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Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier for people who've lived in Maryland.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight, and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

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

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports 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 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 before the game ends.

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

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

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Maryland sports

• Green: Defunct NHL teams

• Blue: Rookies

• Purple: Phonetic sports

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Maryland Teams

• Green: Former NHL Cities

• Blue: NFL Rookie WRs

• Purple: Sports Terms in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #727 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Maryland Teams: MIDSHIPMEN, ORIOLES, RAVENS, TERRAPINS

• Former NHL Cities: ATLANTA, HARTFORD, PHOENIX, QUEBEC CITY

• NFL Rookie WRs: BOSTON, LEMON, TATE, TYSON

• Sports Terms in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet: GOLF, UNIFORM, VICTOR, YANKEE

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

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

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

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalog.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for September 20, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for September 20, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for September 20 Pips

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.

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

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 4-2, placed vertically; 1-4, placed vertically.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 0-6, placed vertically; 3-1, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 3-1, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for September 20 Pips

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 6-5, placed vertically.

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

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

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this orange space must add up to 9. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 9. The answer is 6-5, placed vertically; 4-4, placed vertically.

Number (9): Everything in this purple space must add up to 9. The answer is 2-5, placed vertically; 4-5, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this red space must add up to 9. The answer is 4-5, placed horizontally; 4-4, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for September 20 Pips

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 1-0, placed vertically.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 5-2, placed vertically.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 1-0, placed vertically; 0-4, placed vertically; 0-0, placed vertically; 0-6, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 5-2, placed vertically; 0-6, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally.

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 0-5, placed vertically.

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

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

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically

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

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

Number (9): Everything in this red space must add up to 9. The answer is 5-1, placed horizontally; 6-2, placed vertically; 2-0, placed horizontally.

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 2-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically; 2-2, placed vertically.

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

Looking for spoiler-free NYT Connections hints or just wondering why Connections is trending today? We've got what you need to understand the clues for today's puzzle without spoiling any of the answers.

Of course, Mashable has also provided daily hints and answers for Connections, Wordle, and Strands for years, so we can help you if that's also what you need.

While we are focused more on meanings than hints in this story, sometimes learning that many of the words have completely unrelated meanings is a clue in and of itself. Connections frequently includes clues that involve words within words and other visual clues.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for September 20, 2026 Blu-Ray meaning

An optical disc used to store high-definition videos.

Coaster meaning

A flat, round disk for placing a drink upon.

Sand dollar meaning

A flat, round marine animal related to sea urchins and starfish.

Tortilla meaning

A thin, round flatbread made from corn or flour.

Bluegrass meaning

A genre of American music inspired by jazz and blues, usually associated with Kentucky.

Bourbon meaning

A barrel-aged whisky, commonly made in Kentucky.

Derby meaning

A sports match between two rival teams in the same area.

Fried chicken meaning

A popular protein entree cooked to a crisp in grease.

Hover meaning

To float in the air.

Skate meaning

A shoe with a blade or wheels to move on ice or hard surfaces.

Snow meaning

Frozen water vapor that falls from the sky during cold weather.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Surf meaning

A water sport that involves riding a board in the ocean.

Blade meaning

A Marvel comic superhero played by Wesley Snipes in the 1998 film.

Near Dark meaning

A 1987 vampire action film.

Sinners meaning

A 2025 Oscar-winning film directed by Ryan Coogler.

Twilight meaning

A cult-classic early 2000s vampire book-to-movie series.

Have you learned the meanings and still want the things? Check out the hints and answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're from the south.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

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

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

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

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

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for September 20, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Disc shapes

• Green: Southern charm

• Blue: Bloodsuckers

• Purple: Sports

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Round flat things

• Green: Associated with Kentucky

• Blue: Vampire movies

• Purple: ___ Boards you ride on

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 #1196 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Round flat things: BLU-RAY, COASTER, SAND DOLLAR, TORTILLA

• Associated with Kentucky: BLUEGRASS, BOURBON, DERBY, FRIED CHICKEN

• Vampire movies: BLADE, NEAR DARK, SINNERS, TWILIGHT

• ___ Boards you ride on: HOVER, SKATE, SNOW, SURF

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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.

Today's NYT Strands hints will be easy if you're full of yourself.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for September 20, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Putting on airs

The words are related to self-importance.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe being pretentious.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Grandiosity.

NYT Strands word list for September 20

• Gloat

• Brag

• Strut

• Grandiosity

• Bluster

• Flex

• Boast

• Posture

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a flashy person.

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 September 20, 2026 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 September 20, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Gleamed.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

No, there are no recurring letters.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter S.

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...

SHONE

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.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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.

TL;DR: UmanWrite’s lifetime Unlimited Plan is on sale for $63.20 (reg. $1,799) through Sept. 20 at 11:59 p.m. PT, with unlimited monthly words and personalized AI writing tools.

Opens in a new window Credit: UmanWrite UmanWrite All-in-One AI Writing Platform: Lifetime Subscription (Unlimited Plan/Unlimited Words) $63.20
$1,799 Save $1,735.80   Get Deal

AI can make writing a first draft easier, but the result doesn’t always sound like something you would actually write. UmanWrite Premium takes a more personalized approach, allowing you train the platform on your own writing samples so future drafts can better match your tone, vocabulary and style. The lifetime UmanWrite Premium Unlimited Plan is on sale for $63.20 (reg. $1799) through Sept. 20 at 11:59 p.m. PT, use code SAVE20.

UmanWrite lets you create unlimited Voice Profiles using your own writing samples. Its context-aware writing tools can then adapt content to your intended audience, purpose, and preferred style. There’s also an AI Humanizer designed to make AI-generated text read more naturally, plus an AI Detector for checking drafts for patterns associated with AI-generated writing.

The program also serves as a complete writing and editing workspace. The Advanced Grammar Checker improves grammar, clarity, and readability, and the Writing Studio brings all your drafting and editing tools together. With the Unlimited Plan, you get unlimited monthly word generation and can make requests for up to 2,500 words at a time.

These features are useful for anyone who works with different types of writing. Freelancers can set up a Voice Profile for their client projects, and marketers can create content for various audiences. Businesses can use them for emails, newsletters, and other documents. The platform also helps with SEO articles, social media posts, and sales copy.

The main advantage is that you can create a writing profile based on your own style instead of using a generic AI voice. Plus, since the plan is a one-time purchase, you won’t need to pay for another monthly writing subscription.

For writers who want AI assistance without completely giving up their own voice, UmanWrite offers a broad collection of tools in one platform. Get the lifetime Unlimited Plan while it’s price-dropped to $63.20 (reg. $1799) through Sept. 20 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he is forming an "AI Force," modeled after the Space Force branch he established during his first term, and said he'll soon name a new AI "czar" to oversee the effort.

The announcement came in a lengthy Truth Social post in which Trump dismissed growing concern over AI risk as the latest in a string of what he called manufactured "hoaxes," while also promising the new body would go after "BAD" actors in the industry using the existing legal system.

"We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry," Trump wrote, adding that the administration would instead "cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows." He said only "High I.Q. individuals" should apply for the czar role, and separately floated renaming AI something more flattering, alternately suggesting "supreme," "superior," or "extreme" intelligence, according to reporting on the post.

The comparison to Space Force is notable given what that branch actually does day to day. Rather than operating as a traditional combat force, Space Force has largely focused on consolidating and coordinating satellite operations, missile warning systems, and space-based communications that were previously split among the Air Force, Army, and Navy.

SEE ALSO: Tetris hits back at Trump over knockoff game, warns White House about copyright infringement

If the AI Force follows a similar model, it would likely function less as a new fighting force and more as a way to centralize the military's sprawling AI programs under one roof.

Trump's announcement may also revive a position that's been sitting empty for months. Venture capitalist David Sacks served as Trump's AI and cryptocurrency czar until he stepped down in March. Sacks moved to an advisory role within the White House after his term as a special government employee had ended.

Broadly, Trump's calls for a "US AI Force" come amid a series of high-profile failures in the Defense Department's use of AI. Pentagon investigators have been examining whether an "overreliance on AI" played a role in a February strike that killed dozens at a girls' school in Iran.

More recently, CNN reported that an AI-generated report from a US military analyst falsely claimed a Chinese ship was transporting nuclear weapons components. According to that report, armed US service members were preparing to board the vessel before officials discovered the intelligence had been generated by an AI chatbot and pulled the operation at the last minute.

One source described the false, AI-generated claim to CNN as having "almost started a war" with China.

On Saturday, Sept. 19, President Trump opened a poll on X and on his own platform, Truth Social, calling for a name change to "Artificial Intelligence."

"Many people think that the words 'Artificial Intelligence' are inaccurate, and very ineloquent, relative to AI, or Artificial Intelligence," Trump shared on social media. "A far more elegant and accurate description of this new phenomena [sic] would be Superior Intelligence (SI) or, Extreme Intelligence (EI) or, Supreme Intelligence (SI)."

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

Trump then opened a poll on the platforms, with options to vote on the "best name for this ever growing 'Revolution.'" As of this writing, "Superior Intelligence" was in the lead on X with around 39 percent of the vote.

The poll comes shortly after the president called the fears around AI a "hoax" on social media this week. He also said he won't hinder the growth of the AI industry, which aligns with his administration's enthusiastic adoption of the technology.

Trump wants to meet with AI executives next week, the New York Times reported, though a White House official told the Times on Thursday that no meeting was on the calendar. Both Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently agreed that the industry should slow AI development, following the resignation of an Anthropic researcher who said AI could "kill us all" by the end of the decade.

Other lawmakers in the U.S. seek to regulate AI. On Friday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to create a panel to strengthen the state's AI safety laws.

Just this week, reports surfaced that a U.S. military analyst generated a false report using AI that "almost started a war" with China.

The FBI sent an internal memo warning ICE agents of women pretending to be "tradwives" in order to publicize their private information, The Guardian reported.

In Feb., the FBI in Chicago sent the memo to law enforcement officials across the country, stating, "as of late Jan. 2026, a small group of women allegedly were creating fictitious online dating profiles with the purpose of attracting and then doxxing law enforcement participating in immigration enforcement."

SEE ALSO: The impact of tradwife content on U.S. singles, according to Match

Over the last few years, tradwives — or women who supposedly uphold traditional gender roles and conservative values — gained virality online. But despite all the talk of tradwives online, Match recently found in its Singles in America report that while some survey participants saw an uptick in such content, only 21 percent said it influenced their preferences regarding gender roles in relationships. A participant's age and past experiences were more impactful on this front.

"These profiles were incorporating imagery of a 'traditional wife' aesthetic and listing specific interests in an attempt to appeal to … individuals in law enforcement," the memo continued, according to The Guardian. "The objective was to lure affiliated law enforcement personnel into an online or in-person interaction under the guise of a date, after which the individuals would be publicly exposed and doxed online. The tactic is intended to generate public embarrassment and deter immigration enforcement activity."

No specific dating apps were mentioned. The memo was sent after viral TikToks circulated, saying women should dox ICE agents they came across on dating apps — and the FBI noted that the report was "not finally evaluated intelligence."

A spokesperson for the FBI told The Guardian that, "The FBI regularly shares information with our law enforcement partners to assist in protecting the communities they serve as well as protecting those who serve and protect communities. The FBI is committed to ensuring that law enforcement officers are safe from threats or violence while performing their duties."

The document was obtained by the government-transparency nonprofit Property of the People through a public records request. In a statement, its executive director, Ryan Shapiro, told The Guardian, "It's absurd the FBI issued a thinly-sourced security alert about ICE agents' online dating troubles."

"It's equally ludicrous the FBI is spending taxpayer dollars to protect ICE agents from possible 'embarrassment' at the hands of a supposed 'small group of women' who might name and ridicule them online," Shapiro continued.

Reddit's lawsuit accusing Anthropic of illegally scraping user comments to train its Claude chatbot has cleared another hurdle. A San Francisco County Superior Court judge has allowed three of the platform's five claims to proceed while trimming back two others.

In an order dated Sept. 17 and filed the following day, Judge Harold Kahn overruled Anthropic's demurrer, a legal challenge arguing that even if Reddit's allegations are true, they don't amount to a valid claim. The judge will allow three of Reddit's claims against Anthropic to move forward: breach of contract, interference with contract, and violation of California's unfair competition law. Two other claims, unjust enrichment and trespass to chattels, were tossed out, but the judge will give Reddit a chance to fix and refile them by Oct. 16.

SEE ALSO: Anthropic's CEO urges the industry to slow down, and Sam Altman agrees

The case originated from a complaint Reddit filed in June 2025, when the company accused Anthropic of using automated bots to access its platform's content without permission and training Claude on the personal data of Reddit users without their consent.

At the time, Reddit's chief legal officer Ben Lee said AI companies should not be allowed to scrape people's information and content without clear limitations on how that data can be used, according to the Associated Press. Reddit noted it had separately struck licensing deals in 2024 with companies including Google and OpenAI that it said would allow it to enforce protections such as users' right to delete their content.

Kahn also rejected Anthropic's argument that Reddit's User Agreement was an unenforceable "browsewrap" agreement. The AI company tried to argue that Reddit's terms of service don't constitute a binding contract because users never explicitly click "I agree." The judge pointed to Reddit's allegations that Anthropic kept scraping the site more than 100,000 times even after Reddit's CEO publicly called out the behavior — evidence, he said, that Anthropic knew exactly what it was doing.

As stated earlier, Kahn dismissed Reddit's unjust enrichment and trespass claims, finding them too vague as written, but allowed the company to refile with more specificity.

A Reddit spokesperson said in a statement:

"This ruling sends a strong message – AI companies don't get a free pass to ignore the law. AI companies cannot scrape data without a license in violation of basic contract law, user privacy commitments and fair business practices. As we look ahead to the next phase of this lawsuit, Reddit remains committed to holding unauthorized scrapers accountable and to protecting the trust of Reddit users."

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Flock Safety offered employees voluntary buyouts on Friday, WIRED reported. According to an internal email seen by WIRED, the surveillance company has announced a "generous" severance package for workers who want to leave, and will grant it to the majority of those who apply.

SEE ALSO: Hackers dismantle Flock camera to see what makes it tick

This comes amid backlash against Flock cameras, with civilians damaging them and state officials blocking funding for Flock and ordering their removal.

Flock reportedly stated in its email that the program "treats employees with transparency, respect, and choice," WIRED reported, and gives employees "greater agency." Without the buyouts, those familiar with the situation suspect the company would have to lay off some of its 1,500 employees.

Some packages include months of healthcare coverage, tens of thousands of dollars, and the ability to exercise stock options within two years of leaving the company, according to WIRED. Workers have until Oct. 2 to apply for the buyout, and they're expected to learn whether they're accepted by Oct. 9. Those who have accepted the buyout are expected to depart the company by Oct. 29.

Flock didn't immediately respond to WIRED's requests for comment.

An "entirely false" report generated by AI "almost started a war" with China, sources told CNN.

In an exclusive, several sources familiar with the incident told CNN that the fake report stated that a Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapon. Members of the U.S. military planned to board the ship, and military planes were in the air — but before any action was taken, officials realized the report was false.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft AI boss calls out Anthropic for chasing AI consciousness, reigniting old debate

A special operations command analyst assembled the report using AI, CNN reported, though it's unclear whether they used a commercially available LLM or an internal government one. A former senior official familiar with AI systems used by the military told CNN that internal tools are "mostly just copies of the commercial stuff wearing lipstick."

The report seemed to originate from the Hawaii-based U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific. Neither that department nor the Pentagon responded to CNN's request for comment.

This reporting comes amid cresting concerns about AI that went into overdrive after an Anthropic researcher quit and said the technology "could kill us all by the end of the decade."

But the Trump administration has been bullish on AI, with top military officials among its advocates. In Jan. 2026, the Department of War launched an "Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Strategy," with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth commenting, "We will become an 'AI-first' warfighting force across all domains."

This month, President Trump has called fears around AI a "hoax."

A galaxy 55 million light-years away in space spins in two directions at once, and astronomers suspect it ended up that way after swallowing a smaller neighbor.

The Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's optical light telescope in orbit around Earth, has now photographed the galaxy, called NGC 4698, in sharp detail. It sits in the constellation Virgo, one of more than 1,000 galaxies that gravity holds together in the Virgo Cluster, the closest big group of galaxies.

Although galaxies can grow on their own, they can also evolve by consuming gas and smaller galaxies it bumps up against. The two scenarios leave different clues, and NGC 4698 leans toward a galaxy that ate something. Because only a few known spiral galaxies spin against themselves like this, astronomers want to study NGC 4698 to figure out how it happened. 

SEE ALSO: A giant new moon crater is nothing next to its 4-mile bruise

Picture a doughnut spinning around your finger. That is the body of this distant galaxy. Its bright arms wrap around the outside in a ring and leave the middle open. The ring turns flat — the way nearly every spiral galaxy revolves — including our own Milky Way. 

Now picture another mini doughnut sitting in its hole, standing on its edge and spinning perpendicular to the big one. That is what's going on in the middle of NGC 4698, except the little doughnut is really more of a dough ball, stretched into an oval and missing its own hole. The stars packed inside it ride up over the top of the galaxy and down under the bottom. Hubble's image shows those bulges as a faint glow above and below the dusty plane.

The new image comes from a Hubble project aimed at the Virgo Cluster. It captures small features inside these nearby galaxies, down to single clusters of stars and glowing clouds of gas. The bigger goal is to learn what happens to a galaxy as it travels through a crowded cluster, and whether the trip helps it build new stars or shuts that down.

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Nothing in a galaxy is glued down, which is how one galaxy can manage two spins. Each star follows its own loop around the center. One crowd can loop flat while another loops crosswise, and neither forces the other to turn around.

Scientists believe some type of collision caused these two spins. Gas from somewhere else could have fallen into the galaxy's gap, gathered at the center, and started spinning its own way. Some observations back that up, NASA says, suggesting the galaxy swallowed another smaller galaxy long ago. A short tail of hydrogen trailing off one side might have formed in the crash.

The NGC 4698 image comes from a Hubble project capturing features inside Virgo Cluster galaxies. Credit: NASA / ESA

A recent study on the Milky Way's center also traces a family of stars back to an extremely ancient galactic merger. The research, which appeared in Nature Astronomy last month, looked at the ages and chemicals in several of the galaxy's globular clusters — tightly packed balls of thousands to millions of stars.

That information, combined with the direction of the stars' orbits, helped a team of scientists parse three distinct groups: native Milky Way stars, stars from the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus merger, and a third unknown population. Using advanced tools, scientists estimated the collision that brought them into the galaxy happened 11.8 billion years ago. 

Everything else about NGC 4698 looks rather ordinary. Dark brown clumps of dust run through the outer arms, dotted with bunches of bright blue stars — the huge, hot kind that burn fast and mark spots where stars recently formed. The middle glows soft white because those stars are older, smaller, and cooler. 

A black hole as heavy as millions of suns sits at the center, dragging gas into itself. Scientists see signs it's actually still growing.

TL;DR: Watch Sevilla vs. Barcelona in La Liga for free on CazéTV. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

It's been an incredible start to the new La Liga season for Barcelona. They've won six games in six and scored an incredible 7-2 win over Racing Club earlier this week. They currently hold a three-point lead over their closest rivals, Real Madrid.

But Barcelona faces tough competition when they play Sevilla this weekend. Sevilla haven't displayed quite the same form, but they're still one of the league's most formidable teams. They've lost just one of their first six fixtures. Is this the game that breaks Barcelona's perfect run?

If you're interested in watching Sevilla vs. Barcelona in La Liga from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Sevilla vs. Barcelona?

Sevilla vs. Barcelona in La Liga kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Sept. 19. This fixture takes place at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

How to watch Sevilla vs. Barcelona for free

Sevilla vs. Barcelona in La Liga is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

CazéTV is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream Sevilla vs. Barcelona for free from anywhere in the world.

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Sevilla vs. Barcelona without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus more La Liga action) before recovering your investment.

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Live stream Sevilla vs. Barcelona for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: KitchenAid just released its 2026 Design Series Luminaire Stand Mixer ($699.99), featuring a brand-new illuminated fluted glass bowl, a textured blue peppercorn finish, and stainless steel attachments.

Opens in a new window Credit: KitchenAid KitchenAid Design Series Luminaire Stand Mixer $699.99 at KitchenAid
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If your holiday wish list isn't fully locked in yet, I suggest you leave a spot at the top. KitchenAid just unveiled its Design Series Luminaire Stand Mixer — and it is built to be the star of this year's Christmas baking spree.

Every year, KitchenAid releases a special "Design Series" model that turns its classic mixer into a piece of kitchen art. Priced at $699.99, the Luminaire is available to buy now.

The headline feature here is something KitchenAid has never done before: an integrated bowl light. The mixer comes paired with a thick, fluted glass bowl that looks like high-end glassware. When you turn it on, a built-in light shines from inside the mixer frame down into the bowl.

It lights up your dough, casts cool geometric shadows across your counter, and helps you see if those last bits of flour are mixed in properly. The bowl is made from hardened glass, so it can handle kitchen tasks like softening cold butter or tempering warm chocolate without cracking.

Credit: KitchenAid

Instead of standard glossy paint, the Luminaire comes coated in a brand-new shade called blue peppercorn — a soft French blue with a textured "crinkle" finish. To keep things looking sleek, KitchenAid gave it color-matched trim and polished metallic accents that pop against the matte blue body.

And, you won't have to deal with chipped paint on your accessories either. The Luminaire comes standard with heavy-duty, dishwasher-safe stainless steel attachments, including a double-flex-edge beater, dough hook, wire whip, and flat beater.

For the ultimate big-budget gift flex, KitchenAid is also releasing an ultra-limited run of just five matching 36-inch Commercial-Style Ranges, alongside a Blue Peppercorn capsule cookware collection dropping later this fall.

If you want to be the envy of every holiday party host this year, you know what to do. Grab the KitchenAid Design Series Luminaire Stand Mixer today.

Carol. Deep Water. Strangers on a Train. The Talented Mr. Ripley. American author Patricia Highsmith has inspired filmmakers for decades with her lurid tales of sex, deception, and murder. Now, she herself is a character in such a thriller, thanks to A Talent For Murder.

Adapted for the screen by Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith from her own play, Switzerland, this film imagines what might have happened if Highsmith's biggest fan got the chance to meet his hero. Enter Edward Ridgeway (Tony winner Alden Ehrenreich), a handsome young man with carefully coiffed dark hair, a strong jaw, a pressed shirt, and polished glasses, but little poise. On a train through Switzerland, he seems like he stumbled out of the first chapter of a Tom Ripley novel, sure to be felled or corrupted by the iconic con man.

Now, the girl. Clementine Harriet Balfour (Olivia Cooke) is pretty, with a bouncy brunette bob, and a fashion sense that hints at an old-money family and independent ambitions. They meet as strangers on a train, but are sure to cross paths again in the small Swiss village where she's visiting a miserly dowager aunt (Juliet Stevenson), and he's tasked with getting Highsmith to sign a contract to write a sixth Ripley novel.

Director Anton Corbijn expertly lays out a spring-loaded trap that's sure to capture the interest of Highsmith fans. A handsome couple flirts, while wealth and opportunity glitter on the horizon. What might they do to get there?

Enter a surly Highsmith, played with gnarly certainty by the one and only Helen Mirren.

Helen Mirren is a deranged delight in A Talent for Murder.

The English Dame has done Shakespeare and Prime Suspect; she's played Queen Elizabeth II and a Fast and Furious baddie with equal aplomb. Plus, just last year, she played a sultry spy in the cozy crime treat The Thursday Murder Club. But there's no lightness in Mirren's Highsmith.

In 1995, atop a Swiss mountain, the heralded author has become an eccentric recluse, rumored to have poisoned a neighbor's dog for barking too much, and to have driven an American man so mad he fled her home while only wearing his pajamas. Dressed in men's slacks, a crisp men's dress shirt, a cravat and vest, paired with a fuck-off bob, Mirren's Highsmith is imposing, even introduced ironing a shirt.

When Edward appears, eager with compliments, gifts, and talk of opportunity, she regards him with such scorching disdain the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival gasped and guffawed. The ruthless wit of the Ripley novels is sharply replicated in Murray-Smith's screenplay, and Mirren makes the most of every line, savoring the sharp barbs. To his credit, Ehrenreich doesn't balk in the face of this storied actress. And thank the gods, because failing to match her onscreen would make A Talent for Murder a miss. Instead, it's a twisted thrill: sexy, salty, and wickedly fun.

Alden Ehrenreich is hot and bothered in A Talent for Murder.

Earlier this year, Ehrenreich earned praise and a Tony award for his phenomenal performance in the Broadway revival of Becky Shaw. Watching A Talent for Murder, I thought often of this stage performance, as his characters have a lot in common. Young men who've come from a family with no means and no reputation worth a damn, who both cozy up to a wealthy family, determined not just to enter their world but to rule it.

At first glance, Edward looks like Matt Damon's version of Ripley, from the juicy 1999 adaptation The Talented Mr. Ripley. His hair floppy but fashionable. His smile earnest but awkward. The eyeglasses, a perfect twin. This feels intentional, as if Corbijn wants Highsmith fans to immediately wonder if this eager social climber might have the root of evil in him, which could make Highsmith's criminal mastermind real.

Smartly, the screenplay doesn't pitch Edward as some rube. He's come ready to impress Highsmith, even if that means tantalizing her with twisted tales from his past, and the possibility of criminally corrupting him. Enticed by his game, the two begin to collaborate on a murder mystery about a blue-collar boy who meets an old-money girl, and is determined to make her family fortune his own. Their thought experiment gets joltingly real as Highsmith haunts him in the night and inspires him to treat the reckless heiress Clementine as source material.

From there, A Talent for Murder begins to blur what's real and imagined in pursuit of bringing fresh blood to Highsmith's typewriter. And it just wouldn't work if Ehrenreich weren't on fire. Where Mirren is delicious in her snarling cruelty (think Tilda Swinton in Problemista), Ehrenreich is intriguing in his slipperiness. Edward and Highsmith's imagined novel plays out as we watch, recasting the former as her anti-hero, with Clementine playing the role they write for her. In these sections, Ehrenreich has the smoothness of Ripley, his confidence edged with a misanthropic disgust at all who aren't as clever and calculating as he. But as Edward, Ehrenreich trembles with insecurity, particularly in a scene where he's delicately called out by an Irish lady (Brid Brennan), who spots him as an outsider from his shoes alone.

To her credit, Cooke is not outshone in the slim role of Clementine. Whether the imagined version where she is a yearning virgin or the real one, where she is a spoiled rich girl looking for a cheap thrill, she brings a full-blooded verve to this girl. Together, this trio weaves a tale of sex, death, and desire that touches on the best of Highsmith's works, without feeling like a shallow retread of them. Instead, A Talent for Murder plays like a superb fan fiction, imagining the inner world and grisly desires of the seminal author, without idolizing her or whitewashing her well-documented defects.

A Talent For Murder is darkly funny, freshly thrilling, and unrepentantly seductive. It's not a Ripley sequel, but it's damn close.

A Talent For Murder was reviewed out of the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will open in theaters on Oct. 23.

Rebel Wilson fails to revive her sputtering career with Girl Group, a female-fronted comedy that aims to tap into Pitch Perfect’s fandom — even namedropping that movie directly. But Wilson's latest will only have fans of Pitch Perfect singing the blues. 

Written, directed, produced, and headlined by Wilson, Girl Group plays like Pitch Perfect meets The Mighty Ducks meets The House Bunny, but only if all of those movies were awful. Wilson stars as Tassie Young, a reckless, washed-up former girl group star who's inexplicably tasked with being a mentor to a group of teen girls who have dreams of pop stardom. 

SEE ALSO: 'The Wrong Girls' review: Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat shine in stoner buddy comedy

There might have been a clean or even comedic way to set up all that backstory. But Wilson favors a hasty first act that races through establishing her former band, Girlfriends, as private school besties who went from a school talent show to the top of the charts, only to be destroyed by Tassie's desire to go solo. When her first album flops hard, she devolves into the party scene and anonymity. But when the band announces a reunion tour some years later, Tassie is shocked to learn she's been replaced. Her resulting tantrum leads to a DUI that lands her in court-mandated community service, which involves this absolute disaster of a human being tasked to mentor impressionable youth. This all happens so quickly that it seems Wilson is bored by the story she herself wrote.

And that's just the first act. This 96-minute movie is paced as if it's on a cocaine high, and it's just as coherent as that suggests. Girl Group hastily introduces subplots around Tassie's proteges, their sisters, new bandmates, and a rival dance coach, while working towards a big girl group competition climax that's underwhelming instead of entertaining.  A plot so absurd and overcrowded might have worked if Girl Group played like a parody of showbiz movies. (Think Walk Hard.) But Wilson's clumsy and oblivious attempt to reclaim her reputation as a hilarious actress only proves she's an atrocious filmmaker. 

Girl Group is alarmingly unfunny. 

Wilson jams nearly every moment of her movie with some attempt at humor, but much of them fall flat, creating a pile of punchlines that spark groans rather than laughter. Some of these jokes are lazy bastardizations of well-known barbs. Like when the new Girlfriends member (former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger) says, "I don't want beef, I'm vegan." It's impossible not to think of 3OH!3’s Don’t Trust Me, with the much-memed lyric, "You tell your boyfriend, if he says he's got beef / that I'm a vegetarian, and I ain't fucking scared of him."

Somehow, she got reputable comedians and stars to join this mess, including Sally Hawkins, Jennifer Coolidge, Randall Park, Chris Colfer, Shaznay Lewis, and Melanie C. But none can elevate Wilson's deadly cringe dialogue, littered with buzzwords, haphazard pop culture references, crude jokes, and pitiable wordplay, like a bandmate informing her, "You're an ex-Girlfriend now!" 

Then, on top of all this dross, Wilson offers physical comedy that ranges from miming snorting a line of cocaine to awkwardly twerking. Her comedy, written and directed by her for her to star in, shows no point of view. It's just soulless noise and motion. It's as if Girl Group were made by AI, and the prompt was "women aren't funny." 

Girl Group is an ugly mess of a movie, but the music is good. 

There's an impressive array song numbers in Wilson's comedy, including a heartfelt acoustic rendering of Billie Eilish's "Birds of a Feather," a spirited cover of Sabrina Carpenter's "Please Please Please," and a sanitized spin on Chappell Roan's "Hot to Go!" As Tassie's proteges — called Xplode (pronounced "explode") — begin to compete against other girl groups, a bevy of talented performers get a chance to shine, including Chabely Ponce, Daniela Couso, Lilah Pate, Mia Kaplan, Bailey Stender, and Miracle Washington.

The performers in the girl groups (both Tassie's proteges and a rival group) have screen presence and are fun to watch. Unfortunately, Wilson's script offers so little attention to their characters, it's impossible to become invested in their journey. And when Wilson leaps into the numbers, her performance style is so brash and superficial that she becomes a distraction in her own movie. 

Beyond that, the musical numbers are horrendously captured. A dull color palette, flat and pink, coats the film in a fuzzy Instagram filter feel. The editing style is jumpy without any apparent logic in geography, emotional sensibility, or spectacle. Scrolling through TikTok has a more satisfying sense of flow. 

Derry Girls' Jamie-Lee O'Donnell is the real star of Girl Group. 

The Northern Irish actor plays a rival girl group mentor and vengeance-seeking Girlfriends stan named Miss Candy. The moment O'Donnell struts onscreen, Girl Group finally ignites. She's got a focus, a perspective, and a sharp comedic timing that even Wilson's mismanagement of this movie can't smother. 

With an American accent and comical precision, O'Donnell seems to be channeling Dance Moms' Abby Lee Miller and Gina Gershon in Showgirls. Her intensity is outrageous, vicious, and wildly entertaining. Where Wilson's approach to Girl Group seems to be chucking sexy dance moves and poop jokes at the screen to see what sticks, O'Donnell hits the bullseye with every line and reaction shot. 

But maybe you should just take my word for that, and look for O'Donnell elsewhere, because watching Girl Group isn't fun. It's a punishment. 

Girl Group was reviewed out of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

TL;DR: Headway Premium lifetime access is just $49.97 (reg. $299.95) through Sept. 20, with 2,000+ bite-sized book summaries, audio options, personalized learning, and more.

Opens in a new window Credit: Headway Headway Premium: Lifetime Subscription $49.97
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Your reading list might have great intentions, but finding time to finish every book is another story. Headway Premium is currently just $49.97 (reg. $299.95) through Sept. 20 as a September Spotlight Deal, giving you another way to tackle all those ideas without tackling hundreds of pages first.

Headway condenses nonfiction and fiction bestsellers into 15-minute summaries, with more than 2,000 currently available and new ones added monthly. You can read summaries or listen to audio versions performed by professional voice actors, so it’s easy to squeeze some learning into a commute, workout, or coffee break.

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TL;DR: Magic Data Recovery Pro Edition for Windows is $39.99 (reg. $99.95) for a lifetime license with unlimited recovery, free upgrades, and technical support.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amagicsoft Magic Data Recovery Pro Edition: Lifetime License for Windows $39.99
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Formatted the wrong drive? Emptied the Recycle Bin and immediately realized something important was in there? Magic Data Recovery Pro Edition for Windows is currently on sale for $39.99 (reg. $99.95) for a lifetime license, giving you a recovery tool you can keep ready for those decidedly un-fun moments.

Trust matters when you’re granting software access to important files. Magic Data Recovery has a 4.8-star Trustpilot rating and is notarized by Windows.

The software can recover more than 5,000 file types, including photos, videos, documents, audio, emails, archives, databases, and RAW camera files. It works with HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, SD and microSD cards, digital cameras, and other supported storage devices.

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Get a lifetime license to Magic Data Recovery Pro Edition for Windows for $39.99 (reg. $99.95).

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