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TL;DR: Get Microsoft Project 2021 Professional for just $19.97—manage tasks, resources, and reports efficiently with lifetime access.
Managing a project can sometimes feel like juggling a million tasks at once. With Microsoft Project 2021 Professional, you can put down the juggling balls and take full control of every aspect of your project. For just $19.97, you get a lifetime license to a powerful project management tool that helps you plan, track, and manage your projects from start to finish.
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This one-time purchase provides lifetime access to Microsoft Project 2021 Professional on a single Windows PC. There are no ongoing subscription fees—just the peace of mind of knowing you have a tried-and-true project management tool at your fingertips whenever you need it.
Microsoft Project 2021 Professional is on sale for just $19.97 (reg. $249) through September 29.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: Retail King Microsoft Project 2021 Professional: Lifetime License for Windows $19.97TL;DR: Get a grade-A refurbished 2017 MacBook Air for just $249.97—perfect for everyday work tasks, streaming, and schoolwork at a fraction of the regular cost.
Opens in a new window Credit: Apple 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Air (1.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) $249.97You don’t need to shell out big bucks to get your hands on Apple’s sleek design and solid performance.
For just $249.97, this Grade-A refurbished 2017 MacBook Air (1.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) packs most of the tech features you need without that typical Apple price tag. Whether you’re tackling work, school assignments, or just keeping up with Netflix, this MacBook is a great choice to help you power through your day.
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No one likes being glued to a charger. Luckily, this MacBook Air delivers up to 12 hours of battery life, so you can get through the day without worrying about your laptop dying mid-email. And thanks to its lightweight design, it’s the ultimate on-the-go companion, ideal for work on the go, study sessions, or just chilling at a coffee shop.
Rated grade-A, this laptop is in near-mint condition, meaning it looks and runs like new, just without the shiny retail price. You’ll barely notice a scratch, if at all, and the performance is just as you’d expect from a Mac.
Don't miss this grade-A refurbished 2017 MacBook Air for just $249.97 (reg. $999) through September 29.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
TL;DR: Get a Babbel Language Learning Lifetime Subscription (all languages) for just $139.97 (reg. $599) through September 29 and expand your horizons.
Opens in a new window Credit: Babbel Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) $139.97Imagine having the power to communicate in 14 different languages for travel, business, or just personal growth.
That dream is within reach — get a lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning (all languages) for only $139.97 (reg. $599). This deal gives you forever access to every language Babbel offers, so you can explore new cultures, connect globally, and continuously learn at your own pace.
The beauty of a lifetime subscription is that it never expires, meaning you can dip into Spanish for your next trip, brush up on German for business, or finally learn Italian to impress your friends — all at your own pace. With Babbel’s structured lessons, you’ll find that learning new languages can be a continuous journey of personal growth and intellectual stimulation.
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Babbel uses cutting-edge technology to make language learning both efficient and fun. With features like speech recognition and adaptive learning, the lessons adjust to your progress, ensuring you improve every step of the way. And because Babbel is built for busy professionals and lifelong learners alike, it fits perfectly into any schedule, allowing you to learn anytime, anywhere.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to become a global citizen. Get a Babbel Language Learning Lifetime Subscription (all languages) for just $139.97 (reg. $599) through September 15 at 11:59PM.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
TL;DR: Live stream Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers for free on 7plus. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The NFL began with a bang in the first round, and we're expecting more of the same in round two. The Minnesota Vikings were one of the most impressive sides from the first round of fixtures, beating the New York Giants comfortably. Can they secure another win against San Francisco 49ers?
If you're interested in watching Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers for free, we have all the information you need.
When is Vikings vs. 49ers?Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers starts at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 15. This fixture takes place at the U.S. Bank Stadium.
How to watch Vikings vs. 49ers for freeMinnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers is available to live stream for free on 7plus.
7plus is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access 7plus from anywhere in the world.
Access free live streams of the NFL by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia
Visit 7plus
Live stream Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but top VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By making the most of these deals, you can access free live streams of the NFL without actually spending anything. This is obviously a quick fix, but it gives you enough time to watch Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for the NFL?ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the NFL live, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including Australia
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure
Fast connection speeds
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95, saving you 49% on list price. With this limited-time deal you'll also get an extra three months at no additional cost, a whole year of unlimited cloud backup for free, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
TL;DR: Live stream New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks for free on RTL+. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks both started the new NFL season with a victory, but the winning run can't continue into the second week of fixtures. Which side will secure their second win of the campaign? You can find out without spending anything.
If you're interested in watching New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Patriots vs. Seahawks?New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks starts at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 15. This fixture takes place at Gillette Stadium.
How to watch Patriots vs. Seahawks for freeNew England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks is available to live stream for free on RTL+.
RTL+ is geo-restricted to Germany, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Germany, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access RTL+ from anywhere in the world.
Access free live streams of the NFL by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in Germany
Visit RTL+
Live stream New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but top VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By making the most of these deals, you can access free live streams of the NFL without actually spending anything. This is obviously a quick fix, but it gives you enough time to watch New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for the NFL?ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the NFL live, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including Germany
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure
Fast connection speeds
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95, saving you 49% on list price. With this limited-time deal you'll also get an extra three months at no additional cost, a whole year of unlimited cloud backup for free, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
TL;DR: Live stream Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals for free on RTL+. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to gain momentum after their first-round victory, as they seek a historic Super Bowl three-peat. The problem with this mission is that every other NFL team will be desperate to overcome the defending champs, including the Cincinnati Bengals.
If you're interested in watching Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Chiefs vs. Bengals?Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals starts at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sept. 15. This fixture takes place at Arrowhead Stadium.
How to watch Chiefs vs. Bengals for freeKansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals is available to live stream for free on RTL+.
RTL+ is geo-restricted to Germany, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Germany, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access RTL+ from anywhere in the world.
Access free live streams of the NFL by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in Germany
Visit RTL+
Live stream Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but top VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By making the most of these deals, you can access free live streams of the NFL without actually spending anything. This is obviously a quick fix, but it gives you enough time to watch Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for the NFL?ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the NFL live, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including Germany
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure
Fast connection speeds
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95, saving you 49% on list price. With this limited-time deal you'll also get an extra three months at no additional cost, a whole year of unlimited cloud backup for free, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
TL;DR: Live stream Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers for free on 7plus. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The second round of NFL fixtures includes some really interesting matchups, including Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers. The Broncos lost in round one, but the Steelers looked strong in a win over the Falcons. Can they secure a second win of the season in Denver?
If you're interested in watching Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Broncos vs. Steelers?Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers starts at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sept. 15. This fixture takes place at the Empower Field at Mile High.
How to watch Broncos vs. Steelers for freeDenver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers is available to live stream for free on 7plus.
7plus is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access 7plus from anywhere in the world.
Access free live streams of the NFL by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia
Visit 7plus
Live stream Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but top VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By making the most of these deals, you can access free live streams of the NFL without actually spending anything. This is obviously a quick fix, but it gives you enough time to watch Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for the NFL?ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the NFL live, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including Australia
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure
Fast connection speeds
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95, saving you 49% on list price. With this limited-time deal you'll also get an extra three months at no additional cost, a whole year of unlimited cloud backup for free, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
TL;DR: As of Sept. 15, you can get a lifetime subscription to Headway Premium for just £34.28 instead of £228.57 using the discount code HEADWAY— that's a savings of 85%.
Sitting down to read a whole book may be rewarding, but it might not have the same instant gratification you get from flipping through TikTok. Instead, why not have a micro-learning session with Headway? Get the main ideas and key lessons from all the books you don't have time to read with this bite-sized learning app.
Headway's library includes summaries of thousands of best-selling books, with 30-50 new titles added every month. And for a limited time, when you use the code HEADWAY at the Mashable Shop, you can get a lifetime subscription for just £34.28 (reg. £228.57).
Learn a new skill on your lunch breakWanting to learn something and actually doing it are usually two very different things. Headway can't replace the experience of reading a full book, but it does give you a condensed version packed with knowledge and insights. You could even use it as a way to see if a book is worth reading before you buy it. Plus, you can access Headway summaries in audio or visual formats, too.
Instead of crawling through social media as soon as your alarm clock wakes you up, get your morning going with daily insights from worldwide bestselling non-fiction titles. Headway even turns personal improvement into a game with achievements you can earn by mastering new skills.
Turn growth into a habitThis subscription lets you install Headway Premium on one iOS, Mac, or Android device for life (the device's life, not yours). Updates are included.
Until Sept. 28 at 11:59 p.m. PT, get a lifetime subscription to Headway Premium for £34.28 (reg. £228.57) at the Mashable Shop. Just use the code HEADWAY during checkout.
Prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: GTHW App Limited Lifetime subscription to Headway Premium £34.28TL;DR: Live stream Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal in the Premier League for free with a seven-day trial of Fubo. Access Fubo from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
There are a bunch of exciting Premier League fixtures this weekend, but Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal is the standout game. The North London derby is always entertaining, and we're expecting a close contest between two strong sides.
If you want to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal in the Premier League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal?Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal in the Premier League kicks off at 2 p.m. BST on Sept. 15. This fixture takes place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal for freeTottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal is available to live stream for free with a seven-day trial of Fubo.
Fubo offers coverage of all 380 matches of the 2024-25 Premier League season in Canada, but anyone can access this package with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Canada, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the Premier League from anywhere in the world.
Access free live streams of the 2024-25 Premier League by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in Canada
Sign up for a seven-day free trial of Fubo
Watch Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal in the Premier League without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream this weekend's Premier League fixtures before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for the Premier League?ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including Canada
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal in the Premier League for free with ExpressVPN.
TL;DR: Live stream Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams for free on TVNZ+. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams are both looking for their first win of the new NFL season. Both teams suffered disappointing defeats in the opening round of fixtures, but that's in the past. All that matters is the next game, and we're expecting an entertaining battle between two interesting teams.
If you're interested in watching Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Cardinals vs. Rams?Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams starts at 4:05 p.m. ET on Sept. 15. This fixture takes place at the State Farm Stadium.
How to watch Cardinals vs. Rams for freeArizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams is available to live stream for free on TVNZ+.
TVNZ+ is geo-restricted to New Zealand, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in New Zealand, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.
Access free live streams of the NFL by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in New Zealand
Visit TVNZ+
Live stream Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but top VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By making the most of these deals, you can access free live streams of the NFL without actually spending anything. This is obviously a quick fix, but it gives you enough time to watch Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for the NFL?ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the NFL live, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries includingNew Zealand
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure
Fast connection speeds
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95, saving you 49% on list price. With this limited-time deal you'll also get an extra three months at no additional cost, a whole year of unlimited cloud backup for free, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.
Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on MashableBy providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for September 15 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for September 15 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: On the rocksThese words are served with ice.
Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explainedThe answers all relate to the Old Fashioned cocktail.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
NYT Strands spangram answer todayToday's spangram is Oldfashioned.
Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for September 15Whiskey
Bitters
Oldfashioned
Sugar
Cherry
Water
Orange
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.
Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.
If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for September 15'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 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 used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.
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's The Mini crossword answers for September 15 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:To occur again and again.
Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?There is one letter that appears twice.
Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...Today's Wordle starts with the letter R.
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...
RECUR.
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.
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 yesterday's Wordle.
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 September 15's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
Tweet may have been deletedEach 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.
Tweet may have been deletedPlayers can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for September 15 Here's a hint for today's Connections categoriesWant a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Being in a home
Green: Shrink
Blue: Silly little man
Purple: A group of seven
Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Reside
Green: Decrease
Blue: Doofus
Purple: Member of a Septet
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 #462 is...
What is the answer to Connections todayReside: DWELL, INHABIT, LIVE, STAY
Decrease: DECLINE, DROP, DWINDLE, EBB
Doofus: CLOWN, DWEEB, SAP, TURKEY
Member of a Septet: DWARF, SEA, SIN, WONDER
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.
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 yesterday's Connections.
Crew onboard the Russian Soyuz capsule, a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) that took place on Sept. 11, became record-breaking space residents this week, as humanity waves up to the now 19 humans living and working in space.
It's the largest group living in space concurrently in history.
Tweet may have been deleted SEE ALSO: Webb telescope peers into our galaxy's outskirts, sees stunning sceneThe mission included NASA astronaut Don Pettit and cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, who joined nine people already living in the space lab: NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams, and cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.
Another three people — Li Cong, Li Guangsu, and Ye Guangfu — are aboard China's Tiangong space station, and there's a four-person crew onboard the Crew Dragon Resilience, part of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission. The four include civilians Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Jared Isaacman. Gillis and Isaacman conducted a historic first-ever civilian spacewalk on Sept. 12.
All this history-making isn't entirely good news, though. Two of the record-breaking group aboard the ISS, Wilmore and Williams, were previously set to return to Earth aboard Boeing's Starliner vessel. Surprise propulsion issues left them stranded in space before they were boarded with the ISS crew. The Starliner was sent back to Earth solo, and the two will return aboard a SpaceX vessel.
The previous record of humans in space, 17, was put up last year, after the successful launch of the three-person team aboard China's Shenzhou 16 mission.
Spotify is introducing a new way for young listeners to discover music, announcing a new Premium membership pilot tailored explicitly to kids.
Unlike Spotify Kids — a child-friendly app that offers singalongs, soundtracks, and playlists curated by Spotify — the new offering is a parent-managed Premium membership for users under 13, giving them access to more of the app under the supervision of their caregivers.
SEE ALSO: Why is Gen Z trauma-dumping on TikTok using candy salad?"As young listeners embark on a journey of music exploration with a managed account, through this new pilot they will get to enjoy many of the features and functionality that Spotify users know and love, including personalization features that make music discovery on Spotify so exciting and unique," wrote Spotify.
Premium Family users would be able to add a managed account to their plan, which can then be tailored by the parents via in-app controls. This would allow parents to block specific songs or artists, or manage playback of explicit content, including visual media accompanying songs themselves.
Spotify says the updated Family plan would also be a solution for parents' who have had their account recommendations (and annual Wrapped data) commandeered by their children's music — Users have long asked for a kind of "Parent Mode" that could be turned on to filter out kid content.
The pilot is only available to users in Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden, for now.
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on MashableHere are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, September 13, 2024:
AcrossShortens, as a skirtThe answer is HEMS.
The answer is PLANET.
The answer is RIDDLE.
The answer is PET.
The answer is SEW.
The answer is SPLITS.
The answer is EYES.
The answer is HADIT.
The answer is ENDSIT.
The answer is MELONS.
The answer is STEW.
The answer is PREPPY.
The answer is LITTLE.
The answer is POSE.
The answer is SIS.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of GamesAre you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.
OpenAI may be overhauling its complex nonprofit structure in favor of a traditional for-profit push in 2025, the key to a potential $150 billion valuation as the AI leader veers down a similar profit-seeking path to that of its Silicon Valley peers.
The news was first reported by Fortune, based on comments made by CEO Sam Altman in a weekly OpenAI employee meeting. Altman gave employees little detail, but reiterated that OpenAI was "set" to move away from non-profit control as it had "outgrown" its founding arrangement.
SEE ALSO: Can AI lift up struggling nonprofits — or cause them more pain?Currently, OpenAI operates as a "capped" for-profit LLC controlled by a non-profit. It was this structure that allowed OpenAI's board of directors, part of the non-profit parent structure, to fire Altman as CEO in Nov. 2023. The board accused Altman of lying to and obstructing the work of the non-profit board and OpenAI's safety measures, including omitting the nature of his ownership of the OpenAI startup fund. Altman was later reinstated and took leadership control of OpenAI's revamped internal safety team.
Heading into the new year, Altman and OpenAI's leadership are now navigating a growing, billion-dollar business. Last month, Apple was rumored to be investing in the AI startup, joining other big backers like Microsoft in what would inform the more than $100 billion valuation. According to a Reuters report from the same day as the Fortune story, anonymous sources said investors are making capital injections contingent on OpenAI abandoning its profit cap, which may require the non-profit controlling entity to be changed or abolished.
An OpenAI spokesperson told Fortune and Reuters that the company's non-profit arm is "core to our mission and will continue to exist," as OpenAI stays "focused on building AI that benefits everyone."
"My name is Gabriella and I spent the first four years of my life in a meth house," says Gabriella as a matter-of-fact, before emptying a bag of Sour Patch candy into a bowl in a TikTok that now has over 9.7M views. The video then cuts between Gabriella and her friend, as they continue offering bouts of open-ended casual confessions laced with varying intensity, while adding layers of Reese Cups, Nerds Gummy Clusters, and other candies to the same bowl.
This is the deceptively simple recipe of a trauma candy salad that involves only two ingredients: equal parts sweet treats and traumatic life experiences. Mix well until combined and serve it piping hot to...the entire internet.
Young people are disclosing their most distressing emotional scars by way of the latest challenge to sweep TikTok. But what makes the trauma candy salad trend different from other GRWM (Get Ready With Me) or sit-down storytime formats is the deliberate lack of context or explanation accompanying said statements. Harrowing personal experiences are compressed in one-minute clips, discussing everything from sexual abuse, eating disorders, divorce, and bad breakups to bullying, health issues, loss, and parental abandonment. Think your emotional baggage is too big to publicize? If confessions like "My name is Kylie and my biological parents left me on a hospital doorstep and abandoned me" and "I’m Anika and my ex choked me while I was sleeping" are anything to go by, nothing is off-limits here.
SEE ALSO: What we can all learn from 'trauma dumping' onlineA dystopian spin-off of the candy salad food trend that marched into TikTok’s hall of fame earlier this year, the trauma candy salad is a dark humour-coded manifestation of the younger generation’s mental health struggles. Each revelation and its nonchalant disclosure is meant to make you uncomfortable and dumbstruck; a far cry from other prettily packaged trends like quiet quitting, sad girl walks, or therapy-speak.
One in three Gen Z young adults have posted about their mental health on their social media profiles, as per a 2022 survey. But could it be the contents of these posts are changing gear from subtle to piercingly straightforward? The trauma candy salad could reflect the younger generation’s pushback against trigger warnings that have long accompanied digital mental health discourse, according to Eloise Skinner, a London-based psychotherapist and author. “A platform like TikTok encourages the integration of lightness and humour through challenges like this, even when it comes to sharing sensitive personal trauma. This seems like a rejection of the conventional therapeutic ideals, trigger warnings, and self-care notions that were perhaps first created by millennials in the social media space,” she says.
Oversharing or trauma dumping can be a coping response to distressing events. Trauma can be a lonely experience, so it makes sense that some creators may — consciously or unconsciously — share their experiences in a bid to feel less isolated. The problem lies in the fact that once something is shared online, we cannot control the reactions or comments of strangers on the internet. But not everyone participating in this trend thinks that far ahead; it’s just not that deep.
"I came across trauma candy salad TikToks not that long ago and found it funny that people were making light of their trauma," explains 25-year old Scotland-based Emma Cassidy. "My best friend and I have been through some situations too so we knew we had to make one. Some people may find these triggering but I think it's all about the 'if you don’t laugh, you'll cry' mindset."
"We saw someone else do it and knew we had enough trauma to participate,” adds Megan, 23, who filmed a video with her friend while on a camping trip in Washington State. This bonding and community-creating aspect of this challenge is not just fueled by people who’ve gone through similar life experiences and find it relatable, but also by those counting their blessings. "This trend makes me realise that nothing in my life has truly been traumatic and I need to be just grateful," reads one comment.
"Some people may find these triggering but I think it's all about the 'if you don’t laugh, you'll cry' mindset."Abby Bailey, a 23-year old living in Georgia, has no qualms about admitting that she publicized her trauma because she thought it would pick up traffic. On her TikTok, the 23-year-old bluntly shares that for years she mistook another man as her father and that her biological father has now passed away. “I figured that if there was one thing I could get views on, it would be my backstory or trauma. Not saying that everything I said wasn’t true because it is. I don't have any reservations about sharing my story online, I am an open book. People can judge me all that they want, but I have grown and become the person that I am today because of the things that have happened to me,” she says.
When asked if she’s ever thought of speaking about this with a qualified mental health expert, Bailey says, “I have not shared this with a professional because I don’t think it will be helpful; there’s just so much from my past and I feel as if I would be a burden. I have learned to cope with what has happened in my life and for now I am in a good place. Maybe one day I will talk to someone."
As I've found myself constantly engaging with these videos, first for the purposes of writing this story but later of my own volition, TikTok’s algorithm has steadily fed my consumption urges with an increasing stream of people’s traumatic stories rebranded as entertainment. As I come across newer versions of the trauma candy salad challenge, I’m becoming less taken aback by the disturbing incidents shared, even though the intensity and seriousness of what is shared remains high. I start comparing the stories I’ve heard, unconsciously ranking them by shock factor and I know I’m not the only one experiencing this desensitisation to people’s trauma.
The approach may not be everyone's cup of tea, but clearly it’s someone’s bowl of candy.As is the case with all trends, they take on a life of their own, shapeshifting to suit different purposes. The trauma candy salad recipe has also been adapted, giving way to new niches: think healthcare worker edition, couples edition and teacher edition. Instead of filming it with a group of friends, there are also those who chose to go solo. Some have replaced the candy with tablets or medicine they say they take to combat various health issues and illnesses.
Albeit unconsciously, is there a cathartic release or high to be experienced in announcing your most painful memories to strangers online? "Having grown up immersed in the culture of constant social media sharing, the internet feels like the main stage to put their inner turmoil on full display because there's an intense craving to finally have their emotional pain truly seen and validated on a big scale. But ripping your band-aid off in front of the world, without a type of containing personal support system, can simply leave you stuck in an agonizing cycle," says clinical psychotherapist Dr. Daniel Glazes, expressing the need for better and more constructive channels to elevate these conversations. Instead of dumping life's deeply disturbing events into the psyche's trash folder to fester, trends like the trauma candy salad use humour as a crutch, as a processing method.
In some strange way, after all the conversations I’ve had and watching one too many trauma dumps, I do, in some sense, understand how it equips Gen Z and alphas to look back and smile, even for a moment, through their most painful memories. The approach may not be everyone's cup of tea, but clearly it’s someone’s bowl of candy. Do we let the trauma define us or do we define our trauma?
The far outskirts of our galaxy are teeming with activity.
Astronomers pointed the powerful James Webb Space Telescope at a distant zone dubbed the "Extreme Outer Galaxy," and zoomed in on dense cosmic clouds containing clusters of stars. In unprecedented resolution of this region, they spotted vibrant star formation, and potent jets of material ejecting from these hot objects.
"What was fascinating and astounding to me from the Webb data is that there are multiple jets shooting out in all different directions from this cluster of stars," NASA scientist Mike Ressler, who led observations, said in a statement. "It’s a little bit like a firecracker, where you see things shooting this way and that.”
SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.You can see this activity below in a region of Digel Cloud 2S. Amid this cluster of young stars are jets zipping out from the cluster. Young stars emit these jets of gas and dust from their poles, which travel into space.
"It’s a little bit like a firecracker, where you see things shooting this way and that.”And there's added cosmic eye candy. Beyond these dynamic stars at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, you can spot a diversity of distant galaxies, shown in reddish and greenish colors. Many of these are spiral galaxies, like ours.
A vibrant star-forming region in the "Extreme Outer Galaxy," as captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / M. Ressler (JPL) Tweet may have been deletedThe "Extreme Outer Galaxy" is located over 58,000 light-years (a light-year is almost 6 trillion miles) from the center of our galaxy. Earth, meanwhile, is some 26,000 light-years from the center.
This latest Webb research, published in the peer-reviewed Astronomical Journal, provides novel observations in scientists' quest to fully grasp how stars form in different galactic environments.
A graphic of the Milky Way galaxy, with the sun shown below the galactic center. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt (SSC / Caltech) The Webb telescope's powerful abilitiesThe Webb telescope — a scientific collaboration between NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency — is designed to peer into the deepest cosmos and reveal new insights about the early universe. But it's also examining intriguing planets in our galaxy, along with the planets and moons in our solar system.
Here's how Webb is achieving unparalleled feats, and likely will for decades to come:
- Giant mirror: Webb's mirror, which captures light, is over 21 feet across. That's over two-and-a-half times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope's mirror. Capturing more light allows Webb to see more distant, ancient objects. The telescope is peering at stars and galaxies that formed over 13 billion years ago, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. "We're going to see the very first stars and galaxies that ever formed," Jean Creighton, an astronomer and the director of the Manfred Olson Planetarium at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, told Mashable in 2021.
- Infrared view: Unlike Hubble, which largely views light that's visible to us, Webb is primarily an infrared telescope, meaning it views light in the infrared spectrum. This allows us to see far more of the universe. Infrared has longer wavelengths than visible light, so the light waves more efficiently slip through cosmic clouds; the light doesn't as often collide with and get scattered by these densely packed particles. Ultimately, Webb's infrared eyesight can penetrate places Hubble can't.
"It lifts the veil," said Creighton.
- Peering into distant exoplanets: The Webb telescope carries specialized equipment called spectrographs that will revolutionize our understanding of these far-off worlds. The instruments can decipher what molecules (such as water, carbon dioxide, and methane) exist in the atmospheres of distant exoplanets — be they gas giants or smaller rocky worlds. Webb looks at exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy. Who knows what we'll find?
"We might learn things we never thought about," Mercedes López-Morales, an exoplanet researcher and astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics-Harvard & Smithsonian, told Mashable in 2021.
Already, astronomers have successfully found intriguing chemical reactions on a planet 700 light-years away, and have started looking at one of the most anticipated places in the cosmos: the rocky, Earth-sized planets of the TRAPPIST solar system.
Wes Anderson and his level of twee is not for everyone; there are apparently viewers who don't like their comedies brimming with quirky charm, deadpan absurdity, and perfectly balanced cinematography. For them, Rob Schneider is probably still making movies somewhere. But for the rest of us who do appreciate Anderson's particularly particular brand of cinema, there's plenty to love across 30 years of movie-making, including his oddball characters (and their inevitably fraught familial relationships), his winking approach to naming them and the places they inhabit, and his marvelously detailed mise-en-scéne.
There are few working directors with an idiosyncratic style that is so immediately recognizable and imitated (but never equaled, despite the best efforts of AI). Anderson's use of symmetrical shots with precise production design, huge casts of unforgettable characters played by a deep bench of big-name actors, and enough retro rock needle drops to fill an hours-long Spotify playlist marks a film as distinctly his.
For all their preciousness, these movies don't take themselves too seriously, and never veer away from silliness and whimsy. However, we do take the task of judging them very seriously. Sticking with only the director's 11 features (apologies to his shorts, including Netflix's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which won him his first and only Oscar to date), we've ranked Wes Anderson's movies from worst to best.
His filmography doesn't contain a truly bad film; some have curdled a bit over the years while others have aged remarkably well. Even those set in a particular era feel timeless thanks to the auteur's style, which feels vintage but never dated. Which movie about a misfit — or misfits — will reign supreme?
11. The Darjeeling Limited Credit: Moviestore / ShutterstockAnderson's films are populated with complicated characters who are sometimes more lovable than likable, but the trio at the heart of The Darjeeling Limited are his more insufferable and least interesting protagonists. Anderson regulars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman star as three brothers grieving the loss of their father while they take a train across India. They're looking to find themselves, and the people they encounter often serve as a part of the experience rather than real humans. It isn't just the three protagonists who treat these minor characters this way; The Darjeeling Limited does so as well.
Anderson has often displayed a tendency to use either settings or cultures for his own purposes rather than engaging with them on their own merits. That habit might be at its worst in this 2007 comedy, in which he uses the death of an Indian child as a catalyst for the brothers' growth. I'd mark this as a spoiler, but it's not really relevant to the plot (and no one is watching Anderson movies for the plot anyway). Some growth happens, but these characters remain mostly selfish and stunted when the film reaches the end of its journey.
Yet amidst all the annoyance, The Darjeeling Limited is one of Anderson's most vibrantly colorful films, especially in its use of highly pigmented yellow. The director also accurately reflects the dynamics of relationships between brothers in ways that feel authentic. It's a shame he doesn't devote the same care to literally any of the Indian characters.
How to watch: The Darjeeling Limited is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
10. Bottle Rocket Credit: Columbia / Kobal / ShutterstockAnderson's 1996 feature debut feels right at home with other early works from indie auteurs who launched their careers in the same era — David O. Russell's Spanking the Monkey, future Anderson co-writer Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming, etc. — with its low-key, almost shaggy aesthetic, oddball characters, and deadpan humor. Yet while this crime comedy was less mannered and precise than future films from Anderson, Bottle Rocket still bears his hallmarks and feels like something only the Texas native could have made.
An expansion of his 1993 short film of the same name, Bottle Rocket stars Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, and Robert Musgrave as three friends and partners in crime who join a gang led by James Caan's big boss for a bigger heist. Beyond the presence of the Wilson brothers not playing brothers — including Andrew Wilson in a small role as the brother of Musgrave's character — the film features other frequently occurring motifs from Anderson's work, like jangly vintage rock on the soundtrack, handwritten notes on screen, careful shot composition, and thoughtful mise-en-scène (including the requisite wallpaper). But there's a moment in a burglary scene where Luke Wilson's Anthony carefully adjusts a toy soldier that feels most like the filmmaker's later work with its precision and wry humor; it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it movement, but watching it decades later feels like you're witnessing the birth of something big, even in something so small.
How to watch: Bottle Rocket is now streaming on Prime Video.
9. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Credit: Moviestore / ShutterstockAfter the success of The Royal Tenenbaums a few years prior, Anderson went bigger — but not better — with this 2004 follow-up. Bill Murray's Steve Zissou doesn't feel that far removed from Royal Tenenbaum as a bad (maybe) dad who says shit that wasn't great in 2004 and plays even worse in 2024, and who is estranged from an ex-wife played by Anjelica Huston (in full-on siren mode here). Aquatic explorer Zissou takes his band of misfits (including Willem Dafoe, Noah Taylor, and Seu Jorge) on a mission of revenge after his best friend and best diver, Esteban du Plantier (Seymour Cassel), is eaten by a jaguar shark. Along for the ride are Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), a Kentucky pilot who might be Zissou's son, and Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett), a journalist doing a piece on the famed scientist and documentarian.
Co-written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach, the plot is a kooky modern-day take on Moby Dick with Zissou's quest defying all reason, but the film feels rudderless, leaving the audience adrift on pure vibes in a sea of red stocking caps and custom Adidas sneakers. Yet The Life Aquatic with Steve Zizzou still has its charms: the Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs by Jorge, the loving feature-length homage to Jacques Cousteau, and the animated creatures created by Henry Selick that feel just fantastic enough. It's not peak Anderson, but it's pure Anderson just the same.
How to watch: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
8. Rushmore Credit: Touchstone / Kobal / ShutterstockAnderson's 1998 sophomore film might be his last one with any semblance to the real world, if a posh private high school can be said to resemble the real world, but Rushmore still features his trademark absurdity. Jason Schwartzman makes his acting debut as Max Fischer, a prototypical Anderson protagonist who is at once precocious and stunted. A scholarship student at his beloved Rushmore Academy, Max gets terrible grades but excels at extracurriculars. He's a bit of a dilettante, but he soon becomes singularly devoted to winning the affections of Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams), an elementary teacher at the school.
Rushmore doesn't just feature the first collaboration between the director and Schwartzman, who he would go on to work with as both an actor and a co-writer for more than two decades. It's also his inaugural work with Bill Murray, who stars as Herman Blume, Max's mentor-turned-romantic-rival. Murray's wry humor and up-for-antics attitude is a perfect fit for the wit of Anderson and Owen Wilson's script, which is silly and smart and so very Anderson. It's one of his smaller-scale films, but it still shows sparks of ambition and his inimitable style.
How to watch: Rushmore is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
7. Isle of Dogs Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures / Moviestore / ShutterstockAnderson isn't generally known for his deeply stirring narratives, but the emotion felt most while watching this stop-motion comedy is awe (plus some discomfort over how the movie handles its Japanese setting and the white savior narrative with Greta Gerwig's character, but I digress). Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was released a decade before this movie, was an achievement. While Isle of Dogs is even more technically innovative and visually impressive in its meticulous craft, it's less charming as a film overall and falls roughly in the middle of the pack of the director's filmography.
This 2018 comic adventure is set in the fictional Japanese town of Megasaki City (eye roll), whose dogs have all been exiled to Trash Island by the mayor after a canine disease outbreak. Voiced by Koyu Rankin, the mayor's nephew Atari (another eye roll) embarks on a rescue mission to the garbage dump to save his beloved pup. The story of a lost dog is nothing new in cinema, but Anderson brings his trademark quirk and imagination, making Isle of Dogs feel like something new and worthy of wonder.
Though its main characters are kids and dogs, Isle of Dogs isn't purely a children's movie with its message about immigration, sometimes surprisingly dark plot events (and their effects on its vulnerable characters), and accompanying PG-13 rating. It's less of a good entry point to the director's work than Fantastic Mr. Fox was, making for the most fitting viewing for devoted fans of either the filmmaker or the medium.
How to watch: Isle of Dogs is now streaming on Disney+.
Anderson's cinematic take on The New Yorker roughly follows the format of the revered magazine, featuring a masthead intro, brief travelog, three feature articles (one with a cartoon in the middle of it, naturally), and an obituary, mixing mediums and styles with aplomb. Anderson's love of the written word has been present throughout his work — whether literally through handwritten notebook pages or through clear literary affection (or is that affectation?) and references — but it's never been more on display than it is with The French Dispatch.
Within the framing of a magazine, the bulk of The French Dispatch is composed of a triptych of stories: one about a prisoner artist (Benicio del Toro) and his guard/muse (Léa Seydoux), a second about a French Dispatch journalist (Frances McDormand) and her intimate involvement with her subject (Timothée Chalamet), and finally an unconventional story of gastronomy about a police chef (Steve Park) and a kidnapping plot covered by a James Baldwin-esque writer (Jeffrey Wright). There are so many moments of joy in The French Dispatch, but the middle section sags a bit, somehow inducing a nap despite the presence of McDormand, Chalamet, and Mathieu Amalric.
The French Dispatch feels like a rejoinder to anyone who has criticized Anderson's films like Isle of Dogs and The Darjeeling Limited for cultural appropriation and insensitivity. He takes an equally loose, stereotypical approach here, setting the film in Ennui-sur-Blasé, France, a fictional city replete with surface-level observations about a place and its denizens. See? He can do it with white people, too.
How to watch: The French Dispatch is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
Anderson usually crafts films set in the vaguely indefinable present, but with an old-school soundtrack and vintage production design that make his movies feel wonderfully timeless. Yet Moonrise Kingdom is the first movie in his career that actually takes place in the past, and the nostalgic details and wistful approach are perfect for its 1965 setting.
Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) are tween residents of the island of New Penzance who develop mutual crushes after a brief meeting followed by written correspondence. They decide to run away together — him from his Scout troop and her from her parents (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray) — and they're pursued by the island citizens, including the local police captain (Bruce Willis), Sam's fellow Khaki Scouts, their Scout Master (Edward Norton), and a brutal bully (Lucas Hedges), all while a storm bears down on the island.
Other than Rushmore, Anderson largely makes movies about adults stuck in childhood, so Moonrise Kingdom marks an interesting inversion to that formula. With Sam and Suzy, this 2012 romantic adventure focuses on actual kids who often act more like grown-ups, but it never loses its sense of tenderness and innocence in the wistful story of their young love.
How to watch: Moonrise Kingdom is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel Credit: 20th Century Fox / Kobal / ShutterstockA story within a story within a story, set in the fictional Eastern European country of Zubrowka, The Grand Budapest Hotel is simultaneously ambitious and playful in its structure and silly and gravely serious in its tone. This Zubrowkan equivalent of a matryoshka doll spins the tale of a woman reading a 1985 book written by an author (Tom Wilkinson) about a 1968 encounter where the then-younger writer (Jude Law) learns of events in 1932 at the eponymous hotel.
At the now-fading Grand Budapest, Zero (F. Murray Abraham) recounts his youth as a lobby boy (Tony Revolori) who served under the venerated concierge Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes). Gustave got in a spot of trouble when his habit of romancing the hotel's oldest, richest female guests found him accused of the murder of Madame D. (Tilda Swinton in layers of makeup), setting Zero and his boss off on a series of misadventures with danger arriving from both the authoritarian regime and Madame D.'s family.
Inspired by the work of Stefan Zweig, this 2014 film has uncommon gravitas for an Anderson movie, as it explores the impacts of the Holocaust on Europe and its various minority populations. However, this tiered confection never feels overly heavy, nor does it make light of the tragedies it references. Anderson ably balances the tone, but Fiennes is a charming standout, even among a typically huge cast that also includes Jeff Goldblum, Ed Norton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Owen Wilson, and Saoirse Ronan.
How to watch: The Grand Budapest Hotel is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
3. Asteroid City Credit: Focus FeaturesArtifice has always been a hallmark of Anderson's work, but there are new layers in his most recent feature, from 2023. Asteroid City is a thoroughly postmodern movie set in the Space Age; it's a film of a TV production of a play, complete with a narrator, fourth-wall breaks, and intentionally unrealistic sets. The plot is often opaque (and not particularly important), but that somehow doesn't lessen its crater-sized emotional impact.
The play is about a Junior Stargazer convention set in Asteroid City, during which a number of quirky young scientists and their families — along with a surprise galactic guest — converge on the small, remote town. Asteroid City is notably Anderson's first movie without Bill Murray in two decades, but Tom Hanks ably steps into the elder statesman role, bringing a warmth that Murray often lacks to his part as a rich grandfather. In addition to Hanks, Asteroid City features a number of Anderson newcomers, including Margot Robbie and Steve Carell, as well as the usual stable of actors: Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Tony Revolori, etc.
Through all those layers of theatricality and absurdity, Asteroid City ranks with The Royal Tenenbaums as one of Anderson's most moving films. It's a profound meditation on how small we are in the universe, yet how truly special each and every life is. Asteroid City reflects on the power of the simple act of staring up at the sky, and how important human connection is in this crazy world.
How to watch: Asteroid City is now streaming on Prime Video.
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox Credit: Moviestore / ShutterstockThe precision and preciousness that Anderson brings to every film feels like a natural fit for stop-motion animation, and he's rarely been better than in his first full-length foray into the medium. Adapted by Anderson and Noah Baumbach from the Roald Dahl children's novel of the same name, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a delight, even sillier than most of the filmmaker's work in the best of ways, which is a perfect match for the source material and its intended audience.
George Clooney lends his voice to the eponymous hero, playing off his on-screen personas of Danny Ocean and Out of Sight's Jack Foley as a fox who just wants to complete one last heist, with Mrs. Fox (voiced by Meryl Streep) none the wiser. But instead of jewels or money, Mr. Fox is intent on stealing chickens from the nearby farms of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean (Robin Hurlstone, Hugo Guinness, and Michael Gambon).
Whether you're an adult or a child, it's impossible not to giggle with glee at Anderson's accomplishments in this 2009 film. It's marvelously detailed, down to the minute stitches and woven wool of the characters' clothing. The animals generally behave like humans, even cursing in a wonderfully PG way, until they growl and snarl ferociously as they're scrapping with each other or scarfing down a meal. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a wildly imaginative wonder that delivers the themes Anderson often returns to — like challenging father-son relationships, tensions between rivals, and the desire to reclaim past glory — but this time, he does it with brilliance for a new, younger audience.
How to watch: Fantastic Mr. Fox is now streaming on Disney+.
Anderson's more recent work is marked by sprawling casts filled with recognizable faces, but The Royal Tenenbaums was his first film that went big on its list of actors to fill out the Tenenbaums and those in their orbit. The introduction of all these people, with narrator Alec Baldwin speaking over The Mutato Muzika Orchestra's cover of "Hey Jude," builds the 2001 film's version of New York City and constructs these characters with such love and care. The Tenenbaum kids — Richie (Luke Wilson), Chas (Ben Stiller), and Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) — are each struggling with adulthood in different ways, but the return of their reprobate father, Royal (a sparky Gene Hackman), brings them all back under the roof of their mother, Etheline (Anjelica Huston), at 111 Archer Avenue.
Written by Anderson and co-star Owen Wilson and set to an all-timer of a soundtrack, The Royal Tenenbaums is the director's funniest film with marvelously quotable lines, but it's also among his most moving. Familial relationships feature prominently through a lot of his films, but the most poignant moment in his work is when Stiller's Chas chokes out, "I've had a rough year, Dad," to Hackman's Royal. Somewhere in the bowels of the internet, my MySpace quote is still "I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum," just like neighbor Eli Cash (Owen Wilson). It's easy to identify with his desire to be a part of this tribe.
How to watch: The Royal Tenenbaums is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
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