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SAVE OVER $150: As of Feb. 5, the 55-Inch Roku Plus Series Smart Mini-LED TV has returned to its lowest-ever price of $348 at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Roku Roku 55-Inch Plus Series Mini-LED TV $348 at Amazon
$499.99 Save $151.99   Get Deal

There's a lot to enjoy on streaming services at the moment, from part one of Bridgerton's fourth season to the return of Shrinking. Whatever has caught your eye, it's worth having a high-quality TV that can keep up while you binge-watch your favorites. If you're looking for something new, the 55-Inch Roku Plus Series Smart Mini-LED TV is a standout option that's currently on sale at Amazon.

As of Feb. 5, the 55-Inch Roku Plus Series Smart Mini-LED TV has dropped to $348 at Amazon, which is a little over $150 off its list price of $499.99. Not only that, but this also marks a return to its lowest-ever price.

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This Roku smart TV is a great investment for those who love to stream, featuring a home screen that helps you navigate to your favorite streaming apps quickly and easily. And what you watch will always look good, as this Mini-LED display boasts 4K resolution that makes images come through detailed and colorful. Plus, Dolby Vision technology helps give the picture an added color boost.

On top of that, this Roku smart TV also comes with Dolby Atmos audio technology (and features a built-in subwoofer) so your ears won't miss out on any of the action.

Amazon has this TV listed as a limited-time deal right now, so it may not be around for long. Now is your chance to grab the 55-Inch Roku Plus Series Smart Mini-LED TV at its lowest-ever price at Amazon.

Super Bowl LX is just a few days away. Do you have a plan for how you're going to watch it without cable?

If you're reading this, we're guessing the answer is no. That's why we're here today. People who subscribe to cable or satellite TV or use an antenna don't have to worry about this, but cord cutters around the United States need answers. Let's find them.

SEE ALSO: Special 30th anniversary Pokémon ad to air during Super Bowl LX How to livestream Super Bowl LX

Whether you're watching for the intriguing on-field matchup between the Seahawks and Patriots, the Bad Bunny halftime show, or the Pokémon 30th anniversary commercial, cord-cutters need a way to see all that stuff. The good news is that the game is airing on NBC this year, meaning all of the festivities will livestream on Peacock. The bad news is that Peacock no longer offers a free trial, and the cheapest service tier doesn't offer live sporting events. At minimum, you'll need to pay $10.99 for a month of the service. Or, you know, get a password from a friend.

After the game is over, you can just cancel it and go on with your life, or you can use it to watch all of Yellowstone or whatever before the month is up. The world is your oyster.

There are some other slightly more complicated options, but none of them are free without caveats. Streaming cable alternatives like YouTube TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, and any others should work as long as they carry your local NBC affiliate. Some of those, such as YouTube TV, do offer free trials for those who have never taken advantage of that before, but be warned: The monthly charge for these services is significantly higher than Peacock because they're meant to replace cable. If you forget to cancel after the game is over, you could be out nearly $100.

So yeah, in summary, biting the bullet and buying a month of Peacock is probably the simplest solution here if you want to host a Super Bowl party without paying for cable.

SAVE $600: As of Feb. 5, the Roborock Qrevo CurvX is on sale for $899.99 at Amazon. That's a 40% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: roborock Roborock Qrevo CurvX $899.99 at Amazon
$1,499.99 Save $600   Get Deal

Smart homes are supposed to make life easier, and nothing proves that quite like a robot vacuum. And as of Feb. 5, you can grab the Roborock Qrevo CurvX on sale at Amazon. Right now, it's $600 off, bringing the price down from $1,499.99 to $899.99. It's the perfect excuse to permanently remove vacuuming from your chore list.

This robot vacuum is truly a powerful unit, built to handle tough cleaning tasks around your home. It has a 22,000Pa suction and a zero-tangling design, so it can tackle everything from deep carpet messes to pet hair. The mop function is pristine too. It uses 80°C hot water to tackle stubborn stains. It also keeps the mops hygienic, using hot water to clean itself back at the dock. Here it also empties dust, refills the tanks, and dries everything automatically.

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For navigation, it is built with smart AI obstacle recognition tools to help it navigate around different types of objects, and the AdaptiLift chassis lets it adjust its height or individual sections for easy travel over thresholds or around furniture.

Find this robot vacuum deal at Amazon now.

SAVE $180: As of Feb. 5, the Beats Studio Pro are on sale for $169.95 at Amazon. That's a 51% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Beats Beats Studio Pro $169.95 at Amazon
$349.99 Save $180.04   Get Deal

Premium sound often comes with a premium price tag, but thanks to this latest Amazon deal, that isn't true for the Beats Studio Pro.

These headphones just dropped in price again, now giving you more than half off the list price. With these headphones you'll be getting top-tier noise cancellation as well as incredible sound quality for a lot less than usual. As of Feb. 5, you'll save a whopping $180 with the new sale price of $169.95. And this deal is available in all colorways too, so you can choose from black, matte white, deep brown, navy, sand gray, and sandstone.

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Like all Beats products, these offer incredible quality. They use the Beats custom acoustic platform to deliver clear, immersive sound, and they support lossless audio through USB-C. You can switch between two listening modes: Active Noise Cancelling to block out background noise, or Transparency mode to hear what’s going on around you. The headphones also support personalized spatial audio with head tracking for a more surround-style listening experience.

They also connect easily with both Apple and Android devices, with quick one-touch pairing and built-in features for each platform. Battery life lasts up to 40 hours, and a quick 10-minute charge can add around four hours of extra listening.

Get this Beats deal from Amazon now.

SAVE $30: As of Feb. 5, the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 are on sale for $149.95 at Amazon. That's a 17% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Shokz Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 $149.95 at Amazon
$179.95 Save $30   Get Deal

Looking for a new pair of earbuds for running? As of Feb. 5, the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 are on sale at Amazon. The perfect choice for runners, these are bone conducting earbuds that are designed to keep you aware of your surroundings. Bone conduction technology work by sending tiny vibrations through the bones of your skull instead of directly through your ear. Those vibrations reach your inner ear directly, letting you hear audio while leaving your ear canals open to the sounds around you.

And right now you can buy them for $30 less, bringing the price down from $179.95 to $149.95. This deal is available in all colors, so you can choose from black, blue, orange, or silver.

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These are ideal for carrying you through all kinds of runs, with a battery life lasting up to 12 hours. The lightweight unibody frame includes memory wire and ergonomic ear hooks too, helping to keep them secure and comfortable even during high-movement activities.

The sound can also be personalized through the Shokz app. Choose between different EQ modes, including a classic bone conduction setting and a volume boost mode for noisier environments.

You can find this deal at Amazon, but it's only around for a limited time.

Not everyone is a football person — but a whole heck of a lot of people love Bad Bunny.

Spotify's most-streamed artist of 2025 is set to headline the Super Bowl's halftime show, set to take place on Sunday. There's lots of interest in what songs he'll play — most likely a number of hits from his Grammy-winning album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS — and what message he'll send. Bad Bunny has openly spoken out against ICE — even at the Grammys — and might send a political message to all of America during his performance.

So we've got you covered if the Patriots vs. Seahawks matchup seems like a snoozer, but the show seems like a party.

When to watch Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX halftime show

Unfortunately, football games are not a uniform length so there is no exact way to know when to tune-in for the halftime show. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC (or streaming on Peacock).

In general, past games have shown that a typical Super Bowl broadcast lasts around 3 hours and 44 minutes. That means you can expect halftime roughly 90 minutes after kickoff and for Bad Bunny to hit the stage around 8 p.m. ET.

But, again, football games can go for longer or shorter times depending on stoppages, penalties, and a whole host of other factors. Just to be safe, it might be best to tune-in around 7:30 p.m. ET to check the game-clock. You can even mute the sound until Bad Bunny takes the stage.

TL;DR: The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are down to $298 on Amazon. That's $101.99 off their usual $399.99 price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-1000XM5 $298 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $101.99 Get Deal

If you’ve been waiting for a serious price drop on Sony’s XM5 headphones, Amazon has given you a great reason to stick with the older model. As of Feb. 5, Amazon has the Sony WH-1000XM5 noise-canceling headphones on sale for $298, knocking over $100 off the list price. This deal also applies to the midnight blue and smoky pink color models. 

When released back in May 2022, these headphones were known for delivering some of the best active noise cancellation you could get in a consumer headset at the time, as mentioned in our review. Sony has used dual processors and eight microphones to actively block out everything from airplane engines to everyday background chatter. 

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With that, whether you’re commuting, working from home, traveling, or even gaming on your Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 console, they do an excellent job of keeping distractions at bay.

Sound quality is another highlight that’s still relevant over three years later and worth the price. The XM5s offer a balanced, detailed listening experience that works just as well for podcasts and movies as it does for high-quality music streaming. You’ll also get up to 30 hours of battery life on a single charge, plus fast charging that can deliver hours of playback in just a few minutes.

Comfort hasn’t been overlooked either. The lightweight design, soft-fit leather ear cups, and refined headband make these easy to wear for long sessions without fatigue.

If you are willing to spend a little more on the newer model, the XM6 headphones are also on sale at Amazon. For those still shopping around various brands, Mashable has a roundup of the best headphones you can buy right now. 

In 2026, everyone is looking to get off their phone. If you're trying to tame your screen time habits, you'll need a new outlet to stop your scrolling. Even if you've figured out how to cut back your screen time, whether it be through Bricking your phone or putting it in another room, that doesn't actually solve the issue of your attention.

SEE ALSO: The Brick taught me how to be bored again

If you're feeling a bit bored, first, congrats! Second, now's the time to turn your unused attention toward analog activities. Maybe you're looking for something to do while watching TV, or you just want to have a completely screen-free evening. Regardless, it's time to bring back the activity book.

That's right, it's time to take pen to paper and busy your mind. This can be as lowkey as a coloring book or as stimulating as a crossword. Here are seven activity books to go analog with in 2026.

Cozy coloring books Opens in a new window Credit: Fuzzy Friends Coloring 'Fuzzy Hygge' Coloring Book $9.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Adams Media 'Spring Cheer Mini Coloring Book' $8.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Ohuhu Ohuhu 48 Color Marker Set $42.49 at Amazon
$49.99 Save $7.50   Shop Now

Adult coloring books have hung around for a while and for good reason. They're fun and relaxing, the ideal activity to unwind in the evening. If you're cozy-maxxing this winter, get a coloring book to match your vibe, like the Fuzzy Hygge book. And don't forget a set of markers. TikTok tells me that the Ohuhu ones are the best.

Your favorite New York Times puzzles on paper Opens in a new window Credit: New York Times 'New York Times Puzzle Mania!' $26.60 at Amazon
$38 Save $11.40   Shop Now

So you've put your phone away — but what if you want to play all your favorite New York Times games? Well, they've thought about that. That's where the New York Times Puzzle Mania! book comes in. It includes all your favorites, such as Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, and more. Deputy Shopping Editor Miller Kern bought this book and uses it to unwind, both as a standalone activity and while watching TV. It's full of stimulating puzzles and brain teasers that go beyond the NYT Games app.

Murder mysteries to solve on the page Opens in a new window Credit: Murdle 'Murdle: Volume 1' $12.78 at Amazon
$16 Save $3.22   Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Murdle 'Murdle: Volume 2' $9.51 at Amazon
$16 Save $6.49   Shop Now

The Murdle series, as the name implies, is a cross between a murder mystery and Wordle. It's a collection of logic puzzles, solving a series of intertwined murders. The puzzles get progressively more difficult, so you can ease into the detective mindset. Plus, there are six total Murdle books, so if you get hooked, there are plenty more to work through.

Sudoku with a mindful twist Opens in a new window Credit: Mindful Sudoku 'Mindful Sudoku' $25.99 at Mindful Sudoku
$37.13 Save $11.14   Shop Now

The point of getting off your phone is to slow down and get away from distractions, so it's nice when an activity embraces that. Mindful Sudoku features 60 puzzles at easy, medium, and hard difficulties. On the opposite side of each puzzle is a mindful prompt so you can journal and reflect in the moment. Plus, there's an included answer key to check your work or provide a little hint.

Crosswords inspired by your favorite movies and TV shows Opens in a new window Credit: A24 'A24 99 TV Crosswords' $34 at A24
  Shop Now

If you love TV and movies but also love crosswords, A24 has made the ultimate puzzle book. The book is 288 pages of nearly 100 puzzles. The crosswords are broken down by puzzle difficulty and then by the amount of TV knowledge you have. It's a good way to exercise and accumulate your TV expertise — hopefully making you a pro at pub trivia, too. A24 also makes a movie version, but it's unfortunately sold out.

TL;DR: Have an AI assistant on hand right in your browser window with this lifetime subscription to BrowserCopilot AI, on sale now for just $69.

Opens in a new window Credit: BrowserCopilot AI BrowserCopilot AI: Lifetime Subscription (Unlimited Plan - Unli Queries per Month) $69
$619 Save $550   Get Deal

Ready for AI to make your workflow even more efficient? BrowserCopilot AI puts an AI assistant right in your Google Chrome browser, letting you skip the tab-hopping and copying and pasting so you can get more done.

Right now, a lifetime subscription to BrowserCopilot AI’s Unlimited Plan can be yours for just $69.

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Stop wasting time hopping between tabs to get help from AI. BrowserCopilot puts an AI assistant right in your browser window, ready to help with writing emails, research, document review, and more. It utilizes three popular models — ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini — giving you permanent access without paying their individual monthly fees.

Not only will you enjoy easier access with BrowserCopilot, but you’ll also be able to create your own custom AI copilots for specific workflows, prompts, and writing styles. And advanced prompt engineering helps you build more efficient prompts and save them for later, so you can get top-quality results faster.

BrowserCopilot’s AI Vision feature lets you screenshot any image or text and upload it to ask questions, so you can skip having to type out any background information. You can rest easy knowing that this browser assistant is made with privacy-first architecture, so your content and conversations won’t be stored or used for AI model training.

Get this lifetime subscription to BrowserCopilot AI, on sale now for just $69.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Looking for something great to watch at home? Streaming subscribers are spoiled for choice between Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that's before you even look at the vast libraries of movies and television programs within each streamer!

Don't be overwhelmed or waste an hour scrolling through your services to determine what to watch. We've got your back, whatever your mood. Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, and animation, among others. But if you're seeking something brand new (or just new to streaming), we've got you covered there, too.

SEE ALSO: The 25 best movies of 2025, and where to stream them 13. Splitsville

Man, I hated Splitsville. It's that kind of comedy that's clearly written by its male lead, because it focuses on a loser who has no charm and a mess of a life, yet manages to attract impossibly beautiful women. And Splitsville has two of these frustrating heroes, played by co-writers Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino, who also directs.

The plot focuses on two men who think the secret to a happy marriage with a super hot wife is an open relationship. But shocker, that doesn't go as they'd like. Exhausting, tedious, and unfunny, Splitsville is technically a movie. — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Michael Angelo Covino, and Kyle Marvin

How to watch: Splitsville is now streaming on Hulu.

12. Is it Cake? Valentines

Bakers descend once again to create confections that resemble an array of non-food items, like statues, lips, drums, and more. And hey, because of Valentine's Day, this time it's couples competing. Plus, lots of hearts, and host Mikey Day in a pink suit.

Is it cake? Find out by hitting play. — K.P.

Starring: Mikey Day

How to watch: Is it Cake? Valentines is now streaming on Netflix.

11. Relationship Goals

Kelly Rowland leads Prime Video's new rom-com Relationship Goals, which is casting enough to see me seated. The Destiny's Child icon plays Leah Caldwell, a high-flying producer who's on track to be the first female showrunner at MediaCore studio. That is, until she’s pitted against a male candidate, Jarrett Roy (Cliff "Method Man" Smith). Even worse, they have romantic history together and straight-up despise each other. Even worse, they’re thrown together to produce a show about love and relationships, based on a book Jarrett's reading: Michael Todd's 2020 book Relationship Goals, which happens to be the basis of the film itself. Meta. — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

Starring: Kelly Rowland, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Robin Thede, Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert, and Matt Walsh

How to watch: Relationship Goals is now streaming on Prime Video.

9. Field Generals: History of the Black Quarterback

With Super Bowl LX on the horizon, Peacock has the perfect four-part sports docuseries for you to start this week. Taking a weekly look at the history of Black quarterbacks in American pro football, Field Generals: History of the Black Quarterback delves into the trailblazers of the sport, who revolutionised the game despite the prejudice, discrimination, and even threats they experienced. Over four weeks, the series tracks "firsts" in the sport, like Doug Williams becoming the first Black quarterback to both start in and win a Super Bowl, and how current star quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson look up to these pioneers. Expect interviews with legendary quarterbacks including Williams, James "Shack" Harris, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, and many, many more. — S.C.

Starring: James "Shack" Harris, Warren Moon, Doug Williams, Randall Cunningham, Vince Evans, Chuck Ealey, Rodney Peete, Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, and Lamar Jackson, in addition to Michael Wilbon, Rich McKay, Joe Gibbs, Michael Eric Dyson, Jayne Kennedy, Bomani Jones, Michael Beschloss, and Bob Costas.

How to watch: Field Generals: History of The Black Quarterback is now streaming on Peacock.

8. Even If This Love Disappears Tonight

My heart, it can't take this week's Korean romance addition to Netflix. Based on Japanese author Misaki Ichijo's 2020 YA romance novel, Even If This Love Disappears Tonight follows high school sweethearts Han Seo-yun (Shin Si-a, The Witch: Part 2. The Other One) and Kim Jae-won (Choo Young-woo, Head Over Heels), who fall hard for each other fast. However, Han Seo-yun experiences anterograde amnesia, which means her memories reset each day, and her love story returns to square one. Directed by Kim Hye-young (It's Okay!), this film promises big swelling tears, so if you're due for a cry, pick this one. — S.C.

Starring: Choo Young-woo and Shin Si-a

How to watch: Even If This Love Disappears Tonight is now streaming on Netflix.

7. The Housemaid

Looking for a trashy popcorn movie? Well, The Housemaid should satisfy on that level.

Based on Freida McFadden's novel of the same name, The Housemaid stars Sydney Sweeney as a desperate young woman who is grateful the titular job, and eager to please her mercurial new boss, played by Amanda Seyfried in psycho-biddy mode. While movie audiences turned out in droves for this sexy thriller, I couldn't help but wish its leading ladies were evenly matched in go-for-it gravitas. As I wrote in my review, "In this battle of wild wills, Seyfried is left to shadowbox while Sweeney sleepwalks. Far from fun, The Housemaid is underwhelming as an erotic thriller, a dark comedy, and even a Sydney Sweeney movie." — K.P.

Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Brandon Sklenar

How to watch: The Housemaid is now available for rent or purchase on Prime Video.

6. The 'Burbs

Inspired by the Tom Hanks-fronted 1989 cult classic, The 'Burbs stars Keke Palmer as a wife, mother, and litigator whose maternity leave includes moving to the suburbs, only to discover a possible criminal conspiracy under her nose.

Befriending some nosy neighbors (Julia Duffy, Paula Pell, and What We Do in the Shadows' Mark Proksch), she begins to investigate the local lore around a long missing girl, and what exactly that has to do with the strange Victorian house across the street.

Season one is eight episodes, which are dropping all at once. So, brace for a binge-watch if you can't get enough of wacky shenanigans, wild secrets, and a twisty mystery. — K.P.

Starring: Keke Palmer, Jack Whitehall, Julia Duffy, Paula Pell, Mark Proksch, and Kapil Talwalkar

How to watch: The 'Burbs premieres on Peacock on Feb. 8.

5. Puppy Bowl XXII

As Super Bowl LX looms, and the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots stare down the championship road, there's another litter of extraordinary athletes gearing up for a big game by doing biiiiiiiiig streeeeetches.

The Puppy Bowl returns for its 22nd year, as Team Fluff goes snoot to snoot with Team Ruff, vying for the ultimate forbidden snack, the Lombarky trophy. Importantly, the Puppy Bowl XXII is a special occasion for viewers to potentially adopt one of the adorable players. A total 150 pups from 72 shelters will be featured during the event, all of whom are adoptable, including senior dogs and dogs with special needs. As a rescue dog parent, hard recommend. — S.C.

Starring: Miss Coco, Brûlée, Button, Litchi, RuPaw, Lobster Roll, Carrie Pawshaw, Oscar, Benito, Fudge, Cheesecake, and Chappell Bone

How to watch: Puppy Bowl XXII airs Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. ET on Animal Planet and will stream at the same time on discovery+.

4. The Secret Agent

Kleber Mendonça Filho's Oscar–nominated, BAFTA–nominated, Golden Globe–winning political crime thriller The Secret Agent is finally available to watch at home — and you absolutely should. Set mostly in the '70s during Brazil's military dictatorship, the film sees Civil War star Wagner Moura delivering a riveting performance as a man trying to evade persecution in his own country.

"Mendonça Filho's film explores a time of political corruption, violence, and warranted paranoia through a human lens," I wrote in my review. "With Moura's powerful performance framed by a reverent, authentic aesthetic, The Secret Agent is a deeply humanised look at a historical moment of authoritarianism and government corruption. It's a must-see." — S.C.

Starring: Wagner Moura, Carlos Francisco, Tânia Maria, Robério Diógenes, Alice Carvalho, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Hermila Guedes, Isabél Zuaa, and Udo Kier

How to watch: The Secret Agent is now available for rental or purchase on Prime Video.

3. XXV Winter Olympic Games

The Winter Olympics are coming! From all around the globe, athletes at the top of their game will compete for medals and honor for their home nations. The competition begins on Feb. 4, with curling, luge, snowboarding, Alpine skiing, and women's hockey. The opening ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 6. It'll begin at 2 p.m. ET, and the first gold medal event will be men's downhill skiing on Feb. 7.

So, whether you like ice skating, skiing, hockey, curling, or snowboarding, you're sure to find reasons to thrill over 2026's Olympic Games. — K.P.

How to watch: XXV Winter Olympic Games will begin streaming live on Peacock on Feb. 6, and will run until Feb. 22.

2. Super Bowl LX

Super Bowl LX is imminent, with the Seattle Seahawks taking on the New England Patriots on Sunday. Maybe you're here for the championship game (human or puppy-based), maybe you're here for Bad Bunny and Green Day's halftime show, maybe you're here purely for the ads. Whatever the reason, you'll need chips, dip, and Mashable's cheat sheet to sounding like you know what you're talking about with Super Bowl LX. — S.C.

Starring: Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots

How to watch: Super Bowl LX airs live on Peacock on Feb. 8, with coverage beginning at 12 p.m. ET.

Best of Streaming this week: The Muppet Show

This is what we call The Muppet Show! For decades, all kinds of folks have tried to reinvent the Muppets. There's been successes (Jason Segel's The Muppets was brilliant), and flops (the 2015 "sad-com" also called The Muppets). But Jim Henson's The Muppet Show was perfect just the way it was. Thankfully, producer Seth Rogen gets that.

For Disney+, Rogen and company meticulously recreated the sets and the chaotic and cheeky — while family-friendly — vibes of The Muppet Show. So, one moment, you're watching Sabrina Carpenter (who's a perfect guest star for the variety show shenanigans) singing "Manchild" to a rowdy crowd of Muppet bar patrons, while chickens serve as her back-up dancers. The next moment, Miss Piggy is bullying Kermit for more stage time, and it's like no time has passed.

As someone who has seen the highs and lows of Muppet movies and shows, I approached Rogen's relaunch with cautious optimism. And I'm pleased to report he's a perfect producer for the wildest batch of dreamers Hollywood has ever seen. This special had me laughing and cheering, with a terrific finale that blends a rock classic with that Muppet ensemble showmanship, I cried. Here's hoping this is the first of many more Muppet Shows. — K.P.

Starring: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Seth Rogen, Sabrina Carpenter, and Maya Rudolph

How to watch: The Muppet Show is now streaming on Disney+.

(*) denotes a blurb came from a prior list.

TL;DR: The Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Play Booster Box is now down to $139 at Amazon, marking a $25 discount and one of the lowest prices we’ve seen for the set.

Opens in a new window Credit: Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Play Booster Box (30 Packs) $139 at Amazon
$164.70 Save $25.70 Get Deal

We’ve been seeing a lot more discounts on Magic: The Gathering boxes lately, and this latest deal is perfect for players wanting to catch up on the trading card game’s cosmic expansion. 

As of Feb. 5, Amazon has cut the price of the Edge of Eternities Play Booster Box, bringing it to $139 — a nice $25 off its $164.70 list price. This is only two cents shy of its lowest-ever price, as confirmed by price tracker camelcamelcamel. For a set that remained relatively steady since launch, this latest dip makes it one of the better opportunities to grab Magic’s first full-on space opera expansion without paying a market premium.

Edge of Eternities sends players to collapsing star systems and distant planets, introducing new mechanics like Station, Warp, Landers, and Void. The Play Booster Box includes 30 Play Boosters, each with 14 cards and a token. Every pack contains one Traditional Foil, along with 1-4 rares or better, and there’s even a slim chance of pulling a borderless foil mythic. That balance makes the box appealing whether you’re drafting with friends, cracking packs casually, or adding to a sealed collection.

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What really helps this deal stand out is how it compares to typical pricing across the wider market. Edge of Eternities Play Booster Boxes often sell closer to the $150–$160 range.

For more savings on Magic: The Gathering Booster Boxes, you can still get the Foundations Jumpstart Box on sale for only $99.95. Meanwhile, the Magic: The Gathering Avatar The Last Airbender Beginner Box is down to a new record-low price on Amazon. 

TL;DR: The Razer Basilisk V3 Pro wireless RGB gaming mouse is down to $89 at Amazon, saving you $70 off its regular price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Razer Razer Basilisk V3 Pro RGB Wireless Gaming Mouse $89 at Amazon
$159.99 Save $70.99 Get Deal

If you’ve been eyeing a premium, big-brand, wireless gaming mouse for a decent price, this deal on an RGB model might be the one for you.

As of Feb. 5, the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro Wireless RGB gaming mouse has dropped to just $89 at Amazon, marking a massive $70 discount off its usual $159.99 list price. That’s 44% off one of Razer’s most feature-packed mice, and only one penny off the lowest price we’ve seen for this model — as confirmed on price tracker camelcamelcamel. 

Designed for gamers who want maximum control and customization, the Basilisk V3 Pro sports Razer’s Focus Pro 30K optical sensor for delivering fast and accurate tracking on a wide range of surfaces — including glass. It also features Razer’s Gen-3 optical switches, rated for up to 90 million clicks, which offer ultra-fast actuation with no debounce delay.

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One of the mouse’s standout features is its HyperScroll tilt wheel, which lets you switch between free-spin scrolling for speed and tactile mode for precision. Also consider its 13 programmable controls and a full 13-zone Chroma RGB underglow, and you’ve got a mouse that’s just as flexible as it is flashy when playing Fortnite, Cairn, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and much more.

Connectivity is equally versatile, with support for Razer HyperSpeed Wireless, Bluetooth, and wired USB. Battery life stretches up to 150 hours over Bluetooth, making it a strong pick for both competitive play and everyday use.

For more gaming mouse deals from Razer, you can still get the Orochi V2 range for at least 50% off.  If you’re open to a different brand, the Logitech G305 gaming mouse range is on sale for under $35 at Amazon. 

It looks as though Jon Stewart wasn't the only late night host mentioned in the Epstein files. The Late Show's Stephen Colbert has not also addressed being name-dropped in the most recently released batch of files, which contain information on the investigation into convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Fortunately, like Stewart, Colbert wasn't actually involved in Epstein's activities, and was only mentioned in emails. Specifically, one of Epstein's associates recommended he watch Colbert's explanation of Super PACs from his former show The Colbert Report.

"Well, there's no such thing as bad publicity," quipped Colbert. "Just look at our new Times Square billboard: 'The Late Show: It's really funny — think Jeffrey will enjoy watching!'"

Colbert also noted a few other names in the Epstein files which he considers particularly important as a giant Tolkien nerd.

"These files contain the names of folks even more important to me than me, because Epstein also name-dropped Bilbo Baggins, and at one point he compared himself to Gandalf," said Colbert. "All right, that is disgusting. In the immortal words of Gandalf the Grey, 'Eat shit you dead pervert.' It sounds prettier in Elvish."

Netflix has released a teaser trailer for upcoming K-drama Boyfriend on Demand, featuring BLACKPINK's Jisoo living BookTok's wildest dreams.

The series follows overworked webtoon producer Mi-rae (Jisoo), who is tired of her job and fed up with dating, but still dreams of romance and escape. Fortunately for her, Mi-rae soon finds some relief in a subscription-based virtual dating service that allows her to go on amazing fantasy dates with unrealistically perfect fictional men. Judging from the trailer, she even gets to try out different scenarios with her virtual dates, such as being doctors in a hospital or lovers in a historical setting.

Yet even with the world of possibilities this outlet provides, Mi-rae does still have to deal with real men — such as her coworker and rival Kyeong-nam (Doom at Your Service's Seo In-guk).  

Boyfriend on Demand arrives March 6 on Netflix.

The 2026 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held in New York this week, celebrating its 150th anniversary the best way it knows how — with a plethora of perfect pups.

This year's Westminster Dog Show featured over 2,500 entrants from across the world, all of whom were already American Kennel Club champions in their own right. These dogs were categorised into seven groups: Sporting, Herding, Working, Toy, Hound, Non-Sporting, and Terrier. The winner of each group then went on to compete for the coveted title of Best in Show, with dogs individually judged according to the ideal standard for their breed.

This year, the Westminster Kennel Club's award for Best in Show went to four-year-old Doberman Pinscher Penny, the champion of the Working Group. Penny's handler Andy Linton described her as generally "chill," though she can get worked up by a "bad guy" or squirrel, while her co-owner Gregory Chan called her demanding, smart, and "a pleaser — she'll do anything for food."

Penny the Doberman Pinscher, winner of Best in Show and the Working Group. Credit: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club

Reserve Best in Show went to Cota the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, winner of the Sporting Group. Presumably Cota will assume Penny's duties as Best in Show if for any reason she cannot fulfil them.

Cota the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, winner of Reserve Best in Show and the Sporting Group. Credit: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club Zaida the Afghan Hound, winner of the Hound Group. Credit: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club Cookie the Maltese, winner of the Toy Group. Credit: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club JJ the Lhasa Aspo, winner of the Non-Sporting Group. Credit: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club Graham the Old English Sheepdog, winner of the Hearding Group. Credit: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club Wager the Smooth Fox Terrier, winner of the Terrier Group. Credit: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club

At a glance

• Microsoft Research releases PazaBench and Paza automatic speech recognition models, advancing speech technology for low resource languages.
• Human-centered pipeline for low-resource languages: Built for and tested by communities, Paza is an end-to-end, continuous pipeline that elevates historically under-represented languages and makes speech models usable in real-world, low-resource contexts.
• First-of-its-kind ASR leaderboard, starting with African languages: Pazabench is the first automatic speech recognition (ASR) leaderboard for low-resource languages. Launching with 39 African languages and 51 state-of-the-art models, it tracks three key metrics across leading public and community datasets.
• Human-centered Paza ASR models: Minimal data, fine-tuned ASR models grounded in real-world testing with farmers on everyday mobile devices, covering six Kenyan languages: Swahili, Dholuo, Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Maasai, and Somali.

According to the 2025 Microsoft AI Diffusion Report approximately one in six people globally had used a generative AI product. Yet for billions of people, the promise of voice interaction still falls short, and whilst AI is becoming increasingly multilingual, a key question remains: Do these models actually work for all languages and the people who rely on them? This challenge is one we first confronted through Project Gecko—a collaboration between Microsoft Research and Digital Green (opens in new tab), where field teams across Africa and India focused on building usable AI tools for farmers.

Gecko revealed how often speech systems fail in real‑world, low‑resource environments—where many languages go unrecognized and non‑Western accents are frequently misunderstood. Yet speech remains the primary medium of communication globally. For communities across Kenya, Africa, and beyond, this mismatch creates cascading challenges: without foundational data representing their languages and cultures, innovation stalls, and the digital and AI divides widen. 

Paza addresses this with a human-centered speech models pipeline. Through PazaBench, it benchmarks low-resource languages using both public and community-sourced data, and through Paza models, it fine-tunes speech models to deliver outsized gains in mid- and low-resource languages, evaluating with community testers using real devices in real contexts. Upcoming playbooks complement this work by sharing practical guidance on dataset creation, fine-tuning approaches with minimal data and evaluation considerations, introducing a continuous pipeline that enables researchers and practitioners to build and evaluate systems grounded in real human use.

How Project Gecko informed Paza’s design

In addition to building cost-effective, adaptable AI systems, the extensive fieldwork on Project Gecko highlighted an important lesson: Building usable speech models in low‑resource settings is not only a data problem, but also a design and evaluation problem. For AI systems to be useful, they must work in local languages, support hands‑free interaction through voice, text, and video, and deliver information in formats that fit real-world environments, that is, on low-bandwidth mobile devices, in noisy settings, and for varying literacy levels.  

These insights shaped the design of Paza, from the Swahili phrase paza sauti meaning “to project,” or “to raise your voice.”  The name reflects our intent: rather than simply adding more languages to existing systems, Paza is about co-creating speech technologies in partnership with the communities who use them. Guided by this principle, Paza puts human use first, which enables model improvement. 

video series

On Second Thought

A video series with Sinead Bovell built around the questions everyone’s asking about AI. With expert voices from across Microsoft, we break down the tension and promise of this rapidly changing technology, exploring what’s evolving and what’s possible.

Explore the series Opens in a new tab PazaBench: The first ASR leaderboard for low-resource languages

PazaBench is the first automatic speech recognition (ASR) leaderboard dedicated to low‑resource languages. It launches with initial coverage for 39 African languages and benchmarks 52 state‑of‑the‑art ASR and language models, including newly released Paza ASR models for six Kenyan languages. The platform aggregates leading public and community datasets from diverse styles of speech including conversational, scripted read aloud, unscripted, broadcast news, and domain-specific data—into one easy‑to‑explore platform per language. This makes it easier for researchers, developers, and product teams to easily assess which models perform best across underserved languages and diverse regions, understand trade-offs between speed and accuracy while identifying where gaps persist. 

PazaBench tracks three core metrics:

1. Character Error Rate (CER) which is important for languages with rich word forms, where meaning is built by combining word parts, therefore errors at the character level can significantly impact meaning
2. Word Error Rate (WER) for word-level transcript accuracy
3. RTFx (Inverse Real‑Time Factor) which measures how fast transcription runs relative to real‑time audio duration.

More than scores, PazaBench standardizes evaluation to prioritize dataset gaps, identify underperforming languages, and highlight where localized models beat wider coverage ASR models—offering early evidence of the value of African‑centric innovation.

Explore PazaBench

To contribute to the benchmark, request additional language evaluation on the leaderboard.

Paza ASR Models: Built with and for Kenyan languages

The Paza ASR models consist of three fine-tuned ASR models built on top of state‑of‑the‑art model architectures. Each model targets Swahili, a mid-resource language and five low‑resource Kenyan languages; Dholuo, Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Maasai and Somali. The models are fine-tuned on public and curated proprietary datasets.  

Fine‑tuning the three models allowed us to explore supportive approaches toward a shared goal: building speech recognition systems that are usable for local contexts starting with the six Kenyan languages and bridging the gaps of multi-lingual and multi-modal video question and answering through the MMCT agent. (opens in new tab)

See the MMCT agent in action in the field

Early versions of two models in Kikuyu and Swahili were deployed on mobile devices and tested directly with farmers in real‑world settings, enabling the team to observe how the models performed with everyday use. Farmers provided in‑the‑moment feedback on accuracy, usability, and relevance, highlighting where transcripts broke down, which errors were most disruptive, and what improvements would make the models more helpful in practice. This feedback loop directly informed subsequent fine‑tuning, ensuring model improvements were driven not only by benchmark scores, but by the needs and expectations of the communities they are intended to serve.

Explore Paza Collection Here

Here is how Paza models compare to three state-of-the-art ASR models today:

Figure 1: Character Error Rate (CER) comparison across the Kenyan languages for several state‑of‑the‑art ASR models including the Paza models. Lower CER indicates better transcription performance. Figure 2: Word Error Rate (WER) comparison across the Kenyan languages for several state‑of‑the‑art ASR models including the Paza models. Lower WER indicates better transcription performance.

1) Paza‑Phi‑4‑Multimodal‑Instruct

Microsoft’s Phi‑4 multimodal‑instruct (opens in new tab) is a next‑generation small language model built to reason across audio, text, and vision. With Paza, we extend its audio capabilities, adapting a powerful multimodal architecture into a high‑quality automatic speech recognition (ASR) system for low‑resource African languages.

Fine‑tuned on unified multilingual speech datasets, the model was optimized specifically for transcription in the six languages. The model preserves its underlying transformer architecture and multi-modal capabilities, while selectively fine-tuning only the audio‑specific components, enabling strong cross‑lingual generalization.

As the results below show, this model delivers consistent improvements in transcription quality across all six languages.

Figure 3: Character Error Rate (CER) comparison across the six languages for the base model versus the finetuned Paza model. Lower CER indicates better transcription performance. Figure 4: Word Error Rate (WER) comparison across the six languages for the base model versus the finetuned Paza model. Lower WER indicates better transcription performance. Test the model here

2) Paza‑MMS‑1B‑All

This model is fine-tuned on Meta’s mms-1b-all model, which employs a large-scale Wav2Vec2.0-style encoder with lightweight language-specific adapters to enable efficient multilingual specialization. For this release, each of the six language adapters was fine‑tuned independently on curated low‑resource datasets, allowing targeted adaptation while keeping the shared encoder largely frozen.

As shown in the figures below, this model improves transcription accuracy while maintaining the model’s strong cross‑lingual generalization.

Figure 5: Character Error Rate (CER) comparison across the six languages for the base model versus the finetuned Paza model. Lower CER indicates better transcription performance. Figure 6: Word Error Rate (WER) comparison across the six languages for the base model versus the finetuned Paza model. Lower WER indicates better transcription performance. Join the Research Early Access Program

3) Paza‑Whisper‑Large‑v3‑Turbo

This model is finetuned on OpenAI’s whisper-large-v3-turbo base model. Whisper is a transformer-based encoder–decoder model which delivers robust automatic speech recognition (ASR) capabilities. This model was fine‑tuned on the entire unified multilingual ASR dataset, on the mentioned six languages, to encourage cross-lingual generalization. In addition, an extra post‑processing step was applied to address the known Whisper hallucination failure modes, improving transcription reliability.

As shown below, this release achieves improved transcription accuracy while retaining Whisper’s robustness.

Figure 7: Character Error Rate (CER) comparison across the six languages for the base model versus the finetuned Paza model. Lower CER indicates better transcription performance. Figure 8: Word Error Rate (WER) comparison across the six languages for the base model versus the finetuned Paza model. Lower WER indicates better transcription performance. Test the model here Where do we go from here

AI is reshaping how the world communicates. Designing with people, not just for them, means looking beyond the languages that are already well‑served. We plan to expand PazaBench beyond African languages and evaluate state‑of‑the‑art ASR models across more low‑resource languages globally. The Paza ASR models are an early step; truly supporting small and under‑represented languages requires dedicated datasets, strong local partnerships, and rigorous evaluation. Meaningful progress depends on sustained collaboration with the communities who speak these languages, and expanding responsibly means prioritizing depth and quality over broad but shallow coverage. 

As we continue this work, we’re distilling our methods into a forthcoming playbook to help the broader ecosystem curate datasets, fine‑tune responsibly, and evaluate models in real‑world conditions. And we’re not stopping at speech—additional playbooks will guide teams building AI tools and applications for multilingual, multicultural contexts, and give them practical recommendations for deploying across diverse communities. 

Together, these guides—grounded in technical advances and community‑driven design—share our learnings to help researchers, engineers, and designers build more human‑centered AI systems. 

Acknowledgements

The following researchers played an integral role in this work: Najeeb Abdulhamid, Felermino Ali, Liz Ankrah, Kevin Chege, Ogbemi Ekwejunor-Etchie, Ignatius Ezeani, Tanuja Ganu, Antonis Krasakis, Mercy Kwambai, Samuel Maina, Muchai Mercy, Danlami Mohammed, Nick Mumero, Martin Mwiti, Stephanie Nyairo, Millicent Ochieng and Jacki O’Neill.

We would like to thank the Digital Green (opens in new tab) team—Rikin Gandhi, Alex Mwaura, Jacqueline Wang’ombe, Kevin Mugambi, Lorraine Nyambura, Juan Pablo, Nereah Okanga, Ramaskanda R.S, Vineet Singh, Nafhtari Wanjiku, Kista Ogot, Samuel Owinya and the community evaluators in Nyeri and Nandi, Kenya — for their valuable contributions to this work.

We extend our gratitude to the creators, community contributors, and maintainers of African Next Voices Kenya (opens in new tab), African Next Voices South Africa (opens in new tab), ALFFA (opens in new tab), Digigreen (opens in new tab), Google FLEURS (opens in new tab), Mozilla Common Voice (opens in new tab) and Naija Voices (opens in new tab) whose efforts have been invaluable in advancing African languages speech data.

Opens in a new tab

The post Paza: Introducing automatic speech recognition benchmarks and models for low resource languages appeared first on Microsoft Research.

You can’t always hand out glamorous projects. When you have to dole out less-desirable assignments, you need buy-in from the people who didn’t choose the work. Instead of relying on persuasion or pressure, focus on helping your team accept the outcome. Start by asking yourself these three questions.  Have I offered any real freedom, however small? People rationalize outcomes more easily when they […]

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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

Cheek make up.

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

BLUSH

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To pass out.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for February 5, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

SWOON

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A DJ.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for February 5 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 5, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

EMCEE

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Meaty.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

BEEFY

Final Hurdle hint

An object.

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

THING

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

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 February 5, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for February 5, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 5 Pips

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this orange space must be equal to 5. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally; 5-2, placed vertically; 5-4, placed vertically.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 5-4, placed vertically.

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

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

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 5 Pips

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

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically; 2-2, placed vertically.

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

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

Equal (2): Everything in this green space must be equal to 2. The answer is 4-2, placed vertically; 3-2, placed vertically.

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

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

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

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally; 6-2, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 5 Pips

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

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

Number (18): Everything in this space must add up to 18. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 6-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically; 6-0, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 5. The answer is 4-5, placed horizontally.

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

Equal (4): Everything in this purple space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-5, placed horizontally; 4-3, placed vertically; 4-2, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this green space must be equal to 2. The answer is 4-2, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed vertically.

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

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

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 2-5, placed vertically; 0-5, 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 Connections: Sports Edition will be easy if you're a fan of pro racing and tennis.

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: Position chart

• Green: Homerun kings

• Blue: QB GOATS

• Purple: Major sporting event

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Football Positions, Abbreviated

• Green: Members of the 500-HR Club

• Blue: First Names of QBs to Throw 500 Career TDs

• Purple: ___500

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 #500 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Football Positions, Abbreviated - CB, OT, S, TE

• Members of the 500-HR Club - BANKS, BONDS, FOXX, KILLEBREW

• First Names of QBs to Throw 500 Career TDs - AARON, DREW, PEYTON, TOM

• ___500 - ATP, DAYTONA, INDY, WTA

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.