Babbel

If you’re a visual learner, Skoove offers multiple ways to master the art of piano playing. The platform hosts over 400 instructional lessons and thousands of instructional videos, all at your fingertips.

If you’re someone who enjoys tailored instruction, you won’t lose the positive qualities of in-person instruction, either. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize the notes you play and offer real-time feedback, so you improve with every session.

As a self-paced platform, Skoove allows you to practice and learn wherever you are. Waiting for the train? Whip out your smartphone and squeeze in a session or a few warmups. Skoove works on tablets, smartphones, and laptops, whether it’s iOS, Android, macOS, or another operating system.

If you’re looking for a flexible and affordable way to get into piano, look no further than Skoove.

Normally $299.99, a lifetime subscription to Skoove Interactive AI Piano Lessons is on sale for $109.97 for a limited time.  

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Tired of running out of digital space? Internxt Cloud Storage just dropped the price of their 50TB lifetime subscription to $699.99 (reg. $7,900).

Opens in a new window Credit: Internxt Internxt Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription $699.99
$7,900 Save $7,200.01   Get Deal

As more and more companies switch to subscription-based models for their products, those $10 recurring fees add up — especially over a lifetime. So, what do you do? The answer is simple: invest upfront. And if you’re someone who values your digital storage, right now’s the time to invest. You can secure 50TB of digital storage thanks to a one-time payment of $699.99 (reg. $7,900) for Internxt Cloud Storage.

50TB of storage capacity gives you a lifetime’s worth of space to back up all your favorite memories without having to pick and choose. Generally, 50 terabytes (TB) of cloud storage can hold nearly 1,000 full-length movies, or millions of photos and documents. While those numbers may vary on the file types and sizes, that’s more than enough space. The next time you’ll be hit with a “low storage” notification may be when you’re old and gray.

SEE ALSO: Apple's brand-new M5 MacBook Pro got a launch day discount: Save $15 on Amazon

Aside from having space, Internxt’s services are designed with complete security in mind. You, and only you, have full control over your files. The platform utilizes post-quantum encryption to keep your files safe from computing hacking power. Rest easy knowing each file is encrypted into smaller pieces so others can’t read them — not even Internxt can read your data, that’s how locked up it is!

With an easy-to-follow user interface, quickly access and share files through apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, or through a web browser. You can also set permissions and share links securely if you need to collaborate or deliver sensitive files to others.

So, if you’re in the market for a new cloud storage provider that’s big on privacy, security, and offering you plenty of space, you’re in luck.

Grab a lifetime subscription to Internxt’s 50TB Cloud Storage for $699.99 (reg. $7,900) while you can.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

There's actor/director pairings so strong that they come to define the core of both's filmographies: Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, and now Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos. 

Sure, the Greek director was on the rise before collaborating with Stone, having earned international critical acclaim for 2009's Dogtooth, and his first Oscar nomination (for Best Screenplay) for the Colin Farrell-fronted The Lobster. But it was when Lanthimos teamed up with Emma Stone for The Favourite that something changed. That bawdy sapphic comedy not only earned 10 Oscar nominations but also a win for leading lady Olivia Colman. Stone and Lanthimos' follow-up, Poor Things, did even better while getting much wilder, combining the racy humor of The Favourite with the gut-churning science fiction of Frankenstein. Critical praise led to box office success, as well as 11 Oscar nominations and four wins, including Best Actress and Best Picture. 

Despite its sex, violence, dark humor, and gore (or perhaps because of it), Poor Things became the pair's most popular movie to date. Props to them for challenging their audience with what would come next. Kinds of Kindness offered a collection of uncomfortable and unconventional vignettes, involving a husband suspicious of his wife, a peculiar sex cult, and an unusual business arrangement. Critics were mixed and audiences didn't turn out. So what's next for this daring duo? 

Bugonia, a remake of Jang Joon-hwan's 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet! On its surface, it seems the kind of class conflict scenario that would play well to Stone and Lanthimos' shared cinematic interest. However, while screenwriter Will Tracy (The Menu, The Regime) makes some stark changes from Jang's script, the resulting film feels strangely safe, even as it's drenched in buzzwords and taboos. 

Bugonia explores the manosphere, conspiracy theories, and class conflict.  Credit: Atsushi Nishijima / Focus Features

Jesse Plemons, who co-starred with Stone in Kinds of Kindness, stars as a beekeeper and conspiracy theorist named Teddy who's on a self-assigned mission to save his mother and the planet Earth. Living in a rotting family home that he shares with his impressionable cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis), Teddy is convinced that everything from the declining bee populations to his mother's comatose state are signs that extraterrestrial invaders are already here, plotting to destroy mankind. 

Having identified pharmaceuticals CEO Michelle Fuller (Stone) as one of these aliens, Teddy convinces Don to assist him in a kidnapping plot that he hopes will put them in contact with the leader of the invaders for negotiation. 

Credit: Atsushi Nishijima / Focus Features

In Save the Green Planet!, the kidnapped CEO was a man. The gender swap of the abductee puts Teddy not only in the conspiracy theory discourse but also in the American manosphere, where empowered women are often seen as a societal ill. Thus, Michelle could be seen as a threat to Teddy's masculinity and identity, even if she's not the nefarious alien he believes her to be. 

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Afflicted with nightmares about his ailing mother (Alicia Silverstone), Teddy resents Michelle for her power, wealth, and the breezy calm she exudes even when discussing horrific news. His ability to use chloroform to knock her out and brute force to steal her from her home, shave her head (so her hair can't call for help to the mothership), and dress her in his mother's clothes are all victories for his mission. Not only has he succeeded in ousting this alien threat from her safe space, but he is also reclaiming the power he lost in failing to save his mother, recaptured by torturing the woman he blames for his mother's current predicament. 

But hey, you don't cast two-time Academy Award winner Emma Stone (La La Land) to play a damsel in distress.

Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone square off in Bugonia.  Credit: Atsushi Nishijima / Focus Features

Far from being cowed by Teddy and Don's ambush or the many monologues about aliens and righteousness she's forced to listen to while in captivity, Michelle is cool and collected. She exudes calm and frustration, but not fear as she explains as if talking to a child that she is not an alien. 

The battle of wills that follows is the core of Bugonia. Plemons, a profoundly skilled actor who can play sweethearts and scumbags with aplomb, plunges into Teddy with an ego-free abandon. Where Michelle is introduced as impeccably dressed in tailored business attire, clean girl makeup, and carefully coiffed hair, Teddy's mane is untamed, including a scruffy beard. And when Teddy wears a suit — to attempt to impress upon her his seriousness and status — it's battered and ill-fitting. Visually, he is a downtrodden buffoon. So, when he monologues, his appearance suggests he can't be taken seriously as he pontificates about the dangers of these high-and-mighty aliens, who don't care about the people of Earth because their power can always allow them to move on to another planet. 

As Michelle, Stone plays patience for self-preservation, a deeply relatable survival tactic. But as Teddy becomes more threatening, Stone morphs into various manipulations, ranging from cajoling to threatening. 

As in Kinds of Kindness, it's exciting to see these two scorching performers face off in a battle of wits, words, and wills. But frankly, it gets old. It likely didn't help my experience watching Bugonia that I'd seen Save the Green Planet!, so I had a strong idea of where the final act would go. Tracy and Lanthimos weave in bloody, wild new turns to the conclusion, but it doesn't make it fun or more profound. Instead, despite the star power, the dark sense of humor, the political commentary, and cat-and-mouse psychology between captive and captor, Bugonia becomes bogged down by sadness, or even hopelessness. 

Bugonia is a bummer. Credit: Atsushi Nishijima / Focus Features

The production design, presenting the contrast of rot and gloss, swiftly sets up the conflict between Teddy and Michelle. The color palette and its suffocating yellow cast suggest festering, potentially of Teddy's sanity or the world, and soon consumes even Michelle's once flawless appearance. But the buildup to the final act lacks momentum.

The scenes between Stone and Plemons don't so much build as they feel cyclical, until the wheels fall off, causing calamity. Maybe that's the point. Perhaps Bugonia is warning of the tedious runaround we as humans do day in and day out, arguing over who's right and who's wicked, the world and its people suffering all the while. Sure, the trailers for Bugonia set up the expectation for a thriller, focusing on the capture and the manhunt sure to follow for a "high-profile female executive." But mostly the movie is about who you're more comfortable believing. And within that, the political messaging gets muddy. 

You might revisit The Favourite for the wickedly sharp barbs or the crazy chemistry between Colman, Stone, and Rachel Weisz. A Poor Things rewatch is an enthralling plunge into the compelling collision of beauty and ugliness, love and loss, luxury and poverty. Kinds of Kindness might still feel like an enigma we have not cracked. But Bugonia, despite having a sensational cast and clear vision for its world, lacks profundity in its smorgasbord of hot topics. Environmentalism, oligarchy, the manosphere, healthcare for profit — all of these make for a dizzying brew from which Teddy and Michelle arise on opposing sides. But what their battle ultimately means feels oddly remote after all the blood, sweat, tears, and chloroform. I was left feeling neither amused, elated, confounded or enraged, but just uncomfortably numb.

Bugonia opens in select theaters on Oct. 24.

Can a great horror movie be Frankensteined together from a laundry list of iconic ones? That's what I'm left pondering after watching Shelby Oaks, the promising and oft unnerving but also somewhat scattered first feature from popular YouTube movie reviewer Chris Stuckmann.

The movie starts out convincing you it's one thing, but reveals itself in quick succession to be a very different beast altogether. From The Blair Witch Project to Martyrs to Barbarian and several beyond that, Shelby Oaks doesn't just wear its many genre influences on its sleeves — it wears them on its chest and back and shoulders. It's a coat of many horror movies, made of cuts deep and broad. And, to ever so slightly belabor the metaphor, some of the coat fits just right, while as much of it could use some more refined tailoring. 

Still, as far as Kickstarter-funded first features go, Shelby Oaks is a big, bold swing — albeit one produced by horror honcho Mike Flanagan, the man behind a swath of Netflix horror miniseries like The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher. It's twisty as hell, bears some ace performances, and truly gifts audiences with some very sticky and very spooky images. Most of all, it marks the emergence of a horror filmmaker worth keeping an eye on. 

Shelby Oaks blends The Blair Witch Project with Lake Mungo — and that's just the start.

"Who took Riley Brennan?" is the question at the heart of Shelby Oaks. The film opens with the last known bit of footage of Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn), YouTuber/ghost hunter, before she went missing in the titular town. In the scene, she sits on a bed in a cabin in the middle of the woods. She's seen sobbing, absolutely terrified, saying into the camera, "I'm so scared."

It's an inch-long leap from Riley's tearful lament to Heather Donahue's legendarily snotty apologia in The Blair Witch Project, the one that poetically stated, "I'm scared to close my eyes, and I'm scared to open them."

Writer-director Stuckmann anticipates his horror-loving audience will make this connection. But then he does something really interesting, pivoting from the found-footage conceit to a true-crime documentary framework. Leaping to a decade or so after Riley's disappearance, it turns out that Riley's older sister, Mia (Camille Sullivan), has spent the intervening years fruitlessly searching for the truth of what happened in the woods of Shelby Oaks that night. And she's now starring in a true-crime documentary in an effort to reignite interest in the case of her missing sister.  

For horror fanatics, this turn might well recall Lake Mungo. Told via talking-head interviews with the family of the missing blonde girl at its center, the 2008 Australian horror film unfurls its paranormal revelations piecemeal through conversations and scattered bits of phone video. Lake Mungo is admittedly a deeper cut than The Blair Witch Project, but no sooner does Shelby Oaks settle into this faux-documentary conceit than Stuckmann pivots again to a straightforward narrative film. Well, it's as straightforward as the twisty likes of Hereditary or Barbarian.

SEE ALSO: As a prelude to Halloween, I spent an afternoon with Hunt a Killer: Horror — Blair Witch

Essentially, Shelby Oaks maintains its cast, but ditches the documentary framework altogether, showing us what is "really" happening — but through artifice, forcing us to question what is real. The camerawork becomes stylized, with special effects and slow motion and close-ups; an aggressive and manipulative score takes over. The film will shift from these narrative scenes to the documentary setup to found footage and back again, maximizing this sense of narrative disquiet.  

These structural sleights of hands, like all good and proper rug-pullings, are where Shelby Oaks works its greatest magic. Playing on the expectations of horror diehards, Stuckmann manages to keep us on our toes, even discombobulated. We find ourselves switching between missing-person found footage to the cult horror of Hereditary with the twists and turns (and hidden underground caverns) of Martyrs and Barbarian, and then right back to a talking-head true-crime doc on a dime. This all builds up its own sort of disassociation within the experience of watching it. 

Shelby Oaks is a hodgepodge of horror, from found footage to Satanic panic. Credit: Courtesy of Neon

Despite these daring shifts, Shelby Oaks begins to feel more like the parts of its sum and not vice versa. Stuckmann is motioning toward all of these other movies to unmoor us, but those references often distract from the actual plot and, in turn, undermine our investment in it. For instance, the casting of Brendan Sexton III as Mia's husband proves distracting, even though he's terrific. An actor who's been killing it since Todd Solondz's 1995 hit, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Sexton turns in yet another lovely, sad piece of work here. But you set him against multiple scenes that take place inside of a haunted prison, and now all I'm thinking about is Session 9, Brad Anderson's fantastically creepy 2001 haunted prison movie, where Sexton made a mark as one of the asbestos cleaners who found himself on the wrong end of some rusty psychiatric equipment.

To what end is this? At what point do these Easter eggs overwhelm? All these allusions ultimately get in the way of Shelby Oaks standing on its own and becoming truly, deeply scary. Stuckmann seems very aware of the exact moment when his scares are supposed to land, often to the point of self-consciousness. You could set a timer to when the thing you're supposed to be dreading will appear, and the dreaded thing will stick that mark every time. There are moments when a zag would've kicked the ass of a zig, but Stuckmann keeps on zigging, playing right into horror connoisseur expectations. There is real, earned tension, but the film keeps deflating itself despite the fun of its reality-shifting and the many excellent go-for-broke performances therein. 

Camille Sullivan leads a cast that fights valiantly for Shelby Oaks.  Credit: Courtesy of Neon

An actor who's been nipping at the edges of recognition for two decades, appearing in TV shows from Dark Angel to The Man in the High Castle, Camille Sullivan has long proven a reliable performer. And here at last she is given the spotlight to make the most of it. 

Even when Mia starts doing incredibly stupid things that put her right in harm's way, Sullivan is genuinely devastating. She sells the hell out of bad choices, making it clear that Mia's a person who would go to any lengths to uncover what happened to her beloved sister. (And as long as we're talking references, besides this being the lead's arc in that French Extremity classic Martyrs, it's straight out of the terrifying 1988 Dutch thriller The Vanishing, too.) 

Sullivan nails big action moments, like emotional blowups and freak-outs in which her palpable fright is legitimately difficult to look at. But even the small moments give her opportunities to send shivers. Just watch the way the flashlight trembles in her hand as she investigates that haunted prison, a subtle shift in body language that communicates a bone-deep terror. It's those touches that carry the audience alongside Mia the entire way. 

Sarah Durn is also haunting as missing girl Riley, who has to sell her undoing while staring off into space during the "naturalistic" found-footage portions of this movie. These are scenes we keep coming back to to see more of as, natch, more footage gets found, and her haunted presence diffuses into every corner of the film. As we know from decades of subpar found-footage movies, it's not easy, this high-wire balancing act of giving a relaxed and unprofessional-seeming performance under those constraints. Loads have failed spectacularly. But Durn makes us understand why her sister won't let her go even as everyone else has long given up. She makes Riley our ghost, too.

The whole ensemble expertly submerges into the multiple realities of this story. Even if Stuckmann needs to get a little bit out of his own way in some other areas, he proves to be terrific with his performers. Sullivan and Sexton share some very moving moments together as they watch their marriage crumble in the face of tragedy. Michael Beach wears a bone-deep exhaustion in his performance as the main detective on the case, giving a lived-in sense of resignation at the system's endless failures. And Keith David (the deep-voiced legend from The Thing and They Live, among many) shows up to Keith David it out of the park, playing the former warden of that haunted prison who has seen some shit and who, in typical fashion, is going to colorfully monologue to you all about it. 

But best of all is the great and notoriously underused Robin Bartlett. One of those stalwart character actors with decades of stealing scenes under their belts (she's been doing it since Heaven's Gate in 1980, but I always first think of her hilarious scenes around the dinner table in Inside Llewyn Davis whenever I see her), Bartlett shows up and gives the movie a last-act goose that takes it over the edge into true unhinged horror-movie delight. More I cannot and will not spoil, except to say that yes, this is how you give Robin Bartlett her due. She ends up stealing — and in so doing, making — the entire movie.

Playing like a post-post-modern pastiche, an ouroboros of antecedents, and sometimes just a wicked walk through a nightmare wasteland, Shelby Oaks has enough gas in its tank for 10 movies. That it sometimes feels like 10 movies we've seen before is both part of its weird ballsy charm and its scrappy undoing. In the end, Shelby Oaks is a battle between Stuckmann's many, many inspirations. But the gripping performances and big swings in style make for a movie worth its runtime. Despite its faults, the directorial debut should prove a hell of a calling card for Chris Stuckmann as a new voice in horror. I can't wait to see what he delivers to us next.

Shelby Oaks is in theaters now.

UPDATE: Oct. 22, 2025, 5:29 p.m. EDT "Shelby Oaks" was reviewed out of the Fantasia International Film Festival. This article, originally published July 31, 2024, has been updated to include the latest viewing options.

At times, watching Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere feels like watching a musical episode of The Bear.

The most obvious similarity is that Jeremy Allen White leads both projects, but The Bear comparisons aren't solely his fault. Even without White, writer-director Scott Cooper's take on the Boss is eerily reminiscent of Carmy Berzatto: He's a tortured artist haunted by a difficult family life. His quest for perfection in his work leads him to push away everyone around him, including his girlfriend, Faye (Odessa Young). He's also struggling with his mental health, bottling up his darker feelings and expressing them in his music.

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The latter is ostensibly the focus of Deliver Me From Nowhere, which chronicles the writing and recording of Springsteen's sixth studio album, Nebraska. But while the film's music remains classic as ever, and while White does an admirable job channeling Springsteen, Deliver Me From Nowhere fails to deliver anything revelatory about the actual emotions behind the music.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere falls into cliché. Jeremy Allen White in "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere." Credit: Macall Polay / 20th Century Studios

Like 2024's Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, Deliver Me From Nowhere opts not to chart its subject's career from beginning to end. Instead, when Deliver Me From Nowhere opens, Springsteen is already a star, growling out "Born to Run" in front of a rapturous crowd on his sold-out The River Tour.

Despite being a massive success, Springsteen is a troubled soul. He thinks often of his childhood — rendered in black and white in the film — primarily his relationship with his abusive father (Adolescence's Stephen Graham) and concerned mother (Gaby Hoffmann). Between early concert footage and these flashbacks, Deliver Me From Nowhere falls quickly into cliché. But at least the film's concert and recording studio sessions provide it with a jolt of musical adrenaline. The flashbacks, on the other hand, are a cheap shortcut to trauma.

SEE ALSO: 'A House of Dynamite' review: Idris Elba leads an all-star ensemble nuclear-war thriller

Springsteen's father's characterization boils down to the constant presence of a lit cigarette and a can of beer. Springsteen's mother is the stereotypical portrait of a woman trapped in a marriage with a dangerous man. The two scream at each other behind closed doors, the kind of scene that's been done to death. Yet it's this childhood and these relationships that serve as the bedrock of Springsteen's anxieties as he works on Nebraska. And because that past is so thinly drawn, the core of the movie falls flat.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere can't find the pain in the music. Jeremy Allen White in "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere." Credit: 20th Century Studios

Deliver Me From Nowhere uses the oldest tricks in the book to convey Springsteen's depression. He lays, despondent, around his rental house. He almost breaks down while driving, speeding his car toward oblivion before braking and letting out a yell.

Yet these images, while obvious signifiers of pain, lack a clear motivation. Deliver Me From Nowhere is always telling audiences that Springsteen is suffering. At one point, Springsteen mentions that when he goes home, "the quiet can get a little loud," a line that feels ripped straight from The Bear. Elsewhere, his music producer Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) remarks on the feelings of guilt and shame Springsteen evokes in his Nebraska recordings.

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Neither the guilt nor the shame come through in Springsteen's writing and recording process, though. Instead, the process reads as simplistically linear: Springsteen watches Terrence Malick's Badlands; researches its real-life inspiration, murderer Charles Starkweather; then turns around and writes the song "Nebraska." He recalls his father taking him and his sister to play near a mansion on a hill, and boom, "Mansion on the Hill" is born. There are no surprises, no real discoveries about the emotions driving the music.

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Even drama surrounding Springsteen's personal life and his relationship with Faye feels empty. Their early interactions are rife with sappy-sweet, contrived dialogue, while Springsteen's decision to distance himself from her rings hollow. A scene where Faye confronts Springsteen about how absent he is could easily be subbed out for Carmy and Claire's (Molly Gordon) confrontation from The Bear Season 4, and you'd have the same result.

Jeremy Allen White delivers a great performance as Bruce Springsteen. Jeremy Allen White in "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere." Credit: Macall Polay / 20th Century Studios

As flawed as Deliver Me From Nowhere is, one area where it doesn't falter is the casting of White as Springsteen. Camouflaged somewhat behind a pair of brown contacts and some sideburns, White channels Springsteen's melancholy with the same careful vulnerability that earned him an Emmy for The Bear. Make no mistake, though. While the arcs of both Carmy and Springsteen are oddly similar, these are not copycat performances.

White's Carmy so often feels on the verge of exploding with anger or grief, while his Springsteen carries a steady sadness with him at all times. If Carmy is a pressure cooker, Springsteen is a deep lake.

White brings his all to Deliver Me From Nowhere's many musical scenes, singing Springsteen's hits and the occasional cover song at the Stone Pony until veins pop out of his neck and his face is covered in sweat. Does his own singing match up seamlessly with the Boss's? No way. But the swelling energy of the concert sequences and White's full-throated commitment bring the performances home.

Still, White does his best work in Deliver Me From Nowhere's quietest moments. In one sequence, he sits in silence for a good long while before his face crumples and he lets out great, heaving sobs. It's an astounding moment of catharsis, and further proof of White's ability as a performer to bring deep sorrow to life. If only the rest of Deliver Me From Nowhere had the emotional heft to back that sequence up.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere was reviewed out of the New York Film Festival. It hits theaters Oct. 24.

What if you had 19 minutes before nuclear war kicked off? What could you possibly do to stop it? Or failing that, what unfinished business would you want to tackle? This is the nauseating question at the center of A House of Dynamite. Academy Award–winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) teams with Zero Day writer Noah Oppenheim — and an all-star cast — to show what it might look like if one of the United States' enemies launched a missile at one of our nation's major cities. 

In the blink of an eye, soldiers, politicians, and government officials go from having a totally run-of-the-mill day to participating in a moment that will define the lives of millions, in the U.S. and abroad. And all their decisions must happen in a 19-minute window. 

Idris Elba stars as the president of the United States, while the rest of his team (and beyond) is brought to life by Rebecca Ferguson, Greta Lee, Anthony Ramos, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Moses Ingram, Jason Clarke, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Kaitlyn Dever, and Tracy Letts. But make no mistake, this is not the kind of American movie that cheers, "Here comes POTUS to save the world."

Bigelow's work, which ranges from the trippy Strange Days and the propulsive Point Break to the intense Zero Dark Thirty and the earnest Detroit, isn't interested in feel-good fantasies. What she delivers with A House of Dynamite is a passionate and powerful call to disarm. But be warned, the movie around this message is nerve-shredding and pretty infuriating. 

A House of Dynamite plays out a nightmare scenario in a tense triptych.  Rebecca Ferguson as Captain Olivia Walker in "A House of Dynamite." Credit: Eros Hoagland / Netflix

Bigelow's latest film begins in Washington, D.C., on a sunny morning in which a flood of government workers casually go through security protocols to take up their positions at monitoring devices and computer screens. They carry baubles of their personal lives: an engagement ring ready to be proposed with, a small toy dinosaur from a flu-ish little boy, a cellphone ablaze with a photo of loved ones. These tokens of the world outside their cold situation rooms illustrate what each person here works for. Beyond the paycheck to cover the costs of apartments and doctors' appointments, their edict to make the world a better place means keeping the U.S. safe for the pregnant wife, sick son, or estranged daughter who has no idea what the sausage of peacemaking looks like. 

In a bustling first act, Oppenheim's script efficiently sketches out an array of characters who collaborate across situation rooms, secured phone lines, and crowded video calls to handle any crisis that hits. Yet the main focus of this section is Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson), a mom who relishes playing with her kid and giving motherly advice to a younger co-worker, but is all business in the White House Situation Room when news of the mysterious missile arrives. Not long after the bomb appears on their tracking screens, a voice over the conference call estimates 19 minutes until impact. 

This 19-minute window plays out in each section, focusing on a different group with a different character taking the lead. So just as A House of Dynamite nears the final countdown in the first act, it leaps back 20 minutes for a chapter called "Hitting a Bullet with a Bullet." The second act focuses on new-to-the-department Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington (Gabriel Basso), who has the comically embarrassing distinction of being late to work on the biggest day of his life.

That means he's taking this world-defining Zoom call from his cellphone while racing to the office. While every other window is black in privacy mode or showing some grave general or another, Baerington's is at an unflattering low angle, shaking as he hustles to his station. In chapter one, that's actually pretty funny. But in chapter two, his frantic running is stressful because we already understand what is at stake. From there, he is our guide into the sweaty calls to foreign diplomats, trying to suss out who launched this missile so that the president might know how to best proceed. Then once again, as we near the end of the countdown, the clock resets.

The third chapter, titled "A House Full of Dynamite" (instead of A House of Dynamite) shifts to the president (Elba). For the first two-thirds of the film, he was only heard over the conference call. Now, what he's been up to is finally revealed. But this chapter is where the film begins to fall apart.

A House of Dynamite is suffocatingly tense, until it's just not.  Gabriel Basso as Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington in "A House of Dynamite." Credit: Eros Hoagland / Netflix

For the first chapter, disembodied voices shout expository lines about the bomb's trajectory, timing, and likely kill count. As the movie progresses and the timeline resets, these voices become on-camera characters whose stories give greater context to their answers. It's an effective approach by Oppenheim, as we — like the characters — experience the first act bewildered by the news and the sheer flood of it. With the second and then the third act, we're not only teased with the catastrophic impact three times, but we're also given space to step back and better understand the possibilities of what comes next. It's a lecture, but exciting — even if all the answers boil down to "nothing good!" 

However, with a 112-minute runtime, A House of Dynamite tries our patience. The third act splits focus, revealing what's been going on with the president and the secretary of defense (Jared Harris). What was character-building in the first two acts feels like filler as we, the audience, grow more and more eager to see how this is going to turn out. The third act picks back up as these men make a move. Though not sharing the screen, Elba and Harris deliver performances that swiftly show the strain of these decisions, coupled with the tenderness that makes them impossible. 

To the credit of a sensational cast, the vexing pace of A House of Dynamite's final act is nearly made bearable because of their performances. The film zips from military installations around the world, grappling with this disaster. Yet Bigelow's clarity of vision keeps clear who is who and what is what. But at a certain point, A House of Dynamite becomes intentionally aggravating. 

You'll hate the ending of A House of Dynamite. Tracy Letts as General Anthony Brady and Gbenga Akinnagbe as Major General Steven Kyle in "A House of Dynamite." Credit: Eros Hoagland / Netflix

I predict audiences will hate this ending, as I hated this ending. But I'll say this: It makes sense. 

With A House of Dynamite, Oppenheim and Bigelow set out to explain in a big, flashy Hollywood fashion exactly what a catastrophe a nuclear war would be. They basically give us plenty of sugar through star power and suspense to help the medicine go down.

Perhaps every generation since the atom bomb's creation has needed such a reminder in compelling art. Watching this movie, I thought a lot about the novel Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, which I read in high school and still think of, probably too often. A House of Dynamite shows us a noble, handsome collection of soldiers and public servants coming together to protect the nation, its people, and their own families. And all the safeguards that are set up to make sure the worst won't happen are not enough to guarantee it won't happen. 

A House of Dynamite gets finger-waggy in its anti-nuclear arms messaging. But that's not the frustrating bit. Bigelow and Oppenheim set up a feast of big questions. It's not that they've bitten off more than they can chew, but that they've decided it's not for them to chew. With this frustrating finale, they leave us without answers, forced to find our own.

While A House of Dynamite will have a brief theatrical run, as a Netflix original it will chiefly be watched at home. How much time for meditation on the movie's message will at-home audiences have before the streaming service switches over to an algorithm-approved bit of entertainment to distract us?

A House of Dynamite debuts on Netflix on Oct. 24.

UPDATE: Oct. 22, 2025, 5:05 p.m. EDT "A House of Dynamite" was reviewed out of the New York Film Festival. This article, originally published on Oct. 10, has been updated to include the latest viewing options.

Dating in 2025 isn't easy, according to daters that Mashable spoke to earlier this year. Dating app exhaustion is realer than ever, and while people want to branch out and meet in person, they're finding it difficult. 

With modern life as busy as it is, and community scattered as it is, online dating isn't going anywhere. That's not a bad thing, as dating apps are a legitimate way to find a partner, and not just a short-term one. Nearly 44 percent of adults say they use dating apps to find a long-term partner rather than just casual dating or hookups, according to the Pew Research Center. One in 10 partnered adults met their current partner through a dating app, and for younger adults and LGBTQ people, that number rises. 

SEE ALSO: 11 best dating apps for women who want real connections

You can find someone on dating apps, even if you long for a spontaneous meet cute.

Are dating apps worth it?

Even using the "right" app for you may still bring moments of uncertainty and frustration (you're dating, after all), but finding the app with the features that most align with your style of dating and the type of partnership you're looking for can absolutely still make online dating worth it.

If you've been using apps for a while and are experiencing serious burnout, it's always fair to take some time off and come back to them when you feel ready. Our guide will be here for you! Even the best app can feel exceptionally tedious when you simply don't have the energy.

Which dating app is best for serious relationships?

There are so many dating apps, but not all of them are created equal when it comes to finding a serious, committed relationship.

Some free dating apps are better suited for casual flings or hookups (e.g., Tinder, Grindr, etc.), while others have matching algorithms and profile features specifically designed to help users find meaningful connections (e.g., eharmony, OkCupid, Hinge, and Coffee Meets Bagel).

The good news is that we've done the research (and hands-on testing) to figure out which apps work best for long-term relationships, and Match Group isn't the only player in the game. Plus, all of these platforms are available via Google Play and the App Store, so having an Android or iPhone won't limit your options. Some of the old-school dating sites still maintain a desktop version as well.

To find your match, here are the best dating apps for serious relationships in 2025:

A Counter-Strike 2 update has crashed the video game's economy, wiping over $2 billion in real-world value. The dramatic plummet is due to surprise changes which make it easier to get rare in-game cosmetics.

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Developer Valve released a "small update" for Counter-Strike 2 on Wednesday evening, which largely made minor tweaks such as improving stability and optimising the free-to-play first-person shooter's performance. However, the patch also included notable changes to how players can obtain in-game cosmetic items, also known as "skins." Specifically, Counter-Strike 2 now allows users to trade in five standard skins for a rare one.

The Counter-Strike 2 skin market crash, explained Credit: Valve

Counter-Strike 2 skins are virtual items which change a player character's appearance. Players can get these cosmetics by using in-game Keys to open in-game Cases. Such Cases can be earned simply by playing, while Keys must be purchased with real money. The skins players receive from Cases are randomised, making it difficult to get rare cosmetics.

Rare items are highly coveted by Counter-Strike 2 players, and can sell for hundreds or even thousands of real-world dollars on third-party cosmetic marketplaces — well above the official Steam Community Market's $1,800 price cap. Last year, an AK-47 skin sold for over $1 million. As such, some players treat Counter-Strike 2 skins as an investment, buying the in-game items hoping to later sell them for a profit. 

Unfortunately for these Counter-Strike 2 investors, the October 22 update has dealt a significant blow to their portfolios. The patch makes it much easier for the average Counter-Strike 2 player to obtain skins for in-game knives and gloves, which were previously some of the game's rarest cosmetics. Now players can simply trade in their other items for these skins, significantly decreasing their scarcity and prompting the value of existing knife and glove cosmetics to fall dramatically.

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According to third-party Counter-Strike 2 market tracker Pricempire.com, the game's economy dropped from a high of over $6 billion to around $4.25 billion in the wake of the update, plummeting by $1.75 billion in less than 24 hours. The economy has since continued to fall, Pricempire.com reporting that it was down $2.4 billion just 29 hours post patch.

Counter-Strike 2 players react to the skin market crash

Some Counter-Strike 2 players claim that the value of their inventories has dropped by the thousands, leaving many shaken. Professional Counter-Strike 2 player Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson livestreamed his discovery that his collection of cosmetics had fallen in value from $58,000 down to $18,000, a loss of $40,000.

On Counter-Strike 2 market subreddit r/csgomarketforum, the most popular post since the update is a link to an international list of suicide hotlines. 

"Guys, all money is temporary, things come and they go," wrote u/HEY_beenTrying2meetU. "Don’t look at your portfolio for a few weeks. Take a walk outside. Hug your loved ones…. Don’t dwell on this. It wasn’t your fault, and we’re all in this together."

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Others are looking on the bright side, noting that the change has finally made knife skins accessible for the average Counter-Strike 2 player. Now players who simply want to play with a pretty virtual knife can do so without forking over a month's salary.

"As a trader this sucks (lost like ~2k), but as a player this is better for the game & casuals," wrote u/DirtSchlurpy.

"I see it from both sides tbh," u/MyOhMyPancakes commented in Counter-Strike subreddit r/GlobalOffensive. "I'm sad that my OG knife dropped 50% but I also know that the high price was from traders plus the CS boom jacking up the price. I'm happy to see my friends be able to get a knife/gloves they want more easily."

If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach the Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat. Here is a list of international resources.

Jeremy Allen White and Stephen Graham's appearance on BBC Radio 1 is a wonderfully chaotic one, with a game of "sit down, stand up" – a BBC Radio 1 staple in which celebrities cold call their famous friends – quickly turning into an unexpected meeting between famous musicians.

Graham goes first, phoning Sam Fender before White manages to get Bruce Springsteen on the phone (who he plays in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere), connecting the two of them for the first time.

The whole thing quickly descends into multiple excited voices talking over each other while Graham celebrates, but it's fun to watch.

Happy Friday and 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 October 18, 2025

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 October 18, 2025 Easy difficulty hints, answers for Oct. 24 Pips

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 1-0, placed vertically; 0-2, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add to 5. The answer is 0-2, placed horizontally; 3-1, placed vertically.

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

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

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Oct. 24 Pips

Less Than (4): Everything in this space must be less than 4. The answer is 2-1, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this red space must add to 4. The answer is 2-1, placed horizontally; 2-3, placed vertically; 0-1, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 5-6, placed vertically.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add to 10. The answer is 5-2, placed vertically; 5-6, placed vertically; 0-1, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add to 9. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically; 6-6, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this green space must add to 4. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 5-2, placed vertically.

Greater Than (10): Everything in this space must be greater than 10. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 6-6, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Oct. 24 Pips

Number (0): Everything in this space must add to 0. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically; 0-3, placed vertically.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add to 8. The answer is 4-2, placed vertically; 0-4, placed.

Number (4): Everything in this light blue space must add to 4. The answer is 4-2, placed vertically; 2-3, placed horizontally.

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

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

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

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

Number (1): Everything in this light blue space must add to 1. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add to 12. The answer is 4-6, placed vertically; 6-5, placed vertically.

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

Number (4): Everything in this green space must add to 4. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add to 12. The answer is 6-0, placed vertically; 1-6, placed vertically.

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

Number (2): Everything in this space must add to 2. The answer is 0-1, placed vertically; 1-3, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this green space must add to 5. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically.

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

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 1-3, placed vertically; 3-3, 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 simple if you understand basketball.

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: Prize

• Green: Roman grappling

• Blue: Baseball team in Cali

• Purple: Blue things

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Award

• Green: Wrestling Terms

• Blue: Nicknames for the Dodgers Franchise, Over Time

• Purple: Blue____

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 #396 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Award - CUP, MEDAL, PLAQUE, TROPHY

• Wrestling Terms- ESCAPE, FALL, SINGLET, TAKEDOWN

• Nicknames for the Dodgers Franchise, Over Time - BRIDGEGROOMS, DODGERS, ROBINS, SUPERBAS

• Blue____ - DEVILS, JACKETS, JAYS, LINE

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.

Encrypted emails are the oldest trick in the book. These scams can often appear as messages from close relationships, deal opportunities, lottery winnings, or lost inheritance. They may even look like a simple social media notification (with a secret phishing scam buried just beneath the surface). While you might think you can easily spot and avoid potential threats from snatching your information, these emails can slip past even the most observant of people.

For as many phishing scams as you avoid, more are sent back into its place. Falling for one of these “urgent” emails allows scammers to access your personal information for their own nefarious purposes. Though fear not, there’s an easy solution to this common problem. Let us show you how to spot these fake emails and save yourself from being their next victim.

The fake email scam

Fake emails vary in terms of realism. Each made to sound personal or professional depending on the target, these emails might use business and government logos or typography in order to sell the ruse. Fake emails may even pretend to be your closest friends and family in order to trick you.

Though you can try to find amateur details to uncover their true nature, here are several types of fake email scams you should be on the look out for first:

• Impersonisation: Impersonation scams will pretend to be businesses, government or charitable organisations, celebrities, or friends and family, to lure you in. Then through links or downloadable attachments, scammers can install malware onto your device. They may even try intimidation or emotional manipulation tactics to convince you to log into your personal accounts or send through money.

• Unexpected Money: Probably, the most well-known email scam. Unexpected money scams will try to convince you of winnings, rebates, or inheritance, you could access at the push of a button. Then to take hold of your winnings or inheritance, scammers will try to convince you to pay administration fees or taxes through your bank details.

• Victim of Identity Crime: These email scams will try and persuade you that you’ve been a victim of a previous crime. Scammers prey on your fear of identity theft to convince you that they can help recover any lost money or compensation, if you simply send them your personal details.

How to spot a fake email

Some emails may be very convincing, yet there are still a few details that will give them away. From changes in tone of voice to strange fee requests, not every scammer has the means to keep their bases covered. So If any suspicious emails make their way into your inbox, here are some common signs to look out for:

• Requests personal details: No legitimate organisation will ask you for payment over email or phone call. If you’ve been sent an email asking for your BSB and account number or a payment link to input them, you’re more than likely about to fall for a scam. Avoid theft attempts by refusing to hand over your personal bank details.

• Unusual links or attachments: A scammers favourite way to install viscous malware, clicking any links or attachments on suspicious emails will endanger your devices. Forego any requests from emails that you do not fully trust. Though if you happen to click before you realise, do not enter in any personal details.

• Free webmail address: Most businesses and government organisations will not have free email addresses (such as @outlook.com or @gmail.com). So if you stumble across an email from a business or government organisation asking you to input your details, check the email address before you do anything.

• Threats of violence or retaliation: Often, scammers may resort to threats or retaliation tactics to scare victims into submission. You will notice a shift in tone as they may try to intimidate you with threats of violence, deportation, or potential arrest. Though these emails may make their nefarious purposes crystal-clear, if you’re still unsure, you can reach out to the real organisation via phone to confirm.

Try Bitdefender protection

While you can do everything in your power to avoid scammers, you may need an extra layer of defense to block phishing attempts from your inbox. Bitdefender has an array of security products and services that’ll keep you fully protected:

• Bitdefender Total Security: Generous protection against viral threats, Bitdefender Total Security includes cross-platform protection for multiple devices. With additional Scam Prevention and Detection software, your money, credentials, identity, and digital assets will be kept fully safe.

• Bitdefender Premium Security: Featuring unlimited VPN and comprehensive email breach checks, Bitfender Premium Security takes malware protection to the next level. And with Scam Copilot and Email Protection built-in, these AI-powered anti-scam features will make sure your devices are fully safe.

• Bitdefender Ultimate Security: The best in all-encompassing protection software, Bitdefender Ultimate Security is a one-stop-shop for malware defense. You’ll be fully covered from potential threats with password manager, unlimited VPN for private browsing, Scam Copilot software, and digital identity protection.

• Bitdefender Scamio: This free to use AI-powered scam detector has your back. Powered by Bitdefender, this easy-to-use 24/7 chatbot can check your messages, links, attachments, even QR codes, for any potential scams, within seconds. Any and all potential threats will be dealt with before you know it.

Keep your inbox safe

If you’re tired of the endless scam emails sent to your inbox, invest in a reliable solution to shield you from frustrating phishing attempts. Bitdefender has everything you need to keep your information and digital footprint free of online attacks. With online scammers blocked from your devices, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing your information is completely safe.

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.

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

Episcopal.

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

PAPAL

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A mistake.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

GAFFE

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A delegate.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 4 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for August 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

ENVOY

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A demon.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for August 4 Hurdle Word 4 answer

BOGEY

Final Hurdle hint

Part of a circus.

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

CLOWN

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

The moon is slowly making its comeback as we work towards November's full moon. We're on day three of the new lunar cycle, so keep reading to find out what this means.

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Friday, Oct. 24, the moon phase is Waxing Crescent. There will be 8% of the moon lit up tonight, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation.

But sadly there's still too little lit up to see anything. Check back tomorrow.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on Nov. 5.

What are moon phases?

According to NASA, moon phases, like Waxing Crescent, are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon’s orbit. The cycle occurs when the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth change. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle.

The eight main moon phases are:

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.