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Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love to knit.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for December 21, 2025 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for December 21, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A thick blanket.

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 Q.

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...

QUILT

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for December 21, 2025

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

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

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

TL;DR: Secure 20TB of storage with this Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription on sale now for just $399.97 (reg. $4,900) through Dec. 21.

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Do you rent your cloud storage? Not only is that a hefty expense every month, but it just keeps rising as you need more space. If you’re looking for a more cost-effective way to store your important files safely, it’s time to check out Internxt Cloud Storage.

Right now, you can pay once and lock in 20TB of cloud storage for only $399.97 (reg. $4,900) through Dec. 21.

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Cloud storage offers a lot of convenience, but it can be costly month after month. You also have to continuously upgrade your plan to meet your storage needs. That’s where Internxt Cloud Storage really shines, letting you pay once and own 20TB of space for life.

12TB of storage from Apple sets you back $60 a month, or $720 a year. You’ll nearly double that amount of storage for almost half the price with Internxt, and you only have to pay once for life. This deal for 20TB of storage lets you store 6.5 million photos, 5 million documents, or thousands of hours of HD video.

Aside from letting you own enough storage to grow with for life, Internxt Cloud Storage also offers next-level security with end-to-end encryption. Your data is safe, and not even Internxt itself can access it. They are also GDPR-compliant, adhering to strict European laws regarding user privacy and data security.

Get cloud storage for life with this Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription, now only $399.97 (reg. $4,900) through Dec. 21.

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When the holidays roll around, one festive flick is at the top of many people's to-watch lists: Home Alone. And for good reason! However, its sequel should also be a priority, seeing as it's the better choice.

We've all done it—waited until the very last minute to do our holiday shopping, thanks to the convenience of modern internet-powered shopping. Online retailers even give us little indicators to show whether an item will arrive in time for Christmas. Heck, they might even wrap it for you.

When people talk about the best used sedans, the conversation usually sticks to the usual suspects: Honda Accord, maybe a Mazda6, and a few German picks from people who haven’t paid for a water pump in years. But one car quietly flies under the radar—cushioned, unbothered by the crossover craze, and built to last.

The data center market is booming with little indication it'll be slowing down anytime soon — despite efforts to halt the processing sprawl.

According to a new report by S&P Global, the global data center market ballooned to $61 billion in 2025, a half billion dollar increase from last year and another record high for the industry. The money is trying to keep pace with expanding infrastructure projects needed to funnel more data processing power to generative AI and its makers.

SEE ALSO: NVIDIA earnings report: Why the AI bubble will bounce into 2026

Despite concerns that interest in AI will wane and render projects moot, S&P experts told CNBC that they predict demand for AI applications will stay strong in 2026, and skepticism of major AI players is unlikely to change the market trends. Still, the numbers may not be as positive as they appear. S&P Global found that a majority of the financing surge came from private equity financing, a precarious debt model that's needed to feed the massive, energy-intensive industry, CNBC reported.

According to an October S&P Global report, data centers were expected to increase their power grid use by another 22 percent by the end of 2025, and predict that number will triple by 2030. Other experts have spotted similar trends.

In response to these trends, communities around the country have been pushing back against data center deals. Earlier this month, a coalition of 350 nonprofit environmental organizations signed a letter outlining major concerns about the environmental impact of large data centers, urging all 50 states to halt the expansion of data center projects. Over the last year, data center deals have faced legal and social blowback from community groups and local advocacy organizations, including cases in Virginia and Wisconsin. Advocates have even created litigation tool kits to support the fight against AI data center expansion.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has pledged to accelerate federal data center permitting and bypass established environmental laws in order to meet goals outlined in its new AI action plan.

When I built my first fully custom PC in 2017, I made several mistakes that I vowed never to repeat. Most of them were corrected in the new PC I built earlier this year—except for one. If I could turn back time, getting a different power supply is the only decision I’d change.

Gaming phones were all the rage from around 2017 to 2020—ROG Phone, Razer, Nubia, etc. The segment still exists, and one could argue they’ve never been better—so why don't people seem to care anymore?

Valve has quietly pulled the plug on the cheapest Steam Deck model. This means the entry price for the popular gaming handheld just jumped significantly. If you were holding out for the most affordable way to get into PC handheld gaming, you are officially out of luck.

A debris field comprised of a Starlink satellite's remains is floating through space, after a minor explosion broke off pieces of the tech and sent them tumbling around Earth's orbit.

Space X reported the anomaly earlier this week, which the company said resulted in trackable debris that included the satellite's propulsion tank and the largely intact satellite body, which is still in orbit. SpaceX says the satellite, which the company says isn't close enough to the International Space Station (ISS) to pose a risk to astronauts, will reenter the atmosphere and reach its "demise" in the next week.

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"As the world’s largest satellite constellation operator, we are deeply committed to space safety. We take these events seriously. Our engineers are rapidly working to root cause and mitigate the source of the anomaly and are already in the process of deploying software to our vehicles that increases protections against this type of event," wrote SpaceX.

Earth's orbit is filled with such debris, prompting concern among experts who warn that accumulating space junk will impede our space efforts, lead to greater and more dangerous collisions, and, more importantly, pose increased risk to humans on the ground. Last week, a SpaceX satellite and a satellite from Chinese company CAS Space nearly crashed into each other.

The anomaly comes one week after the aerospace and telecommunications companies launched 27 new Starlink satellites into the Earth's orbit, marking the 580th flight of the company's Falcon 9 rocket since its first successful deployment in 2015 — it was the 162nd flight in 2025 alone, Space reported. Out of more than 10,000 Starlink satellites sent into space, around 9,300 are still active.

The Elon Musk-owned company is continuing a major push to become the leading supplier of rural broadband internet and emergency satellite communications services, including ongoing deals with the U.S. government. SpaceX has struck out against federal funding allocations for fiber internet access projects and courted favor with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in an effort to gain priority for satellite internet over other broadband efforts.

Ever since I added an air quality monitor to my Home Assistant server, I’ve been intrigued by the data I’ve collected. I’m now able to build automations around these numbers, triggering alerts and appliances when certain criteria are met.

The Home Depot is one of the most popular hardware stores in the United States, offering a wide variety of tools from all the top brands. And while most people walk in and look for Stanley, Milwaukee, Ryobi, or even Craftsman hand tools, you'll be pleasantly surprised by how great Home Depot's house brand tools are in terms of quality and price point.

NotebookLM is officially moving up to Gemini 3, bringing significant upgrades to its processing power alongside the introduction of Data Tables. Google said that the ability to synthesize information into structured tables was the most requested feature by far.

Are you tired of seeing people say that you have to have a dedicated side project to be a “real” developer? That’s simply not the case. Here’s what makes a “real” developer, and you probably already meet the criteria.

The vast majority of phones feature exactly two things on the back: cameras and flash. But if you have a recent Google Pixel, there's an inconspicuous little circle next to those lenses that unlocks a weirdly specific superpower most other phones simply can’t match.

Just because you can use a Raspberry Pi as a media server doesn’t mean that you should. I’d say there are better uses for your single-board computer, especially when media server duties can be passed off to a machine that’s better-suited to video operations.

Linux taught me many things. And as it turns out, some of the lessons I've learned from Linux come in handy when using Windows. As a daily driver of both operating systems, here are six ways that Linux has made me a better Windows user.

ChatGPT can act even friendlier now, with new personality customization options that let users choose just how warm and enthusiastic the bot is in conversation.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT is changing the abortion landscape

OpenAI announced the new personality settings in a Friday post on X. The update rolled out immediately to ChatGPT users alongside a long-awaited pinned chats feature, new ways to generate or edit emails, and updates to ChatGPT browser Atlas.

The new tools add more fine tuning of ChatGPT's personality using levels of warmth and enthusiasm (labelled as "more," "less," or "default"). Users can also adjust the way the bot organizes its responses, such as how frequently it generates lists, as well as the amount of emojis it employs, in addition to its base style and tone. There's still no option to exclude emojis entirely.

Professionals have warned that overly anthropomorphic and sycophantic chatbots can exacerbate mental health concerns, including AI psychosis and dependency. A previous ChatGPT model, the still-available GPT-4o, was adjusted earlier this year after facing criticism for "overly agreeable" behavior. CEO Sam Altman has referred to the issue as a "personality problem."

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OpenAI launched its new GPT-5.2 model series one week ago, boasting new capabilities for "professional knowledge work" that include better processing benchmarks and less hallucinations, the company reports.

ChatGPT's developers also recommitted itself to its mental health and teen safety promises amid escalating lawsuits. In a blog post published Thursday, OpenAI explained it was introducing a new set of under-18 user principles to GPT-5.2 intended to create additional guardrails around sensitive topics and encourage age-appropriate interactions. It's also working on a new age verification system for young users. GPT-5.2 reportedly scores higher on internal mental health safety tests, including stress testing for self harm, than previous models.

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

Clean code is one of the first ideas that makes developers feel like professionals. For many developers, though, it can stop being a helpful guideline and become a trap instead. That's why you need to learn where to draw the line and recognize when it starts working against you.

Memory prices are through the roof, SSDs aren't far behind, and soon GPUs will be feeling the brunt of market forces too. If you've been saving up money to upgrade or build a PC, you may have been looking at rising prices with dismay and are probably thinking about weathering the storm.