Mashable

ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! may have caused Disney+ and Hulu cancellations to rise, new data shows.

According to subscriptions analytics firm Antenna, the monthly churn rate for Disney+ went from four percent in August to eight percent in September, the same month in which ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air for a week following Kimmel's monologue about far-right commentator Charlie Kirk's killer. The churn rate for Hulu, which is also owned by Disney, increased from five percent in August to 10 percent in September.

SEE ALSO: Jimmy Kimmel spends 2 minutes mocking Trump's watches

Kimmel's suspension led for calls to boycott Disney and its streaming services, with celebrities like Tatiana Maslany and Cynthia Nixon joining in. Disney reportedly lost over 1.7 million subscribers across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN between the announcement of Kimmel's suspension and his return to air.

The discrepancy between months is undeniably notable, as subscriber churn tends to remain fairly consistent from month-to-month. However, a Disney source speaking with The Hollywood Reporter noted that Antenna's numbers appear higher than Disney's internal data, and that it is unclear how Antenna measures subscription plan upgrades and downgrades as part of subscriber churn.

Kimmel's suspension also wasn't the only Disney-related controversy that might have caused Disney+ users to rethink their subscriptions. Right after Disney announced that Kimmel would be returning to air, the company announced price hikes for Disney+ and Hulu. These hikes, which go into effect on Oct. 21, will make Disney+ and Hulu's ad-supported and most basic ad free tiers the most expensive across the major streaming services.

For the best listening experience possible, you should familiarize yourself with the sound settings on your audio products. In particular, the equalizer (aka the EQ). Understanding how to operate this tool can vastly enhance a sound profile when done correctly. No, a PhD in audio engineering isn’t mandatory.

Anyone can create an effective EQ directly on their media player or via third-party software. Need some guidance with the process? Say no more — Mashable’s got you. We gathered a few professionals from legacy audio brands to teach you how to properly customize the EQ settings on your headphones, earbuds, portable speaker, and car sound system. 

Before we jump in, let’s get you caught up on some basics.

A crash course in frequency ranges

All those numbers on an EQ can be intimidating to look at. Don’t freak out. They’re easy to grasp once you read a breakdown. Depending on your device, the sound frequencies are often listed as numbers above or below the sliders, with numbers on the left representing how much that frequency can be boosted or reduced by moving the sliders up and down.

Here’s a simplified breakdown of each audio frequency category and range:

• 50Hz (Sub-Bass): Boosts the fullness of low-frequency instruments (e.g, kicks, snares) and increases basslines. Decreases the “boom” effect.

• 60Hz - 200Hz (Bass): Adds warmth to brass (horns) and percussion instruments (piano), while giving fullness to guitars and snares. Increases clarity.

• 200Hz – 600Hz (Low-Mids): Adds fullness to drums, guitars, and vocals. Decreases the ambience and sharpness of high-frequency sounds. 

• 600Hz – 3kHz (Mids): Boosts bass, clarity, definition, and vocal output. Reduces dullness and harshness of low-frequency sounds. 

• 3kHz – 8kHz (Upper Mids): Emphasizes presentation of high-frequency instruments (e.g, cymbals, strings). Minimizes sibilance in vocals.

• 8kHz - 20kHz (Highs/Treble): Adds realism to electronic effects (e.g, synths) and brightens high-frequency instruments and vocals. Reduces hissing noises.

Got it? Now, take out your wireless headphones, so we can tune them to perfection.

How to customize the EQ on your wireless headphones and earbuds

Personalizing sound on your wireless headphones and earbuds is pretty effortless these days, thanks to companion apps. These mobile software suites often come equipped with a manual graphic EQ and preprogrammed presets that complement select music genres or content (e.g, podcasts or video). Some apps even come with an auto-generated EQ that can tailor sound to your hearing; results are based on a series of listening tests. 

There are also third-party EQ apps you can download from the App Store or Google Play.

Sony Electronics expert Shimo Jiroaki, the Product Marketing Lead for Personal Entertainment, has some excellent tips for optimizing EQ performance. For starters, Jiroaki wants listeners to abide by the following guidelines:

• Always adjust the EQ at the volume level you typically listen to, since perceived sound changes with volume.

• High-quality tracks already contain a lot of detail and dynamic range, so it’s usually best to keep EQ adjustments minimal. Even small changes can make a noticeable difference.

• It’s often more effective to reduce unnecessary frequencies than to over-boost others. 

• Noise cancellation makes EQ adjustments simpler. For instance, without it, when low-frequency sounds such as airplane noise are prominent, they can combine with the low end of the music, causing excessive bass. Cutting the low frequencies will then enhance the clarity of the music. However, with noise cancellation, you're less affected by such external sounds, allowing you to adjust without worrying too much about the noise's impact.

• Use music with vocals when tuning — our ears are sensitive to voices, making it easier to fine-tune.

Bass A screenshot of the EQ settings for Sony headphones on a phone, which shows the bass sliders boosted and the low-mid range reduced slightly. Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

According to Jiroaki, those who want more thump from their headphones need to increase the 32–64Hz range. Slightly reducing the 125–250Hz range keeps bass separate from the midrange. This is vital because you still want to hear vocals and mid-range instrumentals clearly. 

Midrange A screenshot of the EQ settings for Sony headphones on a phone, which shows the mid-range sliders boosted and everything else reduced. Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

If you want more clarity and presence from your sound profile, make the midrange stronger by “reducing 32–135Hz and 8kHz–16kHz, then increase 500Hz–2kHz.”

Highs A screenshot of the EQ settings for Sony headphones on a phone, which shows the high-range sliders boosted. Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

Raising the high end will bring out more detail in recordings. Jiroaki says to “boost 4kHz–16kHz, but adjust carefully, as too much can make the sound sharp or harsh.”

How to customize the EQ on your wired headphones and earbuds

You can’t adjust the EQ on your wired headphones or earbuds, at least not through a companion app. Instead, third-party software is required. Any audio adjustments made on these programs will apply to any wired headphones or earbuds that are plugged into your media device (i.e, desktop/laptop, smartphone, tablet). Another option is accessing the EQ on select music streaming services (e.g, Apple Music, Spotify), which will offer similar results.

How to customize the EQ on your wireless speakers

Adjusting the EQ on portable Bluetooth speakers is often no different than wireless headphones. JBL arguably has the most popular and user-friendly EQ for speakers, so we brought in Klaus Hartung, the Vice President of Intelligent Audio Lab at Harman International — which owns JBL — to discuss some essentials.

Several factors must be looked at when customizing the sound profile on a speaker, such as environment (indoor/outdoor), music genre, placement, room acoustics, surrounding walls, and vocal output. The boundary effect needs to be examined as well. This is when you hear a mix of the direct sound from a speaker and the sound that’s reflected from a surface (e.g, a desk or wall).

Bass A screenshot of the EQ settings for a JBL speaker on a phone, which shows the bass slider boosted. Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

Start by adjusting +2–3 dB on the lowest band (125Hz). This creates “more punchy and balanced bass.” If the results are muffled, Hartung says to “reduce the level slightly by −1–2 dB in the 250–500 Hz region.” 

Something else to monitor is bass loss in outdoor settings. If this occurs, “increase the bass and treble (bass +2–3 dB, treble +1–2 dB),” says Hartung. Having your speaker in the living room around furniture and walls will affect sound quality. Adjust the EQ to the 60–200Hz range and cut the lowest band by −2 to −4 dB to eliminate muddiness. 

Midrange A screenshot of the EQ settings for a JBL speaker on a phone, which shows one of the mid-range sliders boosted. Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

Increase by +1–2 dB in the 1–4kHz region to raise vocals. If the sound becomes too harsh, then decrease by −1 dB at 4kHz. Any EQ with a gain setting should be increased by 1–2 dB at 1–3kHz. When listening to acoustic genres, Hartung wants you to set the midrange to −1–2 dB at 200–400Hz for more clarity.

Highs A screenshot of the EQ settings for a JBL speaker on a phone, which shows the high-range slider boosted. Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

“You’ll also want to consider room acoustics and how those high-frequency sounds reflect in the space,” says Hartung. Reduce treble by -1–2 dB in bright rooms (e.g., no curtains or carpets) and increase treble by +1–2 dB when in dull rooms (carpeted with curtains).

How to customize the EQ on your car sound system

If your vehicle has an HMI (Human-Machine Interface) system, then it likely supports an audio EQ. Bear in mind that the interface will look different across vehicles. Enter the Audio Settings menu and you’ll stumble upon a few controls, such as bass, midrange, and treble. 

Director of Global Experiential R&D at Harman Automotive, Jonathan Pierce, notes that a premium in-car system combines “high-quality components and sophisticated software tuning to achieve both power and clarity.” He also suggests that listeners ask for what they want more or less of and question whether they understand the tools available to “shape the experience.”

Bass

Per Pierce, “increase by +2 to +4 dB to add warmth and depth, but avoid going higher than +5 dB to prevent muddiness.”

Midrange

Keep the midrange near neutral (0 to +2 dB) for clearer vocals and instruments.

Treble

Raise this by +1 to +3 dB for a bit more sparkle and detail. At the same time, lower the treble slightly if it sounds “too sharp,” says Pierce.

Your old Twitter handle might be worth something to someone, apparently.

X (formerly Twitter) announced over the weekend that it will start selling inactive handles on the Elon Musk-owned social network. The company will facilitate sales through a new Handles Marketplace, which will only be available to paid Premium and Premium Business users. Some usernames will be "complimentary" (AKA free), and X is calling those "Priority" handles. Others will be doled out on a paid or invite-only basis, and those are designated as "Rare" handles.

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It's all bit strange, but our friends at PCMag have a clearer explanation of how this works. The free ones will be longer handles with full names or alphanumeric phrases, while the ones that cost money will be shorter and more recognizable handles, like the ones that brands use. Anyone who wants a free username will have to submit a request and wait for approval, while paid usernames will be given out via public drops or, in other cases, an invite-only program.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's X settles $128 million lawsuit with Twitter executives

In case you were wondering, prices for these usernames apparently start at $2,500 and can go up to seven figures depending on "demand and uniqueness," per a support page cited by PCMag. Ownership of sold usernames cannot be transferred, so theoretically, there won't be a resale market for them.

This is certainly a unique solution to the age-old problem of wanting a username that's claimed by someone who doesn't use it anymore. There are definitely a couple of major potential issues with it, though. For starters, there's no indication that the previous owner of a sold username will see any of that money. Beyond that, this could easily be used for nefarious means; it's not hard to imagine someone buying @dril in a few years and using it to shill crypto scams, or whatever it is grifters do on X these days.

Given that X has already killed the original purpose of the blue checkmark as a verification tool and turned it into a paid status symbol, this at least feels like it could be an avenue for digital identity theft, the likes of which the site's current ownership and moderation policies might not be equipped to handle at the moment.

UPDATE Monday, 5:07 p.m. ET: Amazon indicated its AWS services were well on the way to fully recovering.

"We continue to observe recovery across all AWS services," the company wrote in an update to the AWS status page. Updates from the company heading into Monday evening, eastern time, suggested its efforts to mitigate AWS' issues were steadily resolving the problems.

UPDATE Monday, 3:05 p.m. ET: Amazon said its efforts to fix issues with its AWS services appeared to be working, just hours after its popular cloud services platform suffered a major outage during the early hours of Monday morning. The company wrote that it saw "decreasing networking connectivity issues" in its most recent update on its status page.

And at 2:20 p.m. ET, the company wrote that its "mitigations to resolve launch failures" were progressing and that it expected "launch errors and network connectivity issues to subside" as it worked to apply fixes more widely.

More on the AWS outage: Is Canvas still down?

UPDATE Monday, 1:25 p.m. ET: Amazon wrote that it was still working to resolve issues with its widely used AWS service.

"We continue to apply mitigation steps for network load balancer health and recovering connectivity for most AWS services," the company wrote in an update to the AWS status page.

The latest issues came after a massive outage in the early hours of Monday morning, eastern time. We'll continue to update this story, and you can read further details about why the crash occurred.

UPDATE Monday, 12:20 p.m. ET: Amazon wrote it was working on correcting the underlying issue that caused renewed issues with AWS on Monday.

"We have narrowed down the source of the network connectivity issues that impacted AWS Services," read the latest update from the AWS status page. "The root cause is an underlying internal subsystem responsible for monitoring the health of our network load balancers."

UPDATE Monday, 11:35 a.m. ET: Amazon confirmed it was looking into "the root cause for the network connectivity issues that are impacting AWS services such as DynamoDB, SQS, and Amazon Connect," in its most recent update to the AWS status page. User-reported issues for a number of services were on the rise at Down Detector, including FanDuel, Snapchat, Apple Music, and many more.

UPDATE Monday, 11:15 a.m. ET: Hours after seemingly stabilizing, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is again reporting issues, seemingly confirmed by a massive uptick in user reports on Downdetector. It's unclear which sites will be impacted, but Downdetector error reports are rising for Venmo and slowly rising for several other services. We'll continue to update this story, and you can also read more about why this morning's crash occurred.

Amazon services, including Prime and Alexa, as well as other internet services including Snapchat, Roblox, Lyft, and more appear to be disrupted, according to Downdetector.

The reported issues began shortly after 3 a.m. ET, according to Downdetector.

Amazon Web Services' status page first reported the issue at 3:11 a.m. ET. The page confirmed engineers were investigating the ongoing issue and had potentially identified the root cause as of 5 a.m. ET.

As of 6 a.m. ET, AWS reports services to be recovering, which is consistent with a drop of reported issues across impacted sites, per Downdetector.

SEE ALSO: AWS outage list: Roblox, Fortnite, Snapchat, Signal, and more

Many sites and services rely on AWS to operate, which can cause a ripple effect across the internet when disrupted.

(Disclosure: Downdetector is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns Mashable.)

Sites impacted by AWS outage

Here is a partial list of websites or services seemingly impacted by the AWS problems, according to Downdetector:

• Snapchat

• Amazon

• Roblox

• Robinhood

• Amazon Alexa

• Ring

• HBO Max

• Chime

• Venmo

• Lyft

• Prime Video

• Fortnite

• Disney+

• Hulu

• Roku

• Signal

• IMDb

• United Airlines 

• Amazon Music

• Reddit

• Character.AI

• AT&T

• My Fitness Pal

• Steam

SEE ALSO: Amazon internet outage reactions hit full meltdown

It's important to note that not all services were knocked offline completely by the outage. Reddit for example, is reporting degraded performance as it deals with issues in "Reddit infrastructure." The issues, while not explicitly tied to the AWS outage, were observed to be occurring at the same time.

Slack is also experiencing significant performance issues attributed to an "upstream provider," but the service is still functioning Monday morning.

This is a developing story. More details will be provided as they become available.

Attention Oura Ring users: A new app experience is coming. On Oct. 20, the fitness tech brand revealed that the Oura app is getting a redesign in the coming weeks. But that's not the only news. Oura is also unveiling cumulative stress metrics and other updates along with the redesign.

The new Oura app

Oura has not provided an exact date for the new app design. The brand has said the new design will rollout globally in the coming weeks, so don't be surprised if you wake up to a new in-app look sometime soon.

The new Oura app will allow more personalization for users to see the information they want first. Credit: Oura / Mashable SEE ALSO: Oura Ring 4 review: It's got a key edge over Apple Watch

The Oura interface is getting a refresh, but it's maintaining the same three tabs: Today, Vitals, and My Health. While it still delivers all the same data and health biometrics, it'll do so in a refreshed package.

The new app design has more integrated design, Oura says. Rather than separate boxes delivering each biometric, it'll have a better flow between categories. The background will show serene natural landscapes, adding to an overall zen-like app experience.

The tab with the biggest overhaul is the My Health tab, which now prevents an overview of your long-term health metrics at the top of the page, before diving into the specifics of your resilience, heart health, and sleep health.

An update to Cycle Insights Cycle Insights will now have a 12-month view in the Oura app. Credit: Oura / Mashable

One of the most popular features in the Oura app is Cycle Insights, used to track and support reproductive health. The new app design will now support a 12-month view of predicted period and fertile windows. Plus, users used to wait 60 nights before receiving personalized cycle phase data, but now it will be available after one night's sleep.

Oura launches Cumulative Stress Cumulative Stress will be calculated from sleep continuity, heart stress-response, sleep micromotions, temperature regulation, and activity impact Credit: Oura

Oura measures daily stressors as will as users long-term resilience to stress, but a new metric is coming. Cumulative Stress will now monitor chronic, long term stress. The metric will be calculated from five factors: Sleep continuity, heart stress-response, sleep micromotions, temperature regulation, and activity impact.

Cumulative Stress can be viewed in a new Stress Management page where users can see it alongside Daytime Stress and Resilience.

SEE ALSO: We tested the top fitness trackers of 2025: See our favorite wearables and smart rings Oura is looking for FDA-approval on blood pressure insights

While the new app design and Cumulative Stress are coming soon, Oura is also getting started on blood pressure insights. Oura has received approval from an Institutional Review Board to begin a study on blood pressure insights in Oura Labs, an early step in potentially receiving FDA approval for a future blood pressure feature.

Oura Labs is the brand's hub for testing experimental features before they've officially launched. Users can beta test features and provide Oura with feedback before they officially launch.

The blood pressure study in Oura Labs combines Oura health data with information from a user questionnaire focusing on family history, medication, and lifestyle habits. Participants in Oura Labs will then receive one of three hypertension assessments — no signs, moderate signs, or major signs. According to Oura, "the Blood Pressure Profile Study will be used to refine and validate a future feature for submission to the FDA for clearance."

UPDATE: Oct. 20, 2025, 3:28 p.m. EDT This article has been updated to clarify the status and availability of the blood pressure study in Oura Labs.

Excited for Stranger Things Season 5, but don't have time for a full rewatch? Don't worry: The Stranger Things cast is here to help.

SEE ALSO: 'Stranger Things 5' teaser: We're in for a traumatic final season, aren't we?

In the lead-up to the release of Season 5, Netflix has released videos of Stranger Things' cast reacting to the biggest moments from prior seasons. This week, it's Season 3's turn, meaning Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and more are turning back time to the summer of 1985. The Starcourt Mall has opened, Robin (Maya Hawke) has joined the cast, and the Mindflayer is about to rain down carnage on Hawkins.

Check out the full video above to see the cast's full reactions to Stranger Things Season 3. Highlights include Joe Keery reliving the Steve and Robin bathroom scene, and Gaten Matarazzo rewatching Dustin's standout performance of "The NeverEnding Story."

"It feels like it was designed fully to fuck with me," he laughs. And Stranger Things audiences are grateful for it!

Volume 1 of Stranger Things 5 premieres Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix. Volume 2 premieres Dec. 26, and the series finale premieres Dec. 31.

Meta's most futuristic device is here, and critics have some thoughts about it.

The $800 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, which have a built-in display for the first time in Meta's brief history of making techno-glasses, are now available. As such, plenty of people who review this stuff for a living have had some time with the glasses, giving us a bunch of well-informed reviews to look at.

What are critics saying about the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses? Keep reading to find out.

Meta Ray-Ban Display review roundup

The overall vibes seem positive, but that's not to say there aren't major criticisms to be found here.

Critics like the display, mostly

Obviously, the big reason to buy these glasses over the cheaper Gen 2 Meta Ray-Ban glasses is that the Display has, well, a display built into the right lens. You can use them as a viewfinder for taking photos, a language translation tool, a way to read and respond to text messages, or anything else that the Meta app store (which reviewers didn't really have access to) will enable over time.

The good news is that, per reviewers, this works pretty well. Victoria Song at The Verge spoke highly of the ability to offer live text captions for anything someone says to you. While it doesn't work as well in very noisy environments or when someone is talking to you from out of your line of sight, Song said it's still a strong selling point.

"Even so, it’s a scenario that feels magical when all the pieces fall into place," Song wrote. "When I show the feature to my in-laws, their jaws drop. Immediately, their minds go to relatives who are hard of hearing who might benefit."

Tech Fowler, a tech review channel on YouTube, also spoke highly of the display overall, especially the ability to use it as a camera viewfinder for taking photos. The other Meta glasses simply can't do that, so anyone who works in content creation should highly consider these ones instead, according to Tech Fowler. However, that review did mention one particular issue that could be an annoyance for some users.

"To be honest with you, because it's only in one eye, it does take a little bit of time to get used to," Tech Fowler's review said. "That's because I find that sometimes it feels a bit, I wouldn't say fuzzy, but I do get double vision a little bit. I'm only getting an image in one eye, my brain is kind of interlacing the images from both eyes together, and because of that, there is some shared vision in both eyes."

Battery life is a problem

Obviously, adding a display to any device is going to make battery life an even bigger priority. According to early reviews, battery life is not a strength of the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses.

Engadget's Karissa Bell noted that Meta rates the glasses for about six hours of use on a charge, but that's apparently a generous rating, depending on how much you use the display.

"With very limited use, l was able to stretch the battery to about seven hours, but if you're doing display-intensive tasks like video calling or live translation, it will die much, much more quickly," Bell wrote.

Nathie, another YouTube tech reviews channel, offered some slightly more damning specificity. According to that channel, the device ran out of juice after about 3.5 hours of use. It really seems like this is going to vary from person to person depending on how much use they get out of the display, but given that the display is such a major selling point with this device, it's worth pointing out that heavily using the display evidently kills the battery.

The frames are heavy and don't offer enough privacy

One thing that pretty much every review I found pointed out is that the frames, which come in at 69g of weight, are simply too chunky to be used as all-day-every-day glasses. Just listen to what Song had to say in her review.

"At 69g, these are also too heavy for daily all-day wear. My normal glasses with very thick lenses are 31g. I was fine wearing these for a few hours, but discomfort crept in after that," Song wrote. "A few times, I felt the telltale signs of a headache at the back of my head and nose bridge. The bottom of the frames also left indentations on my cheeks. I’m prone to dry eye, so needing to wear contacts with these every day has been deeply uncomfortable. Artificial tears help, but the combination of the weight, eye strain, and dry eye has been tough to navigate."

Tech Fowler also pointed out that the Ray-Ban Display frames weigh about twice as much as his regular glasses. This seems to be a pretty ubiquitous complaint. Song also pointed out that the LED light which is meant to signal to other people that the glasses are recording footage is too subtle to be noticed in some situations. Privacy is a huge concern for a device like this, as it was for Google Glass a decade ago. It doesn't seem like Meta has solved that particular issue yet.

The neural band works well Do you want to wear a wristband all day? Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Meta's new glasses can be controlled via voice commands using Meta AI (the same as other Meta glasses), but since there's a display now, some finer control is warranted. That's where the wrist-worn neural band comes in. You slap it on your wrist, make sure it's charged up (apparently its battery can last a full day or so), and use hand gestures to navigate the UI. Critics were generally pretty kind to the neural band.

"In more than a week, it almost never missed a gesture, and it never falsely registered a gesture, despite my efforts to confuse it by fidgeting or rubbing my fingers together," Bell wrote at Engadget. "The gestures themselves are also pretty intuitive and don't take long to get used to: double tapping your thumb and middle fingers wakes up or puts the display to sleep, single taps of your index and middle fingers allow you to select an item or go back, and swiping your thumb along the side of your index finger lets you navigate around the display."

Critics also noted that there's a helpful little haptic vibration to let you know when it's registered a gesture, so there's no uncertainty there. Another big bonus is that you don't need to have your hands in view of the camera for these gestures to work, unlike some other XR devices.

These are for early adopters right now

In general, these reviewers came across as fairly positive on the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses. They mostly work as intended, despite poor battery life and the (at the time of reviewing) total lack of an app store, which is not an issue most consumers will have to worry about. However, there's still the matter of value. At $800, these cost as much as a good smartphone, while not offering nearly as much day-to-day usefulness. As such, multiple critics agreed that these glasses are really for early adopters right now.

"Unless you are an early adopter, you need to have the newest tech, or you really love one of the features in particular, I don't think these are worth it," Tech Fowler's review said. "I think $800 is a huge amount of money for something that doesn't do that much."

Nathie, our other featured YouTube reviewer, echoed the sentiment.

"Having used these for a week, it became clear to me that there are still many challenges that have to be tackled to go truly mainstream," Nathie's review said.

It sounds like the biggest steps for Meta going forward are going to be be making sure there's a robust selection of apps, improving battery life, and finding some kind of way to alleviate the privacy issue.

It looks like the rumored Samsung Galaxy S26 Pro is no more. According to a report from SamMobile, Samsung has decided against introducing a "Pro" rebrand for its next smartphone lineup. Instead, the company will stick with the standard S26 naming convention.

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy S26 (so far)

It’s a fairly unexciting move, but not a surprising one. Per the report, the "Pro" model would have been a marketing play rather than a meaningful hardware upgrade — an attempt to mirror Apple’s naming strategy with its iPhone Pro series. In other words, Samsung’s base model will keep its name, and its specs will stay in familiar territory.

That might be a bit disappointing for fans hoping for something new, especially since other Galaxy news has been underwhelming. Just last week, reports surfaced that Samsung is axing its Edge line after only one release — the S25 Edge, which debuted just five months ago in May. It’ll reportedly be replaced by the S26 Plus, and rumors suggest there won’t be any groundbreaking design changes beyond a refreshed camera bump.

Meanwhile, the S26 Ultra also seems poised for only minor updates, primarily a larger camera module. So, unless Samsung has a surprise up its sleeve, expect the 2026 Galaxy lineup to look familiar: a base model, a Plus, and an Ultra — and not much else.

This month, over a dozen creators took the stage for a fashion show unlike any other. 

At this year's VidSummit, a YouTube and video marketing conference in Dallas, Texas, attendees expected to see panels on marketing, AI, and the all-knowing algorithm. But YouTubers in attendance also encountered a fashion show, complete with the usual: a runway, fingernail knives, and a four-legged Furby robot. 

SEE ALSO: Why is TwitchCon so uniquely unsafe for streamers?

The second Creators in Fashion event took place on October 9, elevating what creator advertising events could be. Influencers from all corners of the web, like the Try Guys, HopeScope, and Safiya Nygaard, strutted their own clothing lines while also engaging in wacky challenges. 

Creating a YouTube fashion show

Started last year by Theorists, a collective of four YouTube channels dissecting games, movies, food, and fashion, Creators in Fashion began as a way for influencers to express themselves and their brands in a way that isn't childish or unprofessional. 

Matthew Patrick (also known as MatPat), who started dissecting video game theories in 2011, is one of the founders behind Creators in Fashion. In 2024, he stepped down as the face of the Theorist channel to take on bigger projects that he expected could change the face of the creator economy — including what became this fashion show. 

"I'm realizing there are all these pain points, problems, or unique opportunities that I'm seeing that other people might not see," Patrick told Mashable in an interview. "Let me figure out those solutions to help the people coming up behind me, or the rest of the industry at large."

Creators are one of the driving forces behind our modern economy, so much so that they've engendered the "creator economy." Influencers are becoming household names, with grinning teeth selling us chocolate bars, energy drinks, caffeinated gum, and energy powder. And business is only expected to grow, with the influencer marketing industry expected to hit $470 billion by 2027, according to a 2023 creator economy report from Goldman Sachs. 

Glam Girl Gabi and MatPat at Creators in Fashion. Credit: Mariya Stangl Photo

Content creators are small businesses that require a steady stream of revenue, just like your average mom-and-pop shop or big box retailer. Relying on one platform or revenue stream is an incredibly risky gamble, and Patrick discovered that the only way to thrive was to find new ways to earn. "You want to diversify your revenue streams, because at the end of the day, a lot of your business is built on someone else's land," Patrick said. 

So, along with teaching Congress about the value of influencers with the Congressional Creators Caucus, Patrick and his team dreamed up new ways to help grow and maintain the creator economy. They built the first Creators in Fashion, a two-hour show that was mostly just a traditional runway, with models and influencers walking down the catwalk in everything from hoodies to chic couture. "The goal of the show has always been to introduce people who might not think style and fashion content is for them to ease that learning curve and make it accessible to a wider variety of people," Patrick said. 

The first year was a "proof of concept" according to Amy Roberts, the host of Style Theory and main founder of Creators in Fashion. "We had a lot of other things we wanted to do that we really couldn't execute on," she told Mashable. Creating a full-blown variety show with multiple sketches just wasn't possible with the amount of time and resources they had. 

The 2025 Creators in Fashion

This year, the Theorists and their parent company Lunar X wanted to go for something grander but more akin to a YouTube video. Segments that allowed creators to show off their skills cut through the fashion, including a four-person, three-minute makeup challenge competition and a cake decorating showdown. 

Though Mary Allyson, a cake decorating YouTuber with 1.8 million subscribers, lost her baking duel for failing to make anything but a cake border in the time limit, she was still thrilled to be included. Allyson told Mashable that she was connected with the event through VidSummit, and "when they told me that it would be kind of like a fashion show mixed with a variety show, I was all in." Allyson herself has not yet launched a line of merchandise, but is working "hard behind the scenes to drop something really fun next year."

For creators promoting their apparel lines, Creators in Fashion collaborated with YouTube to develop a new way for fans to purchase items they see. When a clothing line was shown off IRL, like the Try Guys' Lasagna Island collection, a link appeared directing viewers directly to the store. "YouTube Shopping wasn't really built to do that," Roberts said. "So we worked with YouTube Shopping to figure out how to link all these stores in the background so that we can tag them as if they were our own products." 

This year's show ended with a pure encapsulation of the magic that creators can produce with their own creativity and vigor. Evan and Katelyn showed off a dress made entirely of resin, Jessica Crafternoon slayed with hand-knitted dresses, and Estefannie literally shocked with a taser bracelet and nails made out of knives (the latter took 89 hours to make). 

Estefannie was one of the smaller creators on the show, sitting at around 90,000 subscribers on YouTube, but her feminist-first-focused tech was just as mesmerizing as anything else on that stage. "I met Amy at an event and we both bonded over wearing [activewear brand] POPFLEX," she said. "She asked what I did, and later that night stalked my content. That's how I got invited." 

When putting together Creators in Fashion, it was important for Patrick and the Theorists to include creators of all shapes and sizes, diversifying their stage beyond the 50 largest creators that are already selling at Target. Growing these days becomes difficult when platform discoverability is hindered with each new iteration of AI slop, and formulaic content ruins the magic of originality.  

"I think it's important to make sure it's balanced with up-and-coming creators who are doing good work, but don't necessarily have a mega-size platform or a huge megaphone to celebrate their work," Patrick said. "A platform like this is a huge opportunity for them, a great spotlight to shine, and it allows large creators to use their platform to kind of celebrate and curate the next generation of creators who are doing awesome stuff."

Creators in Fashion is a welcome passion project in an age where creators are dominating our economy but still not given the proper respect they deserve. Here's hoping that it gets the chance to strut again next year. 

UPDATE: Oct. 21, 2025, 1:39 p.m. EDT This article has been updated to correct Estefannie's name and Amy Roberts' position in founding Creators in Fashion.

SAVE $40: The DJI Mic Mini (2 transmitters + 1 receiver) is on sale for just $79 at Amazon, down from the list price of $119. That's a 34% discount and the best discount we've ever spotted at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Mic Mini (2 transmitters + 1 receiver) $79 at Amazon
$119 Save $40   Get Deal

If you've always wondered what it would be like to dip a toe into the content creator pool, you probably know you'd want a few gadgets to get started. One of the essentials is a great mic so your viewers can hear you easily and you won't go nuts while editing. If you could use a creator-approved mic, check out this Amazon deal.

As of Oct. 20, the DJI Mic Mini with two transmitters and one receiver is on sale for only $79 at Amazon, marked down from the list price of $119. That shaves $40 off the normal price from a solid 34% discount. It's also the lowest price we've ever spotted at Amazon.

DJI is consistently a favorite brand among the creator scene and the brand's mics have become the go-to choice. Scroll through TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram reels and you'll see the tiny mics all over. Bethany Allard, Lead Shopping Reporter at Mashable, tested out the DJI Mic Mini and said, "If you need any degree of portability with your mic setup, the DJI Mic Mini offers a lot of versatility, and for a great value," she wrote in the review. "That makes it a solid option for making vlogs and TikToks, and for anyone who feels less than confident with their tech skills — once I plugged the receiver into my phone, the mics connected easily and started working with the camera app automatically."

Allard tested the model that comes with a charging case, which could be ideal for longer content creating sessions. That model is also on sale today, coming in at $99 instead of the list price of $169 which also make it a great discount.

SEE ALSO: Beat the ban: Get the DJI Mini 4K drone for its lowest-ever price at Amazon

The $79 sale version comes with plenty of great accessories, too, like a USB-C mobile phone adapter, two transmitter charging docks, two magnetic clips for the transmitters, and windscreens.

It's worth mentioning this deal is sold from a third-party at Amazon, and not Amazon itself. Mashable typically discourages buying from third-party sellers, but DJI is having a heck of a time selling products in the U.S. these day, so buying from a third-party tends to be the best option lately.

Before this deal expires, snag the creator-approve DJI Mic Mini and be on your way to joining the pros. It's sitting at the most affordable price we've ever seen at Amazon and this sale price is set to expire today.

SAVE 29%: As of Oct. 20, you can get the Dyson Supersonic Origin hair dryer for $299.99, down from $419.99, at Amazon. That's a 29% discount and $120 in savings.

Dyson Supersonic Origin $299.99 at Amazon
$419.99 Save $120   Get Deal at Amazon

Dyson has single-handedly redefined the hair care industry with its innovative tech, but to get it, you’ll need to empty your wallet. (You get what you pay for, right?) And spending almost $450 on any hair tool just feels…excessive, even if it promises miracles. Luckily, Amazon just dropped the price on the Origin, so you can get the tech without all the extra attachments — and without the full price tag.

SEE ALSO: I found 5 Dyson Supersonic dupes that are almost as good as the real thing

As of Oct. 20, you can get the Dyson Supersonic Origin hair dryer for $299.99, down from $419.99, at Amazon. That's a 29% discount and $120 price cut.

The Origin is basically the same thing as the Supersonic hair dryer (it has the same fast-drying motor, same tech that checks the heat constantly so it doesn't scorch your hair), but it only comes with the basic Styling Concentrator attachment. If you're someone who never really uses all those diffusers and extra nozzles anyway, this is a way to get the main Dyson benefits (less heat damage, quicker drying ) without paying for the stuff you'd just leave in the box.

Elon Musk's SpaceX keeps launching satellites into Earth's orbit, and it just achieved a big milestone.

On Sunday, two of the company's Falcon 9 rockets lifted off from Florida and California hauling 28 Starlink satellites each, adding a total of 56 more satellites to the sky.

This brings the total number of Starlink satellites SpaceX has launched to date to more than 10,000, the company said in a tweet.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's X settles $128 million lawsuit with Twitter executives

A subsidiary of SpaceX, Starlink is a high-speed internet service served from a network of low orbit satellites. The company launched its first test satellites in 2018, following with its first 60 operational satellites the next year. Since then, the company has continued to steadily increase its Starlink fleet, despite ongoing concerns over the company's potential contribution to a growing space debris problem.

Starlink is authorized by the FCC to launch a total of 12,000 satellites. The company plans to deploy up to 30,000 additional satellites.

Featured Video For You What is Starlink? Elon Musk’s satellite internet service explained

Not all of the company's satellites are still operational, though. With a typical lifespan of five years, some have been decommissioned, which typically means they're intuitionally de-orbited to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. Roughly 8,600 Starlink satellites are reportedly currently in orbit.

IN STOCK NOW: As of Oct. 20, the Pokémon TCG Blaziken ex and Volcanion ex Premium Collection is $69.99 at Amazon, a market value price and cheaper than TCGPlayer.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Blaziken ex & Volcanion ex Premium Collection $69.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now

Mega Evolution is the latest set out for Pokémon TCG, with Phantasmal Flames preorders going in and out of stock. But I'd highly recommend checking out the newly-released Pokémon TCG Blaziken ex and Volcanion ex Premium Collection, an Amazon exclusive selling for $69.99. Sellers on TCGPlayer are seriously missing the mark on pricing in an odd twist of fate, with prices starting at $97.

The pain pull to this premium collection is the five Journey Together and five Destined Rivals booster packs, the former being a bit of an underwhelming set when it comes to card values, and the later being an absolute banger for generation two Pokémon trainers and collectors.

SEE ALSO: Where to buy Pokémon cards in 2025 — avoid overpaying or missing out on new sets

That's not to say Journey Together isn't a good set. It's just its card values haven't kept up with trainer Pokémon-focused sets despite a massive buzz around the Scarlet and Violet expansion. But this collection is worth every penny in my opinion.

Most valuable Destined Rivals and Journey Together Pokémon cards Credit: Mashable Photo Composite / The Pokémon Company

Destined Rivals is dominating the highest priced chase cards here with the exception of one, but it's no contest. The attraction of Team Rocket and trainer character Ethan is too much with their partner Pokémon Mewtwo and cover art legendary Ho-Oh, the artwork is frankly astounding. Here's the top five most valuable Destined Rivals and Journey Together cards with their current value info and where to buy as single cards:

1. Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex - 231/182

   Near Mint Holofoil: $495.99
   Market price: $581.93
   Most recent sale: $504.66

2. Cynthia's Garchomp ex - 232/182

   Near Mint Holofoil: $289.99
   Market price: $296
   Most recent sale: $291.01

3. Ethan's Ho-Oh ex - 230/182

   Near Mint Holofoil: $220.03
   Market price: $242.87
   Most recent sale: $221.30

4. Lillie's Clefairy ex - 184/159

   Near Mint Holofoil: $160
   Market price: $168.10
   Most recent sale: $160

5. Team Rocket's Moltres ex - 229/182

   Near Mint Holofoil: $145.93
   Market price: $153.59
   Most recent sale: $149.84

There's no new episode of Last Week Tonight this week, but John Oliver did return to YouTube for an all-important web exclusive: a second deep dive in to the formidable and ongoing Air Bud franchise.

In the 20-minute video above the host rants about the Golden Retriever-led film empire, leaving no water bowl unturned. He weaves through everything from the plot summary of the upcoming 2026 instalment Air Bud Returns and its associated canine casting call to the staggering number of movies in the franchise (14 plus two Christmas spinoffs).

It's a long and entertaining rant about the enduring might of Air Bud, but it can perhaps best be summarised by a question Oliver asks partway through: "Is this a money laundering scheme?"

SAVE OVER $10: As of Oct. 20, the Lego Ideas Tuxedo Cat set is on sale for $88.50 at Amazon. This is $11.49 off its list price of $99.99 and its lowest price yet.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Ideas Tuxedo Cat $88.50 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $11.49   Get Deal

If you've been looking to pick up some Lego sets to work on this fall, there's already some excellent deals available, even before Black Friday sales officially kick off. This is especially true at Amazon, where some sets have even dropped to their lowest-ever prices, including the Lego Ideas Tuxedo Cat.

The adorable Lego Ideas Tuxedo Cat set is currently on sale for $88.50 at Amazon, an 11% price drop from its list price of $99.99. More importantly, though, it's the lowest-ever price. If you've been hoping to get it, now is a great time to do so and save some cash.

SEE ALSO: Lego is giving away free Witch models for Halloween — here’s how to get yours on Oct. 26

This set is a truly perfect pick-up for cat lovers. It's also recommended for adults aged 18 and up, but someone younger can piece it together with some help from an adult around them. The Lego Ideas Tuxedo Cat set comes with 1,710 pieces that create the adorable little feline, who also features a rotatable head with adjustable ears, paws, and tail so you can pose it how you like. It even comes with different eye colors, so you can choose between yellow or blue.

Even if you're shopping ahead of the holidays, this is a great gift for animal lovers. Don't miss out on the Lego Ideas Tuxedo Cat set at its lowest-ever price at Amazon.

This isn't the only set down to its best-ever price right now at Amazon. The Lego DREAMZzz The Never Witch’s Midnight Raven set is another that's currently down to its lowest-ever price there, and is a great spooky season Lego set to work on.

Happy Thursday 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. 20 Pips

Number (11): Everything in this space must add to 11. The answer is 0-6, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add to 10. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally; 2-6, placed vertically.

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 2-6, placed vertically; 3-0, placed vertically.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add to 9. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically; 3-0, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Oct. 20 Pips

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

Greater Than (4): Everything in this red space must be greater than 4. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this orange space must be greater than 4. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally.

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

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-5, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed horizontally; 4-4, placed vertically.

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

Number (4): Everything in this space must add to 4. The answer is 0-2, placed horizontally; 4-6, placed vertically.

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

Greater Than (4): Everything in this light blue space must be greater than 4. The answer is 2-6, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Oct. 20 Pips

Greater Than (6): Everything in this space must be greater than 6. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed horizontally.

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

Number (13): Everything in this space must add to 13. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally; 3-2, placed vertically; 4-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 4-3, placed vertically.

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally; 6-0, placed horizontally; 2-1, placed horizontally; 3-5, 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 NYT Strands hints are easy if you love getting paid.

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 17, 2025 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: For the picking

The words are related to your mail.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe things that can be found on your paycheck.

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 Checklist.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for October 20

• Number

• Address

• Amount

• Signature

• Routing

• Memo

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 the latest Strands.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is easy if you're a Chicago sports fan.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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: Windy City teams

• Green: Weight classes

• Blue: AAC

• Purple: Types of rooms

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: Chicago Teams

• Green: With "Weight," Combat Sports Divisions

• Blue: American Conference Teams

• Purple: ___Room

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 #392 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Chicago Teams - BEARS, BULLS, CUBS, SKY

• With "Weight," Combat Sports Divisions- BANTAM, FEATHER, FLY, HEAVY

• American Conference Teams - BLAZERS, CHANTICLEERS, GREEN WAVE, PIRATES

• ___Room - DRESSING, FILM, GREEN, LOCKER

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 the latest Connections.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're currently in an ethereal state of mind.

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 17, 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:

A state of purgatory.

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 L.

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...

LIMBO

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 17, 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 the latest Wordle.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you know some chemistry.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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 17, 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: Affected by something

• Green: In the stars

• Blue: Chemistry symbols

• Purple: Types of corn, spiritual or edible

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: Affliction

• Green: Represented by Constellations

• Blue: Periodic Table Symbols

• Purple: ___Corn

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 #862 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Affliction: BUGBEAR, COMPLEX, DEMON, HANG-UP

• Represented by Constellations: BIG BEAR, CENTAUR, HUNTER, LYRE

• Periodic Table Symbols: AS, BE, I, K

• ___Corn: A, CAPRI, POP, UNI

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 17, 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 the latest Connections.