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Connections is the latest New York Times word game 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 April 27’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Hesitant confidence

• Green: Lights went out

• Blue: Plot

• Purple: Homophones

Here are today’s Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Trust as Real

• Green: Power Issues

• Blue: Summary

• Purple: Name Homophones

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 Connections #321 is…

What is the answer to Connections today

• Trust as Real: ACCEPT, BELIEVE, BUY, SWALLOW

• Power Issues: OUTAGE, SHORT, SPIKE, SURGE

• Summary: ABSTRACT, BRIEF, DIGEST, OUTLINE

• Name Homophones: CURT, HAIRY, KNEEL, WANE

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.

Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday’s Connections.

Elon Musk’s OpenAI competitor is getting ready to raise some big money from Silicon Valley.

According to new, anonymously-sourced reports from The Information and TechCrunch, Musk’s AI company xAI is currently raising $6 billion on a $18 billion pre-money valuation, and the deal is expected to close in a matter of weeks.

Musk’s ten-month-old AI company is looking to take OpenAI on directly after Musk openly criticized and feuded with the AI giant that he helped create. Musk has long ragged on OpenAI’s change in ethos, criticizing the company’s move from an open, nonprofit model to a more secretive, profit-seeking approach.

According to reports, Musk and associates have been pitching xAI to investors as an AI brand that will one day integrate with Musk’s various companies like Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink. TechCrunch reports that the pitch claims that xAI will be different from other AI companies because it will “master the physical world.” The pitch says that one day xAI will train on the data from all of Musk’s companies and then be able to aid Tesla in creating (still nonexistent) full self-driving cars and its (still underdevelopment) robot Optimus.

It should come as no surprise if Musk has no problem raising big money from tech venture capitalists. Musk has many friends in Silicon Valley, and even though his reputation has taken hits recently, sympathetic VC firms have long been a feature of his support network. As TechCrunch notes, one of the participants in this round of funding is Future Ventures, which was co-founded by Musk’s old associate Steve Jurvetson.

However, as xAI gets ready to raise billions, it’s important to note that its only real product at this point is Grok, the AI chatbot integrated into Musk’s social media company X, formerly known as Twitter. And, as Mashable and other outlets have reported, Grok isn’t really any good. Just recently the AI chatbot could not tell the difference between real news and a joke, and reported a humorous post as actual legitimate news. Grok also recently made up a fake story about Iran striking Tel Aviv with missiles, which X then promoted to its hundreds of millions of users.

But, regardless of Grok’s failures, Musk is utilizing the hype around xAI to bail X out. According to TechCrunch, X owns a stake in xAI, so the social media company, which has seen revenue fall off a cliff under Musk’s ownership, will profit from…whatever happens with xAI.

UPDATE: Apr. 26, 2024, 4:40 p.m. EDT We’ve updated this story after confirming that next week’s Early Access Event at Walmart will be limited to paid members of its Walmart+ program. In other words, you’ll have to upgrade from the free trial tier to buy the PlayStation Portal during the sale.

Quick links: PlayStation Portal restock

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In Stock

PlayStation Portal Remote Player

$199.99 at Best Buy

Buy Now

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In Stock

PlayStation Portal Remote Player

$199.99 at PlayStation Direct

Buy Now

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Coming Soon

PlayStation Portal Remote Player

$199 at Walmart starting April 29 at 12 p.m. ET
(paid Walmart+ membership required)

Learn More

Sony’s PlayStation Portal Remote Player has been relatively difficult to buy, flitting in and out of stock at various retailers ever since its mid-November launch. But luck is currently on wannabe buyers’ sides: It’s back up for grabs at Best Buy and PlayStation Direct as of April 26.

Priced at $199.99, the Portal is a handheld PlayStation 5 accessory that lets players stream their games on the go via the console’s Remote Play feature; it looks like a DualSense controller that’s been spliced in half by an eight-inch LCD screen. Function-wise, it’s nothing revolutionary — you can do the exact same thing on a smartphone (for free!) — and its ability to work successfully largely depends on the strength of your internet connection. Still, Mashable’s Alex Perry was a reluctant fan.

“Portal’s excellent form factor, good display, and overall usefulness have outweighed its numerous problems for me,” Perry wrote in his review, hedging his recommendation with advice to wait for a discount. (Spoiler: That probably won’t be happening anytime soon, judging by its persistent hard-to-findness.)

If the Portal happens to sell out at Best Buy and PlayStation Direct before you can add it to your cart, you’ll have another chance to buy it at Walmart in the near future. From Monday, April 29 at 12 p.m. ET to the same time the following day, the big-box store will be hosting an Early Access Event for paid (non-trial) Walmart+ members that features limited availability of exclusive and hard-to-buy items.

Most of said items will be groceries, per a press release — think KeKe Palmer-autographed Chips Ahoy! bundles, a Dolly Parton baking mix collection, and mystery-flavored Flamin’ Hot Doritos — but a Portal restock will (very randomly) sneak in there, too.

There are four little words that the girls just can’t get out of their heads: “That’s that me espresso” — a little nonsensical, a lot catchy.

They seem to answer the season’s hottest question: What’s the Song of the Summer? Sabrina Carpenter’s sun-drenched hit, “Espresso,” is currently the top contender. While artists scramble to promote their summer bops on TikTok and stan Twitter battles it out, Carpenter is not-so-quietly poised to take the crown.

The Extremely Online — a.k.a. X / Twitter users — are constantly referencing, reworking, and memeifying the song’s lyrics.

Carpenter is no stranger to internet attention. She’s a former Disney Channel star who, back in 2021, was the infamous “blonde girl” referenced in Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License.” But in 2022, Carpenter released her album Emails I Can’t Send, establishing herself as her own distinct pop princess.

As one user wrote, “I love the duality that Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter provide as counterparts… Olivia’s songs are like ‘I’m so insecure and crazy and I’m going to die’ and Sabrina’s are like ‘every boy is in love with me and that makes complete sense.'”

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Carpenter recently opened for Taylor Swift on the Latin America leg of The Eras Tour and performed at Coachella, catapulting her to stardom. (The other pop star hovering around a similar come-up is Chappell Roan, who opened for Rodrigo on her GUTS World Tour and also performed at Coachella.)

Carpenter routinely goes viral for her suggestive outros to her biggest hit, “Nonsense,” which she tailors to the city where she’s performing. Just last week at Coachella she sang, “Made his knees so weak he had to spread mine / He’s drinking my bath water like it’s red wine / Coachella see you back here when I headline,” referencing her relationship with Saltburn star Barry Keoghan. (Keoghan brought even more attention to “Espresso” when he posted a photo of a cup of coffee on his Instagram story with the blonde queen emoji.)

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But now fans and casual listeners alike can’t stop returning to “me espresso,” the odd phrasing birthing so many memes.

One user wrote, “don’t talk to me until i’ve had my me espresso.” Another clarified, “that’s that me espresso. that’s that me espresso. that? that’s that me espresso. oh that? that’s that me espresso. that thing you’ve got? right there? that’s that me espresso. yeah.” Someone else captioned a video of a waitress pouring a cup of coffee on her foot, “that’s that me espresso.”

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Other users are obsessed with just how blonde both the song and Carpenter are. One user uploaded the meme “Actually, can I have five more of these little blonde bitches?” with the caption, “me listening to espresso.” Another observed, “Me Espresso..a most pleasing track to me. It’s not often you can hear the Blonde come through in the recording anymore.” Someone else said, “that espresso song by the little blonde bitch goes crazy i’m sorry.”

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The coffee community is also embracing the track as their anthem. Multiple users have thanked Carpenter. One said, “13 year old girl came in to my barista job and asked ‘can i get one espresso? wait actually what’s in an espresso?’ so thank u sabrina carpenter.”

Another wrote, “Sabrina Carpenter is my hero for teaching an entire generation of people that the word is ESpresso, not EXpresso.”

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Pop enjoyers, Irish “It” boys, blonde fanatics, and coffee lovers…we’ve got a hit on our hands.

Apple took a leap just two months ago and launched an entire brand new product category for the company with the release of the Apple Vision Pro.

In the days and weeks after its February release, Apple’s new AR/VR headset was the talk of social media. Tech reviewers raved about how using it was a glimpse into the future of home computers. And the Apple Vision Pro memes were in abundance. Who can forget the guy who wore an Apple Vision Pro at his wedding?

Then February came and went — and there’s not much talk about anymore. It turns out that there’s likely a good reason for the sudden silence around the product: the Apple Vision Pro simply isn’t selling.

Apple Vision Pro sales tank

According to prominent analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has revised its Apple Vision Pro shipment expectations for 2024 down to 400,000 to 450,000 units. 

Apple originally expected to sell as many as 800,000 Apple Vision Pro units this year, reports Kuo, who has accurately broken news on the company over the years due to his supply chain contacts.

This means that Apple had to reduce its sales expectations for the Apple Vision Pro by as much as 50 percent.

Furthermore, Kuo reports that Apple revised these numbers before launching the Apple Vision Pro in markets outside the U.S. Kuo takes that to mean that U.S. sales have declined sharply, forcing Apple to adjust its expectations for international markets as well.

However, this shouldn’t be too surprising.

Apple launched a brand new product in the emerging, relatively nascent product category of AR/VR headsets. On top of that, the starting price point of $3,499 heavily reduces the potential consumer base for the Apple Vision Pro. Most consumers just aren’t willing to fork over thousands of dollars for a head-mounted display.

It’s also interesting that the Apple Vision Pro swiftly faded from online discussion after much fanfare. As Fast Company points out, Google Trends data shows that general interest in the Apple Vision Pro completely dropped shortly after its release and has continued on a downward trend.

The incoming issues for Apple with the Apple Vision Pro were even visible to Mashable when we attended the big Apple Vision Pro launch at the 5th Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan where even Apple CEO Tim Cook was in attendance. There were lines for the event, but unlike other Apple release day events, those lines dissipated fairly quickly. Even more interesting was that quite a few people had lined up due to the hype and wanted to try the Apple Vision Pro out, with no intent of making a purchase.

It’s unclear where Apple plans to takes its AR/VR headset ambitions from here. According to Kuo, there was a prediction that Apple would release a new Apple Vision Pro model in 2025 – something that the analyst is no longer expecting now.

SAVE $100: Get the Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS, 41mm) for $299, down from $399, at Amazon. That’s 25% off Apple’s latest smartwatch and its lowest price yet.

A smartwatch can change the way you track your health and fitness levels and make it easier to stay on top of messages without always having to pull out your phone, but they can come with a hefty price tag. Grab a new Apple Watch and make it easier on your wallet with a deal at Amazon today.

As of April 26, you can score the latest Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS, 41mm) for $399 at Amazon. That’s $100, or 25%, off the original price for Apple’s latest smartwatch — and its lowest price yet.

We’ve yet to test the Series 9, but the Series 8 is our current best overall smartwatch. The latest model is outfitted with the S9 chip, providing a vibrant display and a new mechanism that lets you interact with the watch without touching the screen. The Apple Watch has extensive exercise tracking and is water-resistant up to 50 meters, which means you don’t need to slip it off before jumping in the pool. In fact, it will help you track your laps during your next workout.

In addition to its activity tracking, the Apple Watch has health features such as heart rate monitoring, temperature sensing, and sleep tracking. It also has fall and crash detection to help you connect with emergency services when you need them.

The Apple Watch Series 9 is a great extension for iPhone users, and now is a great time to buy with this Amazon deal.

You may have a bit of money coming your way — and all you had to do to get it was endure a breach of your privacy.

The Federal Trade Commission announced this week that settlement payments stemming from a 2023 complaint against the doorbell camera company Ring have started going out to affected customers. Ring reached the settlement after the FTC accused it of “egregious violations of users’ privacy,” including allowing employees and contractors to see videos, which were used to train algorithms without customer consent.

How to get Ring settlement payout

As a result of the settlement, 117,044 Ring owners are getting direct payments for their troubles. These payments will be sent out via PayPal to affected users — and there’s no need to manually make a claim for the money. Eligible customers should have received an email notification this week letting them know the money is available. It must be claimed from PayPal within 30 days.

The FTC says to call 1-833-637-4884 if you have a problem with your payment. That number belongs to Rust Consulting Inc., the company responsible for doling out the payments.

Needless to say, there are plenty of reasons not to own a Ring camera. But if you do own one, you might get a little bit of money out of it a few years later, at least.

What is a VPN? To simply scratch the surface, a virtual private network (VPN) spoofs your location, makes you anonymous online, and gives you the keys to unlock the full breadth of the web. 

With all the third-party advertisers snooping on your personal data and scammers trying to steal it all, the best VPNs have become an easy way to protect your digital privacy. But what exactly is it? And how on earth can it make your internet service provider (ISP) believe you’re streaming in Japan when you’re actually sitting on your couch in another country? 

What is a VPN?

A VPN is an encrypted internet connection between your device and a remote server. By encrypting your traffic through a private tunnel, often through military-grade AES-256 encryption, all your online activities will be hidden from prying eyes. Unlike Incognito mode, this means your ISP, hackers lurking on public networks, and even government entities can’t see what you’re doing. 

Connecting to these remote servers, which are provided by VPN services like ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark, will also mask your real IP address and location. This unique identifier is given to you by your ISP to track your location, but a VPN server offers its own IP address. Therefore, when you connect to a server in another country, you can effectively fool websites and online services into thinking you’re in a completely different destination. 

It’s a neat trick, especially when you’re trying to access geo-restricted websites or streaming services with country-specific content libraries to binge-watch your favorite shows. Better yet, many VPN providers have thousands of servers placed around the globe, giving you an ample amount of ways to browse through the multitude of international streaming platforms out there. 

Another perk is ignoring ISP throttling. This is a nasty way for your internet provider to limit your bandwidth, but if your ISP can’t recognize you when using a VPN, then it can’t restrict your internet speeds. That’s a big bonus for online multiplayer games and anyone who experiences excruciatingly long buffering times. 

It isn’t just about streaming and boosting speeds, as a VPN’s main purpose is to offer anonymity when browsing on public Wi-Fi, bypass region-restricted websites, and keep your online activity encrypted. 

Essentially, no hacker threats, no government eyes snooping about your business, and no problems accessing the site of your choice — even if you’re heading to countries with heightened internet censorship including the UAE, Cuba, or China. 

So, why are there hundreds of VPNs to choose from if they all basically do the same job? Each service can provide different perks, from the number of servers it provides and its various locations in select cities and countries to its compatibility with laptops, PCs, smartphones, and gaming consoles, along with multiple security options.

If you’re ready to give your device a security (and streaming) upgrade with a VPN, our list of the best VPNs (and best cheap VPNs for the budget-conscious) will point you in the right direction. 

SAVE $49.01: As of April 26, get the 2nd generation AirPods Pro for just $199.99 at Amazon. That’s a 20% discount.

When it comes to earbuds, few do it better than Apple. If you’re one of the few listeners left out there without a pair of AirPods but are thinking about taking the plunge, now’s a great time to do so. The 2nd generation Apple AirPods Pro are available at a great price at Amazon so you don’t have to suffer audio FOMO any longer.

As of April 26, you can get the AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) for just $199.99 at Amazon. That’s a 20% discount and $49.01 off their normal price of $249. Not quite their lowest price ever, but still worth grabbing at this discount.

You won’t find many better options out there at this price point with similarly capable noise cancellation. They’re a major upgrade from regular AirPods, with tips that fit in your ears more snugly, support for spatial and adaptive audio, and of course, excellent sound. They’re perfect for getting as immersed in your music, podcasts, or calls as possible – and they pair quickly and easily with your iOS devices.

Sure, there are more affordable options out there, but you’re getting what you pay for with this model. If you’re ready for an upgrade, go ahead and grab yours before they go back to their normal price.

GET 26% OFF: As of April 26, you can get a Dyson V8 cordless vacuum for $349 at Amazon, Walmart, and Dyson, down from $469.99. That’s $120.99 off the list price.

Dyson is one of the most coveted household brands, from vacuums to haircare tools. But cult-favorite Dyson products also often come with sky-high prices. Today, you can experience the Dyson difference for less with a good deal on a cordless vacuum.

As of April 26, a Dyson V8 cordless vacuum is available at Amazon for just $349, down from $469.99, saving you $120.99, or 26%. You can also grab the V8 for just 99 cents more at Walmart and Dyson.

With its powerful digital motor and lightweight design, the Dyson V8 easily transitions from carpets to hard floors. Plus, its cordless design offers cleaning freedom without the hassle of a cord. Its Detangling Motorbar is made for homes with pets, with a hair screw tool that’s ideal for dealing with fur-filled homes and a crevice tool that helps you reach those hard-to-clean areas (it easily converts into a handheld as well).

Whether you’re tackling pet hair, dust, or crumbs, the Dyson V8 has you covered with its no-touch bin emptying system and 40-minute run time.