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Want to watch college football this season? Here are your best options: BEST FOR ESPN ESPN Unlimited $29.99 per month for 1 year (save $15) Shop Now Best for Fox and Big Ten Fox One 7-day free trial, then $199.99 per year (save $39.89) Shop Now BEST FOR SINGLE GAME FuboTV 7-day free trial, then $54.99/month for 1 month (save $30) Get Deal Best for channels Hulu + Live TV 3-day free trial, then $76.99/month Shop Now Best for affordability Sling Season Pass $329 for 5 months (save $50.95) Shop Now BEST for INTRODUCTORY OFFER YouTube TV 5-day free trial, then $49.99/month for 3 months (save $99) Shop Now

College football promises major drama across the conference championship games this weekend. One to keep an eye on is Duke Blues Devils vs. Virginia Cavaliers for the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.

This game guarantees a first-time ACC Championship Game winner no matter who wins. Neither program has won the Championship Game since it was introduced almost 20 years ago — but there's also a CFP automatic bid up for grabs if Virginia get the win. Virginia has already beaten Duke this season but don't count the Blue Devils out just yet — they're coming off a two-game winning streak.

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There's been a lot of talk around the implications for the ACC following yesterday's Sun Belt Championship contest. However it plays out, this is a game not to miss.

If you want to watch Duke vs. Virginia for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Duke vs. Virginia?

Duke vs. Virginia takes place at 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 6. This game takes place at the Bank of America Stadium.

Duke vs. Virginia is broadcast on ABC.

How to watch college football in 2025/26

Fans can live stream college football on a wide range of recommended services, some of which include free trials so you can follow the action without actually spending anything.

ESPN Unlimited (no free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: ESPN ESPN Unlimited $29.99 per month for 1 year Shop Now

Channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, and ACCNX

ESPN Unlimited provides access to everything that ESPN has to offer. For college football, you get live access to games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+, SEC Network, SECN+, ACC Network, and ABC. The Unlimited plan will set you back $29.99 per month, but for the first year, new subscribers can secure a bundle with Disney+ and Hulu for the same price.

Fox One (free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: Fox One Fox One 7-day free trial, then $199.99 per year Shop Now

Channels: Fox, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network

Fox One provides access to live broadcasts on Fox, Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, and Big Ten Network. It costs $19.99 per month, but you can save $40 by opting for the annual plan at $199.99. You can also start with a seven-day free trial, so you've got the chance to watch select games without spending anything.

FuboTV (free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: FuboTV FuboTV 7-day free trial, then $54.99/month for 1 month Shop Now

Channels: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, Marquee Sports Network, Monumental Sports, NBC, NBCSN, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, and The CW

FuboTV offers you more than 250 channels of live TV and provides the opportunity to watch on 10 screens at once, if that's your thing. You can try FuboTV with a seven-day free trial period. 

Fubo takes sports seriously, and that's something we appreciate. With the Pro subscription, you get access to most college football broadcasts. But hardcore fans may want to consider upgrading to the Elite plan, which unlocks access to ESPNU, SEC Network, Pac-12 Network, and ACC Network. Either way, we suggest you test the waters for seven days before you make any sort of commitment.

Hulu + Live TV (free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: Hulu Hulu + Live TV 3-day free trial, then $76.99/month Shop Now

Channels: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, ESPN U, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, and The CW

Hulu + Live TV is not exactly cheap, but it does offer good bang for your buck. You need to cough up $76.99 per month (after a three-day trial), but you get access to over 95 live TV channels, plus Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ (all with ads). The included access to ESPN+ provides bonus access to even more college football games on top of live TV networks like ABC, FOX, ESPN, The CW, ACC Network, and more. Now that's value.

Sling (no free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Season Pass $329 for 5 months Shop Now

Channels: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPNews, ESPN U, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network

Sling is a comprehensive sporting service that offers a whole host of benefits, but you do need to be careful when selecting a plan. The Orange and Blue packages give you access to FOX, NBC, ABC, ESPN, and more in local markets, but for access to ACC Network, SEC Network, Big Ten Network, and more, you'll need the Sports Extra package. We recommend checking your local market to ensure you get access to the channels you actually need.

YouTube TV (free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: YouTube TV YouTube TV 7-day free trial, then $49.99/month for your first 3 months Shop Now

Channels: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NBCSN, SEC Network, and The CW

YouTube TV provides access to over 100 live channels. Newsflash: that's a lot. This huge list includes most of the channels you actually need to watch live college football, including NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and ESPN, plus networks like FS1 and SEC Network. YouTube TV also offers that all-important free trial so you can watch select games without spending anything.

How to watch Duke vs. Virginia from anywhere in the world

If you're abroad for this fixture, you might need to use a VPN to unblock your favorite streaming service. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the U.S., meaning you can unblock live streams of college football from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Duke vs. Virginia from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

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

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

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

4. Sign in to your favorite streaming service

5. Watch Duke vs. Virginia from anywhere in the world

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including the U.S.

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (with money-back guarantee).

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The need to render the nude form has dominated human expression for centuries. In Western art history, one of the oldest known interpretations of a naked body is the Venus of Willendorf, possibly dating back to around 24,000 BCE. Later, we saw the mosaic art of Narcissus, enamored by his own member in a second-century latrine. Centuries down the line, in the early Renaissance, Italy's obsession with nudes included Michelangelo's David and Manet's controversial Olympia, featuring a real woman and not a mythical figure. 

As time moved onto Snapchatting genitals to a possible love interest you swiped right on, our fascination with the human body remains a constant drumbeat of society. It has also become more accessible, particularly over the last few decades, with the rise of smartphones and social media. As many as eight out of 10 adults share intimate content, including nudes, with each other, 2024 research shows. 

SEE ALSO: Taking nudes is an art. Here's how to create a masterpiece.

We've collected the history of the nude, from sculpture to oil paintings, and from cam-chat to Snapchat. But more importantly, we're diving into why, through history, we're prepared to send nudes in whatever form we can.

The first nudes sent

Nudes are often not sent in isolation. Nowadays, at least, they're accompanied by an explicit text or as a result of an exchange on our phones or in person. 

People have been exchanging illicit letters for a long time, largely from married women writing to unmarried men in court, according to Dr. Eleanor Janega, historian, broadcaster, and author specialising in the medieval period. Few of these survive, as many were destroyed or censored from history, according to The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard Perceptions of Dialogue in Twelfth-Century France, which documents some remaining letters. 

These exchanges were further limited by who was able to send these, thanks to the illiteracy rates of the Middle Ages; few men and hardly any women could write. Portraits were exchanged before arranged marriages were agreed upon, but these did not feature nudity and served to solely convey the appearance of the subject.

"People faced similar issues when sending nudes in the medieval period, because you would need someone to paint or draw you nude, which would be massively expensive," says Janega. 

"Moreover, at the time nudes are, in general, formulaic. People expect a nude to look a particular way, reflecting an idealised form, rather than to be a theoretical 'realistic' portrayal of a person." This, likely being due to the nude form being interpreted as the imperfect and mortal form of humanity, a sentiment that has been felt through time, however not one equally felt across genders — with Ancient Greek sculptures and art more often than not featuring a nude male form, but not female — and if art did feature women, it was likely a depiction of a god and treated demurely, associated with shame rather than a heroic figure.

Nudes in the modern era

The "modern" sending of nudes, as in the conveying of a visual form of our own body, can date back around 200 years to American portrait artist Sarah Goodridge. As Goodridge worked on a commission for a new member of the United States House of Representatives, Daniel Webster, the two began exchanging romantic letters — some of which remain to this day. 

In 1828, Goodridge painted her bare breasts surrounded by white cloth on a small canvas, only 2.6 by 3.1 inches. Intended for Webster's eyes only, as many miniature portraits were, it remained in his family until the 1980s. Little fanfare was made of the discovery of this piece after Webster's death, with scholars noting it was likely kept out of sight and off of inventories due to being deemed inappropriate for public viewing. Now, Goodridge's seemingly untitled work, now known as Beauty Revealed, is now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Goodridge's private revolutionary act can now be seen as an innovative moment in human sexuality, experts note. By this point, society began to see, as Janega says, "a bunch of rich people with time on their hands who can paint, which means it is only a matter of time before they begin sending nudes as a form of flirtation. You cannot teach generations of people to paint artistic nudes and expect them to use these abilities solely for depicting the rape of Leda," referencing the famed myth of a Spartan queen assaulted by Zeus, King of Gods, bearing his twins.

Beyond this, taking part in the arts institutionally was restricted to men. For instance, the Royal Academy admitted its first woman, Laura Herford, in 1860, and only because her initials were submitted. 

Self-portraiture allowed Goodridge to take control of her presentation of nudity, as it has enabled women to control their presentation to the world, and the narrative placed onto women and femininity. Like Goodridge's radical act, many artists have changed the way women are viewed through their artwork, which was celebrated by the National Portrait Gallery in London in a 2024 exhibition.

Goodridge's romantic gesture lives on, though it required significantly more time and effort to create than a photograph taken on a phone. Still, the importance of this moment can't be underestimated: a visual form of nude form was becoming more accessible than it had been before.

The photographed nude

With the innovation of photography in 1839, our approach to the nude form began to shift, with a pioneer of photography, Hippolyte Bayard, taking a naked self-portrait in 1840. As photography boomed, so did nudes. 

Other 19th-century nude photography remains famed, including those taken by Nadar between 1860 and 1861, often used as studies for paintings. One of his models, Marie-Christine Leroux, went on to pose for many famed artists.

Naked photography would also be included in journals like National Geographic, with white explorers documenting indigenous people encountered around the world — a past the publication is reckoning with.. These images were often taken and printed without consent.

Later, after World War I, nude photography came into its own, with less imitation of paintings and sculptures and more stylized pieces, such as Edward Weston's Nude taken in 1936. Others used photography as a means of insight into hidden lives, such as in Diane Arbus' Retired man and his wife at home in a nudist camp one morning, N.J or to recapture idealized moments of youth, like in Larry Clark's Teenage Lust series, taken in the early 1970s.

With the arrival of the millennium, personal cameras became more ubiquitous, with sales of camera phones reaching 18 million in 2002, 257 million in 2004, and up to 1.24 billion shipments in 2024. The rise of the smartphone spelled a crash for camera sales: camera shipments worldwide dropped by 94 percent between 2010 and 2023.

Smart devices and the ability to instant message revolutionised our approach to sexuality, beginning the era of sexting and cam chats. Sending nudes and explicit messages may have spelled the death of previous forms of interaction. Namely, this means of the love letter, a loss Vogue lamented, along with phone calls, back in 2014, with many seeing the new digital frontier of sexuality as less romantic, and more explicit (not necessarily true, especially if we remember curse-laden love letters written by James Joyce), and intimidating. 

When does art become pornography?

Galleries around the world host pieces showcasing the naked form — but at which point does this transform from being something considered worthy of value, of public importance, to something considered explicit? 

"Boundaries between art and pornography have become increasingly blurred," says Freya Gowrley, art historian at the University of Bristol. She points to Pornhub's Classic Nude project, an interactive online experience, launched in 2021 when access to galleries was still limited. The exhibition offered a virtual tour of 30 famous nude artworks through history, from Paul Cézanne's Bathers to Gustave Courbet's L’Origine du Monde, with pornographic videos inspired by these pieces. 

"Unsurprisingly, several of the big museums objected to their work being used in this context," Gowrley says, with some, like the Louvre, threatening legal action for unauthorised usage of these artworks. However, others noted that the use of various artworks is often left unchallenged, including on sites such as Etsy, which similarly offers a commercial benefit to the redistributor, indicating that moral concerns may have been the root of the concern.

The project also raised interesting questions about the line between art and porn, Gowrley says. "Why is Sarah Goodridge's 'selfie' painting any more artistic than something snapped on an iPhone, or produced in a studio?"

Gowrley compares these to artist Jeff Koons' Made in Heaven series in the late '80s, early '90s, depicting his naked form engaging in sexual acts with his then-wife Ilona Staller, famed for her work in pornography. 

"Moving these images into the gallery space transformed them into art, but does that mean that they are no longer illicit images?" she says.

Why is Sarah Goodridge's "selfie" painting any more artistic than something snapped on an iPhone, or produced in a studio? - Art historian Freya Gowrley

This question has also been the subject of online debate, following the establishment of FOSTA/SESTA in the U.S. in 2018. The laws, in theory, were meant to curb online sex trafficking, but in practice, large social media sites began deplatforming online sex workers. (Multiple studies show this made sex workers less safe.) Beyond that, artists, including erotic and LGBTQ artists, sometimes find themselves banned or shadowbanned (unable to be discovered) from platforms like Instagram, even though their posts are artistic and not pornographic. Then again, that line is different depending on who you ask.

Advancements in technology rapidly increased our access to the nude form — and sharing our own.

Why do we love to send nudes?

With smartphones, pretty much everyone with an internet connection has the ability to take, send, and receive nude photographs across various apps and platforms. Many people take advantage. Sending nudes on the gay hookup app Grindr, for instance, has become commonplace for queer men. There are even features baked in to protect photographs now, and blogs on Grindr's site referring to the app as a "digital dark room."

Meanwhile, intimate photos make the rounds on Reddit in various 'gone wild' subreddits, leading to other explicit exchanges. Research shows that people who perceive their own attractiveness are more likely to post nudes on Reddit, although they are unlikely to feel high self-esteem at the same time. 

Another study shows that sending nude content often takes place in the context of committed relationships, as a form of expressing and experiencing sexual desires. 

But why do we want to?

We send nudes "because it's basically a form of foreplay, that kind of is a sexual act in itself," says Gigi Engle, author of Kink Curious and resident kink and sex expert for sex-positive community JOYclub.

SEE ALSO: Dating app launches feature to ask whether users want to see nudes

"I think we play sex on this hierarchy [that] penetrative sex is the most legitimate form, and that's just not really true. Sending sexy pictures is very titillating. It gets us excited."

"I think that sending nudes can be like writing a modern love letter; intimate, exciting, and affirming. But it only works if it's something you want to do, the other person wants to receive it, and both of you understand the risks," says Impola. 

"People like to see those kinds of sexy pictures, that's why we're sending them up. I think there's also an element of people sending them in the heat of the moment without really thinking through some of the repercussions that could happen," Engle suggests. 

The risks of digital intimacy

A 2022 survey shows that 80 percent of participants who have sent an intimate photo of themselves to another worry that it will be acquired by someone else, with 86 percent of men who have received an intimate photo saving it to their device, and 79 percent of women. The famed 2014 leak of celebrity nudes left a lasting legacy;  our phones aren't as secure as we had been led to believe. (Mashable has a guide on safely storing nude images.)

Cyberflashing, a form of indecent exposure taking place digitally, became a crime in the UK in 2024. Despite this, many people have experienced receiving explicit images nonconsensually.  YouGov research in the UK released last year revealed that 55 percent of women under-40 surveyed who can recall the first time they received an unsolicited sexual image say they were under 16 when this occurred. 

Where are we now?

This year, the UK's age verification law, requiring proof of age to visit websites containing explicit content (and in some cases, non-explicit sites like YouTube) came into effect. Reactions have been mixed, as requiring verification can be seen as infringing upon privacy, or simply dodged with a VPN (or images from a video game).

Political divides are opening up between young men and women in the UK and U.S., and it's possible these changing attitudes could impact sexual behaviour in the digital landscape. It's hard to know what's to come next, but looking back over history? It's clear that we all find ourselves longing to be with, see, or interact with another. 

Our digital lives are only expanding, so we'll likely be sending nudes for the foreseeable future, even if our attitudes toward it change.

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

To search.

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

FRISK

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A command.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for December 6, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

EDICT

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Hold.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for December 6 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for December 6, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

GRASP

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Fake.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for December 6 Hurdle Word 4 answer

BOGUS

Final Hurdle hint

A breast.

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

BOSOM

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

Have you noticed the moon looking a little smaller lately? That's because of where we are in the lunar cycle, a series of the moon's different phases. Right now, we're heading towards the New Moon. Keep reading to find out what this means.

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Saturday, Dec. 6, the moon phase is Waning Gibbous. This means 96% of the moon is lit up tonight, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation.

If you're looking up with just your naked eye, there's lots to see, in particular the Oceanus Procellarum and the Kepler Crater. With binoculars you'll also be able to spy the Posidonius and Alphonsus craters, as well at the Grimaldi Basin. And with a telescope, you can catch a glimpse of the Apollo 11 and 12 landing spots and the Linne Crater.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on Jan. 3.

What are moon phases?

NASA explains that the lunar cycle (which is about 29.5 days long) is made up of the Moon’s phases, which describe how the Moon looks from Earth as it travels around us. We view the same side of the Moon at all times, but the sunlight hitting its surface shifts as it moves through its orbit. That changing illumination is what makes the Moon appear full, half-lit, or not visible at all. The cycle includes eight distinct phases:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you love animated films.

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 December 6, 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: Typical

• Green: To appease

• Blue: Famous cartoons

• Purple: Reptiles and amphibians

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Norm

• Green: Mollify

• Blue: Member of a titular group in an animation franchise

• Purple: Starting with herpetofauna

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 #909 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Norm: AVERAGE, MEAN, PAR, STANDARD

• Mollify: COOL, MODERATE, SETTLE, TEMPER

• Member of a titular group in an animation franchise: CAR, INCREDIBLE, MINION, MONSTER

• Starting with herpetofauna: ADDERALL, MONITORSHIP, NEWTON, TOADY

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 December 6, 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 love fantasy books.

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 December 6, 2025 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for December 6, 2025 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Tolkien's world

The words are related to fantasy.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe "The Lord of the Rings."

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 Middle Earth.

NYT Strands word list for December 6

• Wizard

• Forest

• Hobbit

• Middle Earth

• Quest

• Dwarf

• Ring

• Shire

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.

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 December 6, 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 December 6, 2025 Easy difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 6 Pips

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically; 6-4, placed horizontally.

Less Than (5): Everything in this space must be less than 5. The answer is 6-4, placed horizontally.

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

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

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 6-5, placed vertically; 4-4, placed vertically.

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

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 6 Pips

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

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

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

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

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

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 6 Pips

Greater Than (1): Everything in this light blue space must be greater than 1. The answer is 0-6, placed vertically.

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

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

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically; 6-6, placed vertically.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 1-2, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (1): Everything in this green space must be greater than 1. The answer is 5-3, placed vertically.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easy if you know your Joes.

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: Sports teams

• Green: Schools

• Blue: Legends

• Purple: Alliterative strategy

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Pro teams whose names start with D

• Green: Division I colleges

• Blue: Basketball hall of famers

• Purple: Five Ds of Dodgeball

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 #439 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Pro teams whose names start with D - DEVILS, DIAMONDBACKS, DOLPHINS, DREAM

• Division I colleges - DARTMOUTH, DAYTON, DEPAUL, DUKE

• Basketball hall of famers - DIVAC, DONOVAN, DREXLER, DUNCAN

• Five Ds of Dodgeball - DIP, DIVE, DODGE, DUCK

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.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a belly dancer.

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 December 6, 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 December 6, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Midsection.

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 W.

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...

WAIST

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 December 6, 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.

TV streamer Roku recently announced it's ending Photo Streams in early 2026 and replacing it with something called Backdrops, which limits personal photo options but includes a library of artwork to cull from.

The transition from Photo Streams to Backdrops is already underway. "Over the next few months, you’ll start seeing messages about Photo Streams moving to Backdrops," Roku announced on their website. "At the end of January 2026, Photo Streams will stop working and only display a message directing you to open Backdrops."

Photo Streams currently operates as a screensaver for users who set it up, filling in inactive screen time by featuring pictures uploaded by the user. Those uploaded images will still be accessible on Backdrops, but only one gallery is available to view at once — and Backdrops must be specifically turned on for the photos to appear. By Feb. 2026, the screens of all inactive Roku sessions will default to the (in)famous Roku City background, which features advertising.

SEE ALSO: This Cyber Monday Roku Streaming Stick deal is still live — act fast to save over $10

This change is clearly a bummer for those who loved featuring their personal pics on a large screen without having to think much about it. Roku is trying to soften the blow by offering free digital art, totaling about 4,500 images, for users of Backdrops. Works by artists like Johannes Vermeer, Paul Gaugin, Leonardo da Vinci, and Mary Cassatt were available as of early December, along with images of nature and cityscapes. Background users will also be able to adjust the photo display time and launch it directly with the Roku remote’s power button. 

Roku doesn’t say there is an advertising component behind the change, instead stating, "Backdrops brings photos into one app that's easier to use, more customizable, and will allow us to keep adding new photo and ambient experiences over time." 

TL;DR: A compact 8-in-1 keyring GoCable that charges fast, organizes neatly, and solves everyday tech moments — on sale for the holidays for just $19.97 (MSRP $49.99).

Opens in a new window Credit: GoCable GoCable 8-in-1 EDC 100W Cable $19.97
$49.99 Save $30.02   Get Deal

There are gifts people expect — socks, candles, yet another travel mug — and then there are the ones that quietly earn a permanent spot in someone’s daily routine. The GoCable 8-in-1 EDC 100W Cable falls squarely into the second category. It’s the kind of practical, tech-forward surprise that makes people say, “Wait … this does that too?”

At first glance, GoCable looks like a sleek little keyring accessory. But once you start using it, it quickly proves it’s more than just a charging cable.

Designed as an everyday carry essential, it combines ultra-fast charging with genuinely useful built-in tools, all wrapped in a compact, tangle-free design that clips neatly onto a bag, belt loop, or keychain.

With 100W charging capabilities (when paired with a compatible power source), GoCable can power everything from phones and tablets to laptops, drones, and cameras.

Universal connectors mean you’re covered whether you’re using USB-C or Apple’s Lightning — no more digging through tangled cords or carrying three different cables just in case.

What makes it especially satisfying, though, are the thoughtful extras. An LED power display shows your real-time charging status. The magnetic wrap keeps things neat and frustration-free. There’s even a built-in bottle opener and a safe-proof cutter for impromptu moments like opening a package on the fly or cracking a drink at a picnic.

With on-time holiday shipping available through Dec. 14, the GoCable makes for an unexpected but incredibly useful gift — especially for travelers, creators, commuters, and anyone who lives even slightly tethered to their devices.

Priced at $19.97 (MSRP $49.99) for a limited time, the GoCable is a gift that feels both smart and genuinely helpful — grab it while stock is still available.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Well, AI is joining the ranks of many, many people: It doesn't really understand poetry.

Research from Italy’s Icaro Lab found that poetry can be used to jailbreak AI and skirt safety protections.

In the study, researchers wrote 20 prompts that started with short poetic vignettes in Italian and English and ended the prompts with a single explicit instruction to produce harmful content. They tested these prompts on 25 Large Language Models across Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Deepseek, Qwen, Mistral AI, Meta, xAI, and Moonshot AI. The researchers said the poetic prompts often worked.

"Poetic framing achieved an average jailbreak success rate of 62% for hand-crafted poems and approximately 43% for meta-prompt conversions (compared to non-poetic baselines), substantially outperforming non-poetic baselines and revealing a systematic vulnerability across model families and safety training approaches," the study reads. "These findings demonstrate that stylistic variation alone can circumvent contemporary safety mechanisms, suggesting fundamental limitations in current alignment methods and evaluation protocols."

Of course, there were differences in how well the jailbreaking worked across the different LLMs. OpenAI’s GPT-5 nano didn't respond with harmful or unsafe content at all, while Google’s Gemini 2.5 pro responded with harmful or unsafe content every single time, the researchers reported.

The researchers concluded that “these findings expose a significant gap” in benchmark safety tests and regulatory efforts such as the EU AI Act.

"Our results show that a minimal stylistic transformation can reduce refusal rates by an order of magnitude, indicating that benchmark-only evidence may systematically overstate real-world robustness," the paper stated.

Great poetry is not literal — and LLMs are literal to the point of frustration. The study reminds me of how it feels to listen to Leonard Cohen’s song "Alexandra Leaving," which is based on C.P. Cavafy's poem "The God Abandons Antony." We know it's about loss and heartbreak, but it would be a disservice to the song and the poem it's based on to try to "get it" in any literal sense — and that's what LLMs will try to do.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Waymo robotaxis have been providing public rides in Austin, Texas since March, and following safety incidents with school buses, Austin school district officials have asked the company to stop offering robotaxi rides during school drop-off times.

Now, regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are investigating Waymo over complaints that its robotaxis have illegally passed school buses at least 19 times, according to Reuters.

The NHTSA sent a letter to Waymo earlier this week informing the company about the beginning of its inquiry concerning its autonomous vehicles' inability to follow traffic laws concerning school buses. The letter also requested additional information about the company's self-driving system.

An initial investigation was opened into Waymo in October by the NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) after it obtained video of a Waymo robotaxi driving around a school bus in Atlanta as the vehicle was unloading schoolchildren with its stop sign extended and flashing lights on. Now the agency is going even further in its inquiry. 

SEE ALSO: Feds investigating Tesla’s ‘Mad Max’ mode

Waymo said it released a software fix to the issue on November 17. However, in a public letter, the Austin Independent School District says that five of the 19 school bus-related Waymo incidents occurred after that date.

"One of these violations underscores the urgent risk posed by Waymo’s illegal activity: a Waymo automated vehicle was recorded driving past a stopped school bus only moments after a student crossed in front of the vehicle, and while the student was still in the road," the Austin School District wrote in a Nov. 20 letter to Waymo. "The vehicle then proceeds through a cross walk and an intersection, where all other vehicles are stopped."

The Austin School District requests that Waymo stop operating its robotaxis from 5:20 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., the hours when children are typically being picked up and dropped off before and after school.

The ODI sent its own letter to Waymo shortly after, letting the company know it was aware of the issue and inquiring if Waymo was planning to abide by the request to cease operations during those times.

According to a report by TechCrunch, Waymo insists that its update has improved its robotaxis' road safety issues around school buses. However, it does not seem like the company plans to oblige the Austin School District's request.

The nominations for the 31st Critics Choice Awards have a clear favorite: Ryan Coogler's Sinners.

The smash hit vampire film earned 17 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), and Best Supporting Actress (Wunmi Mosaku). Trailing just behind it is Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, which picked up 14 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Actress (Chase Infiniti), Best Supporting Actor (Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn), and Best Supporting Actress (Teyana Taylor).

Other big contenders in the film nominations include Chloé Zhao's Hamnet and Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein (both with 11 nominations).

On the TV side, Adolescence received the most nominations with six, including Best Limited Series, Best Actor in a Limited Series (Stephen Graham), Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series (Owen Cooper and Ashley Walters), and Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series (Erin Doherty and Christine Tremarco). Strong contenders on the drama side include Emmy winners The Pitt (4 nominations) and Severance (4 nominations), while the comedy side has Season 2 of Nobody Wants This (5 nominations) topping Emmy winners Hacks (4 nominations) and The Studio (3 nominations).

Check out the full list of nominations below. The Critics Choice Awards will air live on E! and the USA Network on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. ET.

Film nominationsBEST PICTURE

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Jay Kelly

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Wicked: For Good

BEST ACTOR

Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another

Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan – Sinners

Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

BEST ACTRESS  

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee

Emma Stone – Bugonia

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

Paul Mescal – Hamnet

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan – Weapons

Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

BEST YOUNG ACTOR / ACTRESS

Everett Blunck – The Plague

Miles Caton – Sinners

Cary Christopher - Weapons

Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family

Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet

Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein

Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY  

Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer – Jay Kelly

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Zach Cregger – Weapons

Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby

Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY  

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar – Train Dreams

Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don Mckellar, Jahye Lee – No Other Choice

Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein

Will Tracy – Bugonia

Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet

BEST CASTING AND ENSEMBLE

Nina Gold – Hamnet

Douglas Aibel, Nina Gold – Jay Kelly

Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme

Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another

Francine Maisler – Sinners

Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey – Wicked: For Good

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Claudio Miranda – F1

Dan Laustsen – Frankenstein

Łukasz Żal – Hamnet

Michael Bauman – One Battle After Another

Autumn Durald Arkapaw – Sinners

Adolpho Veloso – Train Dreams

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis – The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau – Frankenstein

Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton – Hamnet

Jack Fisk, Adam Willis – Marty Supreme

Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne – Sinners

Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked: For Good

BEST EDITING

Kirk Baxter – A House of Dynamite

Stephen Mirrione – F1

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Andy Jurgensen – One Battle After Another

Viridiana Lieberman – The Perfect Neighbor

Michael P. Shawver – Sinners

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Kate Hawley – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Malgosia Turzanska – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Lindsay Pugh – Hedda (Amazon MGM Studios)

Colleen Atwood, Christine Cantella – Kiss of the Spider Woman (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)

Ruth E. Carter – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Paul Tazewell – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Flora Moody, John Nolan – 28 Years Later

Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey – Frankenstein

Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry – Sinners

Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal – The Smashing Machine

Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins – Weapons

Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, Laura Blount – Wicked: For Good

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett – Avatar: Fire and Ash

Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson – F1

Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell – Frankenstein

Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean – Sinners

Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams – Superman

BEST STUNT DESIGN  

Stephen Dunlevy, Kyle Gardiner, Jackson Spidell, Jeremy Marinas, Jan Petřina, Domonkos Párdányi, Kinga Kósa-Gavalda – Ballerina

Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta, Craig Dolby – F1

Wade Eastwood – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Brian Machleit – One Battle After Another

Andy Gill – Sinners

Giedrius Nagys – Warfare

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE  

Arco

Elio

In Your Dreams

KPop Demon Hunters

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

BEST COMEDY  

The Ballad of Wallis Island

Eternity

Friendship

The Naked Gun

The Phoenician Scheme

Splitsville

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

It Was Just an Accident

Left-Handed Girl

No Other Choice

The Secret Agent

Sirāt

Belén

BEST SONG  

“Drive” – Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Blake Slatkin – F1

“Golden” – Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy – KPop Demon Hunters

“I Lied to You” – Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – Sinners

“Clothed by the Sun” – Daniel Blumberg – The Testament of Ann Lee

“Train Dreams” – Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams

“The Girl in the Bubble” – Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good

BEST SCORE  

Hans Zimmer – F1

Alexandre Desplat – Frankenstein

Max Richter – Hamnet

Daniel Lopatin – Marty Supreme

Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another

Ludwig Göransson – Sinners

BEST SOUND  

Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John – F1

Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Greg Chapman – Frankenstein

Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor – One Battle After Another

Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco, David V. Butler – Sinners

Laia Casanovas – Sirāt

Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner – Warfare

TV nominationsBEST DRAMA SERIES

Alien: Earth

Andor

The Diplomat

Paradise

The Pitt

Pluribus

Severance

Task

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Sterling K. Brown – Paradise

Diego Luna – Andor

Mark Ruffalo – Task

Adam Scott – Severance

Billy Bob Thornton – Landman

Noah Wyle – The Pitt

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Kathy Bates – Matlock

Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age

Britt Lower – Severance

Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us

Keri Russell – The Diplomat

Rhea Seehorn – Pluribus

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Patrick Ball – The Pitt

Billy Crudup – The Morning Show

Ato Essandoh – The Diplomat

Wood Harris – Forever

Tom Pelphrey – Task

Tramell Tillman – Severance

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Nicole Beharie – The Morning Show

Denée Benton – The Gilded Age

Allison Janney – The Diplomat

Katherine LaNasa – The Pitt

Greta Lee – The Morning Show

Skye P. Marshall – Matlock

BEST COMEDY SERIES

Abbott Elementary

Elsbeth

Ghosts

Hacks

Nobody Wants This

Only Murders in the Building

The Righteous Gemstones

The Studio 

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Adam Brody – Nobody Wants This

Ted Danson – A Man on the Inside

David Alan Grier – St. Denis Medical

Danny McBride – The Righteous Gemstones

Seth Rogen – The Studio

Alexander Skarsgård – Murderbot

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Kristen Bell – Nobody Wants This

Natasha Lyonne – Poker Face

Rose McIver – Ghosts

Edi Patterson – The Righteous Gemstones

Carrie Preston – Elsbeth

Jean Smart – Hacks 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Ike Barinholtz – The Studio

Paul W. Downs – Hacks

Asher Grodman – Ghosts

Oscar Nuñez – The Paper

Chris Perfetti – Abbott Elementary

Timothy Simons – Nobody Wants This

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Danielle Brooks – Peacemaker

Hannah Einbinder – Hacks

Janelle James – Abbott Elementary

Justine Lupe – Nobody Wants This

Ego Nwodim – Saturday Night Live

Rebecca Wisocky – Ghosts

BEST LIMITED SERIES

Adolescence

All Her Fault

Chief of War

Death by Lightning

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Dope Thief

Dying for Sex

The Girlfriend 

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Deep Cover

The Gorge

Mountainhead

Nonnas

Summer of '69

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Michael Chernus – Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Stephen Graham – Adolescence

Brian Tyree Henry – Dope Thief

Charlie Hunnam – Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Matthew Rhys – The Beast in Me

Michael Shannon – Death by Lightning

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Jessica Biel – The Better Sister

Meghann Fahy – Sirens

Sarah Snook – All Her Fault

Michelle Williams – Dying for Sex

Robin Wright – The Girlfriend

Renée Zellweger – Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Owen Cooper – Adolescence

Wagner Moura – Dope Thief

Nick Offerman – Death by Lightning

Michael Peña – All Her Fault

Ashley Walters – Adolescence

Ramy Youssef – Mountainhead

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Erin Doherty – Adolescence

Betty Gilpin – Death by Lightning

Marin Ireland – Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Sophia Lillis – All Her Fault

Julianne Moore – Sirens

Christine Tremarco – Adolescence 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE SERIES

Acapulco

Last Samurai Standing

Mussolini: Son of the Century

Red Alert

Squid Game

When No One Sees Us

BEST ANIMATED SERIES

Bob’s Burgers

Harley Quinn

Long Story Short

Marvel Zombies

South Park

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

BEST TALK SHOW

The Daily Show

Hot Ones

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Late Night with Seth Meyers

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

BEST VARIETY SERIES

Conan O’Brien Must Go

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Saturday Night Live

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL

Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian

Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things

Marc Maron: Panicked

Sarah Silverman: PostMortem

SNL50: The Anniversary Special

*Disclosure: Belen Edwards is a member of the Critics Choice Association, which holds the Critics Choice Awards.

GET UP TO $250 OFF: The Garmin Holiday Sale is live, with huge discounts up to $250 off watches, including the Forerunner 55 and the fēnix 8. Prices start at just $149.99 at Amazon, with Garmin and other retailers matching prices.

If you’re shopping for the runner in your life (or just for yourself), you need to check out Garmin’s holiday sale, available at both Amazon and the Garmin online store. The company's slashing prices by up to $250 on tons of models, from top-tier athlete's watches to basic beginner watches, and prices start at just $149.99.

SEE ALSO: Oura Ring vs. Whoop: A fight of the best fitness trackers

Our team recently put the best running watches on the market through 500+ miles of training for the New York City Marathon, and Garmin models consistently came out on top for dedicated runners. Most Garmin running watches use built-in GPS to track how far, how fast, and where you've run, while also monitoring your heart rate right from your wrist. You also get training tools like race time predictions, PacePro for strategy, and the ability to track other activities like cycling, depending on the model you buy. Plus, all models have a pretty impressive battery life — even the beginner Forerunner 55 lasts up to two weeks in smartwatch mode.

Check out the best deals we found on Garmin running watches and fitness trackers right now, with prices starting at $150 and discounts up to 29%.

Garmin Forerunner 55 $149.99 at Best Buy
$169.99 Save $20   Get Deal at Best Buy Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Walmart Garmin Forerunner 165 $199.99 at Amazon
$249.99 Save $50   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Walmart Get Deal at Best Buy Garmin vívoactive 6 $249.99 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $50   Get Deal at Amazon Garmin Forerunner 165 Music $249.99 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $50   Get Deal at Amazon Garmin fēnix 8 $849.99 at Amazon
$1,199.99 Save $350   Get Deal at Amazon

Netflix's $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. will grant the streamer ownership of Warner Bros.' film and TV studios, as well as HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros.' extensive film and TV catalogues.

SEE ALSO: Netflix is officially buying Warner Bros. What happens next?

The deal still needs to be approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but if it goes through, Netflix will own Warner Bros.' biggest film and TV titles. That encompasses still-running shows like The Last of Us and The Pitt, completed series like The Sopranos and Friends, and movies ranging from Casablanca to Dune.

Because of the deal, Netflix will also own a number of major ongoing franchises. Here are five of the biggest, and what the acquisition could mean for their future.

1. Harry Potter

Not only will Netflix own all eight Harry Potter films and all three Fantastic Beasts films, it will also own HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series. Currently scheduled for a 2027 release, the series has been a controversial topic due to the continued involvement of author J.K. Rowling, who has a long (and continuing) history of transphobic rhetoric.

SEE ALSO: 7 magic school series to buy young readers that aren't 'Harry Potter' 2. DC

Thanks to Warner Bros. acquisition, Netflix will gain a massive superhero franchise of its own with DC. That includes animated DC series like Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn, and Teen Titans; CW shows like Flash and Green Arrow; and past DC films like Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, classic Batman and Superman titles, and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

SEE ALSO: 'Superman' ending explainer: What does this mean for potential sequels or spinoffs?

The biggest story here, though, is that of the currently running DC Universe, headed by James Gunn and Peter Safran. With shows like Peacemaker and the upcoming Lanterns, along with a future film slate that includes Supergirl and Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, the DCU could help Netflix become an even more threatening competitor to Disney and Marvel Studios.

3. Game of Thrones

The Warner Bros. acquisition means Netflix will own Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, along with any future Westeros-set spinoffs that may arise. As of now, series about Aegon's conquest of Westeros, Corlys Velaryon's past adventures, and warrior-queen Nymeria's founding of Dorne are all in the works, meaning Netflix could be atop streaming's Iron Throne for a while yet.

4. The Monsterverse

People love to watch big monsters fight other big monsters. Case in point: Warner Bros.' Monsterverse, which features titles like Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. These movies basically print money, earning a total of over $2.5 billion worldwide. However, Netflix tends to forgo the kind of long theatrical releases that allow blockbusters to earn this much. While Netflix has said it will continue to release Warner Bros. films in theaters, will they adopt Warner Bros.' longer release window strategy or impose their own shorter one?

SEE ALSO: What does Netflix's purchase of Warner Bros. mean for theatrical releases? 5. Looney Tunes

Netflix will own all of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim upon acquiring Warner Bros., including titles like Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo, Rick and Morty, and Looney Tunes. The latter is particularly interesting, as it's been the punching bag of Warner Bros. Discovery for the past few years. In 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery scrapped the completed Looney Tunes film Coyote vs. Acme in favor of a tax cut. Warner Bros. Discovery also chose to sell the distribution rights for The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie to Ketchup Entertainment, which gave the film a limited theatrical release. Then, in 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery removed the classic Looney Tunes shorts library from HBO Max entirely. Since then, Looney Tunes has found new success on the streaming service Tubi.

SEE ALSO: 'Looney Tunes' finds new success on Tubi after being booted from HBO Max

Could Netflix prove a better shepherd to the Looney Tunes titles it will gain access to? Or will the streamer continue Warner Bros. Discovery's precedent of offloading one of its most iconic franchises?

Android users, be careful about where your apps come from.

That's because there's a new and very sinister-sounding kind of malware going around on Google's mobile OS, according to the fraud prevention experts at Cleafy (per Android Authority). Called Albiriox, the malware has been known to infect users' devices, giving bad-faith actors full remote control over the device, at which point they drain the device owner's bank accounts without even needing a password.

SEE ALSO: Android 16 QPR2 arrives: 3 new features to check out

Cleafy goes into the nitty-gritty technical details on how this all works, but a basic summary is that the malware is being hidden in fake (but real-looking) Google Play Store download pages for financial apps on external sites. If you hit the download button on one of these pages, which, again, are not actually in the Play Store proper, you may be letting the malware onto your device. From there, it covertly enables the "install unknown apps" permission in the device settings, at which point the really bad stuff gets installed on your device.

From there, the bad actors can fully, remotely control your device without you noticing, performing actions like swipes and clicks from wherever they are. At that point, the hard part is over, and they can get to draining your bank account. It sounds like the best way to avoid this is to simply not download any weird financial apps from places that aren't the Play Store. If you stick to downloading apps straight from the Play Store app, you should be fine.

That said, even apps on the official Apple App Store and Google Play Store can contain malware, as we've reported previously. Last month, we reported on six malicious Android apps that were recording user data, including WhatsApp messages, phone calls, and even background audio.

SAVE UP TO $100.99: As of Dec. 5, save $100 on these PlayStation 5 console bundles, still available at their Black Friday prices. Get the PlayStation 5 Console 825GB - Fortnite Flowering Chaos Bundle for $100.99 off at Best Buy and Walmart and get the PlayStation 5 Console 1TB - Ghost of Yotei Gold Limited Edition Bundle for $100 off at GameStop.

Opens in a new window Credit: Best Buy PlayStation 5 Console 825GB - Fortnite Flowering Chaos Bundle $399 at Best Buy
$499.99 Save $100.99   Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Walmart PlayStation 5 Console 825GB - Fortnite Flowering Chaos Bundle $399 at Walmart
$499.99 Save $100.99   Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: GameStop PlayStation 5 Console 1TB - Ghost of Yotei Gold Limited Edition Bundle $499.99 at GameStop
$599.99 Save $100   Get Deal

Whether you're still shopping for the perfect holiday gift or you need some inspiration, a gaming console is always a good idea. The PS5 is a great pick, especially if you're buying for yourself. Good news: Even though the holiday savings events have started to trickle down a bit, there are still PS5 console bundles that you can snag for their Black Friday prices. This may very well be your last chance to snag one, so get one while you can.

As of Dec. 5, you can get the PlayStation 5 Console 825GB - Fortnite Flowering Chaos Bundle for $399, down from its usual price of $499.99 at both Best Buy and Walmart. You can also go for the PlayStation 5 Console 1TB - Ghost of Yotei Gold Limited Edition Bundle, which is $499.99 at GameStop, down from its usual price of $599.99.

SEE ALSO: Expert-picked Cyber Monday deals: This is your last chance to save on AirPods, Kindles, Legos, and PS5 consoles

The Fortnite-focused bundle comes with the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition with 825GB of storage, a controller, and a digital copy of Fortnite. It also offers 8 exclusive Fortnite items and 1,000 V-Bucks to spend in-game.

The Ghost of Yotei-centric bundle includes a special gold PlayStation 5 Slim Console with 1TB of storage and a themed design, a controller, and a digital voucher for Ghost of Yotei with full preorder content included.

This is the cheapest you'll find either bundle for the time being, so if you're ready to lock in your holiday gifts for the gamers on your list, you really can't go wrong with either, especially as Ghost of Yotei is still a very new title. Give the gift of gaming and everyone will be happy this year, as will you with more cash left in your coffers than usual.

On Tuesday, Grindr's head of global government affairs, Joe Hack, posted on its blog that the app supports the Republican-backed App Store Accountability Act.

The act is one of a slew of online safety bills U.S. lawmakers considered this week, as reported by WIRED, including the controversial Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which critics claim would chill free speech by censoring online LGBTQ content.

SEE ALSO: I tried Sniffies and it made getting laid as a gay man almost too easy

The App Store Accountability Act would require age verification at the App Store level. App Store providers (like Apple and Google) would have to verify an individual's "age category" using personal data (such as an email address or Social Security number). Should a user be a minor, they'd have to obtain parental consent before downloading an app or making an in-app purchase.

The act was introduced back in May in the House by Michigan Rep. John James, and in the Senate by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, both Republicans. This year, Lee also reintroduced the Interstate Oscenity Definition Act, which would seek to redefine what falls under "obscene" material (which isn't protected by the First Amendment). Experts told Mashable the bill would basically ban porn.

But in terms of the App Store Accountability Act, Grindr's Hack wrote, "We support Rep. John James's App Store Accountability Act because it strengthens" the work the app does to keep minors off, including age gating, device-level bans, human moderation, AI tools, and partnerships with child safety organizations.

"The bill creates a single, secure age-verification process at the app-store level and allows developers to receive a verified age signal. This approach, supported by nearly 90% of parents, is safer and more consistent than requiring users to verify their age separately across many apps," Hack continued.

"By contrast, the UK and EU are moving toward fragmented rules that force adults to share sensitive personal information with thousands of apps, creating unnecessary privacy and safety risks," Hack wrote. This references the UK's Online Safety Act, which requires visitors of sites with material that's "restricted to adults" to submit personal information such as ID or a facial scan.

Recently, free speech experts and child safety experts told Mashable that device-level filtering is the preferred method of age verification, as it doesn't require these data checks every time someone wants to go on certain websites. An example is California's AB 1043, which requires operating systems to request an age or birthday during setup, and then creates a signal of a user's age bracket to send to apps (but not websites). AB 1043 takes effect in 2027.

SAVE $200: As of Dec. 5, get the Google Pixel 10 (Unlocked, 256GB) for $699 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $899. That's a discount of 22% and the lowest price we've seen.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Pixel 10 (Unlocked, 256GB) $699 at Amazon
$899 Save $200   Get Deal

The new year is almost upon us, and that means it's time to start making good on all the resolutions you have planned. If that includes getting a new smartphone, we've got one that can help you kick off the year on a great foot with some awesome new tech that you'll actually want to pick up.

As of Dec. 5, get the Google Pixel 10 (Unlocked, 256GB) for $699 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $899. That's $200 off and a discount of 22%. It's also the lowest price we've seen.

SEE ALSO: New Google Pixel feature could let your employer see your messages

The Pixel 10 isn't even six months old, and it's getting this significant discount. It's a great phone for beginners and power users alike, with a Tensor G5 chip that can power plenty of AI features, the same as the Pro, for less money. It isn't as robust as the Pro, but it's still got everything else going for it as an upgrade from the Pixel 9.

That includes a third rear telephoto camera lens, a better processor, and improved battery. It also boasts a gorgeous 6.2-inch display with plenty of ways to edit your photos and a range of other fun options that make it a good candidate for your new daily driver phone.

All this, and you get a still-new phone for $200 off, which is the lowest price you're likely to see this phone for in the coming months. Best to get it while it's hot if you're thinking about switching.