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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 Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Monday, April 14, 2025:

AcrossUneaten part of toast, often

• The answer is Crust.

Like stud muffins

• The answer is Hunky.

Prepare for use, as a marker

• The answer is Uncap.

Nick of "48 Hrs."

• The answer is Nolte.

Strike zone's lower boundary

• The answer is Knees.

DownAlternative to a chip, in the baking aisle

• The answer is Chunk.

Kind of sentence that keeps going and going, it should have been made into two sentences

• The answer is Runon.

Cousin's dad

• The answer is Uncle.

Spin out on the ice, say

• The answer is Skate.

Uses a keyboard

• The answer is Types.

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 Games

Are 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.

Coal has been displaced by cheap and plentiful natural gas and the rapid growth of wind and solar energy — forces that President Trump will struggle to do away with.

Meta’s chief has grown accustomed to tough questioning in courts and hearings, but an antitrust trial starting Monday could be more grueling, experts said.

Eric Slesinger made a career shift from the spy agency to venture capital, championing military start-ups as Europe beefed up its defenses amid an uncertain relationship with the United States.

Geo Group, a private prison firm that makes digital tools to track immigrants, becomes one of the Trump administration’s big business winners as its tech is increasingly used in deportations.

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If you're in the market for a new pair of earbuds, we have good news: You have a lot of options. The bad news? You have a lot of options, and your decision can get overwhelming fast. Wasn't life easier when iPhones came with a free pair of earbuds?

Prices on earbuds range anywhere from $10 to $1,000, especially if you're going for professional-grade studio earphones. And if you care about noise cancellation, you can easily spend $300 — that's the price of peace and quiet. Plus, with the news of tariffs in 2025, we're anticipating tech, like headphones, to be impacted. So far, all the earbuds on this list haven't had any change in price, but in the coming months, we'll be tracking any tariff-related increases.

While we stand by the value of everything on this list, we know that spending $300 on a pair of headphones is a lot to stomach. Major shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day, are usually the best time to buy these gadgets; however, good deals pop up year-round, and we're particularly good at tracking them.

So, whether you need a pair of cheap wireless earbuds stat or you're ready to splurge on premium noise cancellers, we found the best earbuds of 2025, all tested and approved by Mashable reviewers.

SEE ALSO: I tested the best headphones and earbuds for working out during my daily run What are the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds?

If you're just looking for a pair of everyday wireless earbuds, all but one of the models in this guide will check that box. (We also included the Marshall Mode wired earbuds as an option for folks who don't want to worry about battery.) If you're looking for the highest quality wireless earbuds, you can't go wrong with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra and Panasonic Technics EAH-AZ100 earbuds, our most recent recommendation in 2025. Both of these wireless earbuds feature elite noise-cancellation, stellar sound, long battery life, and a comfortable fit for extended wear.

Still, this guide includes several other earbuds we stand behind. Apple users may prefer the AirPods Pro, while shoppers on a budget may prefer buds from Marshall or Anker Soundcore. If you need help picking the perfect pair, read on.

Apple is once again making the iPad more like a Mac.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (via MacRumors), Apple is working on an iPadOS 19 "overhaul" with three main focuses: improving productivity, multitasking, and app window management.

While that's pretty vague, Gurman says it should push iPadOS closer to macOS, and we pretty much know what Apple needs to be working on there, as the company has repeatedly tried to achieve this in the past.

Ideally, it would be great to have the best of both worlds (iPadOS and macOS) on a super-thin tablet that has a touchscreen, but so far Apple has been unable to perfect this.

One such attempt was the launch of Stage Manager in 2022, which improves multitasking on the iPad. While Stage Manager indeed makes juggling multiple apps easier on Apple's tablets, it still doesn't match the workflow that you can get on the Mac. Other iPadOS weaknesses that users often point out include managing files on the iPad and the inability to have multiple users on one iPad.

SEE ALSO: Apple iPad Air M3 review: The smallest of upgrades

Previous reports indicated that Apple plans a pretty big overhaul for iOS 19 as well. Apple is slated to launch iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 during WWDC 2025, which kicks off on June 9, and it looks like it's going to be a newsy event this year.

The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood has called out SNL for a sketch about her that she described as "mean and unfunny".

Wood, who plays Chelsea in Season 3 of the HBO series, made a series of Instagram posts on Sunday directly addressing a sketch from Saturday's SNL show. Called "The White Potus", the satire sees the SNL cast playing various political figures in the style of Season 3 White Lotus characters — with the exception of Sarah Sherman, who simply plays a version of Chelsea with large fake teeth.

SEE ALSO: 'Sex Education' star Aimee Lou Wood on getting through lockdown and how sex on TV is changing

"I've been having these insane ideas, like what if we took all the fluoride out of the drinking water, what would that do to people's teeth?" says Jon Hamm as RFK Jr./Rick in the sketch, before the camera cuts to Sherman as Chelsea asking what fluoride is.

"Whilst in honest mode — I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny," wrote Wood in an Instagram story posted on Sunday. "Such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple weeks ago. Yes, take the piss for sure – that's what the show is about – but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way."

Here's the sketch in full. You can see Sherman playing Wood's character around the 2:30 mark:

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Wood has since shared an update to say she's had an apology from SNL.

"I'm am not thin skinned," she wrote. "I actually love being taken the piss out of when it's clever and in good spirits. But the joke was about fluoride. I have big gap teeth not bad teeth. I don't mind caricature — I understand that's what SNL is. But the rest of the skit was punching up and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on."

Mashable has reached out to NBC for comment.

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If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

Delicious.

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

TASTY

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To show gratitude.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 14, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

THANK

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A popular Indian dish.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 14 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 14, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

CURRY

Hurdle Word 4 hint

To levitate.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for April 14 Hurdle Word 4 answer

HOVER

Final Hurdle hint

A punctuation mark.

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

COLON

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

There's so much constant danger in The Last of Us universe, but at least Ellie (Bella Ramsay) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) are safe now in the walled town of Jackson, right?

Wrong! Not only is a vengeful Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) closing in and new types of Infected are springing up on the outside, but there also may already be a threat much closer to home.

What's the deal with the Cordyceps we see in the pipe at the end of episode 1, and what might it mean for Jackson?

SEE ALSO: 'The Last of Us' Season 1 Recap: Everything you need to remember before watching season 2 What's the deal with the pipe in episode 1?

Joel's main job in Jackson appears to be overseeing its construction and expansion. But things aren't moving quick enough, and there are other problems hampering progress. As he's informed by Dina (Isabela Merced) in episode 1, there's an issue with the plumbing.

"The main lines are clay, all cracked to shit and full of roots; we're not sure what we're supposed to do," she says.

Joel's solution? "Saw out the cracked parts, pull the roots, and we'll fill in the gaps with some ABS."

He makes it sound simple enough, but one of the final shots of episode 1 makes it clear that the job will be anything but. Because it's not just run-of-the-mill roots in the sewer pipes, but also the tell-tale creeping fingers of the Cordyceps fungus.

Is Jackson in danger from the Cordyceps in the pipe?

The short answer is yes. Although people touching the Cordyceps roots wouldn't become infected — that happens via bite — we learned in Season 1 that the fungus is all mysteriously connected. Basically, those tendrils in the open pipe are transmitting information.

This means that for however long those mainlines are left open, nearby Infected are likely getting a signal broadcast out to them that there's a tasty supply of fresh humans just over the next mountain.

Oh dear.

The Last of Us Season 2 premieres April 13 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.

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's The Mini crossword answers for April 14 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: To impede

• Green: You pay to watch these

• Blue: From a popular video game

• Purple: Gerald, Harrison, etc.

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Restrict

• Green: Ticketed events

• Blue: Associated with the game The Oregon Trail

• Purple: What "Ford" might refer to

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 #671 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Restrict: BLOCK, CHECK, DAM, STOP

• Ticketed events: CONCERT, GAME, MOVIE, PLAY

• Associated with the game The Oregon Trail: DYSENTRY, FORD, HUNT, OXEN

• What "Ford" might refer to: ACTOR, CAR, DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT

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.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 14

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.

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 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 today: Hints and answers for April 14 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's The Mini crossword answers for April 14, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A mountain's peak.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter C.

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...

CREST.

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

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 14

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.

The Last of Us Season 2 introduces us to a few new faces, from surviving Firefly Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) to Joel's (Pedro Pascal) new therapist, Gail (Catherine O'Hara).

But Gail also has a husband, Eugene, who's fairly recently died — and although we never got to meet him, it seems as though he'll still play a role in Season 2.

So, what do we know about him so far?

SEE ALSO: 'The Last of Us' Season 2 review: Joel and Ellie's return devastates and infuriates What does Gail say about Eugene?

When Joel arrives for his therapy session with Gail, he pays her with a bag of marijuana that she complains is "shake and stems." When he tells her it's winter, she replies, "That never stopped Eugene. January, February. That man would grow buds the size of pine cones."

A few moments later, when Joel asks her about her choice of whiskey, she says she woke up feeling sad. "It's my first birthday without my husband in 41 years."

Joel doesn't say anything, but he looks uncomfortable. When Gail unburdens herself partway through their therapy session, we find out why.

"You shot and killed my husband," she says. "You killed Eugene. And I resent you for it. No. Maybe a little more than that. I hate you for it. I hate you for it. And yes, I know you had no choice. I know that. I know I should forgive you. Well I've tried, and I can't. Because of how you did it. And looking at your face, sitting in our home, makes me so fucking angry."

Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO Why did Joel kill Eugene?

We don't have much information to go on yet, but there are a few clues. First, we know roughly when Eugene died. Gail says it's her first birthday without him, which means Joel killed him at some point in the past year. We don't for sure why it happened, but it seems like a safe guess to say that Eugene was probably infected. This is implied by Gail saying, "I know you had no choice," plus the fact that Joel hasn't been ousted from the community for murder.

The larger mystery, however, is what Gail means when she says she hates Joel for how he did it. That scenario is trickier to guess at. Did Joel kill Eugene before Gail was certain he was beyond saving? Did he do it with the same surly detachment he does everything else? We don't know for sure, but we doubt we've heard the last of this mystery.

The Last of Us Season 2 premieres April 13 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.

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 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 preferrined pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 14 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 14 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: April showers...

The words are plants.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words are related to this finished Spring-related saying.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is SpringFlowers.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for April 14

• Tulip

• Daffodil

• Iris

• Hyacinth

• Lily

• Crocus

• SpringFlowers

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.

If the wait for The Last of Us Season 2 had you forgetting what kind of person Joel (Pedro Pascal) really is, the opening episode provides a strong reminder.

There's one scene in particular that feels almost like the key to understanding his character — and possibly even the deeper message of the show itself.

So what does Joel say, and why is it so important? Let's unpack.

SEE ALSO: 'The Last of Us' Season 2 review: Joel and Ellie's return devastates and infuriates What does Joel say in Season 2, episode 1?

Five years on from the events of Season 1, Joel is the foreman for Jackson's ongoing construction and expansion. But the town's mayor, Maria (Rutina Wesley), is concerned that things aren't happening fast enough. She wants building work to move at a quicker pace to accommodate the influx of new survivors seeking shelter in the town. This prompts the following exchange, which says a heck of a lot about how Joel views the world:

Maria: "We're running out of space to put these people."

Joel: "Yeah, I noticed. Maybe your council would stop lettin' so many of 'em in."

Maria: "It's our council. And those people are fleeing collapsed settlements. They're fleeing Infected. We're supposed to leave them out there?"

Joel: "If our lifeboat is swamped, yeah, we leave 'em out there. If I could, I'd let 'em all in. And I'm workin' every damn day and night to make more space, you know that. But you got to look after your own first, or you're no good to anyone."

Maria is not on board with Joel's way of viewing things. Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO What does the scene with Maria say about Joel?

That last line, in particular, is the one that stood out to us: "You got to look after your own first, or you're no good to anyone." Not only does this scene get to the heart of Joel as a character, but it also gets to the core of the show itself.

The Season 1 finale presented a massive moral quandary, with Joel essentially placing the life of a loved one over the lives of a potentially infinite number of strangers. He saved Ellie (Bella Ramsey), but murdered a large number of people in the process.

This line is a reminder of who he is. It highlights that despite his ongoing therapy, he hasn't really changed as a person. He still believes that the life of a loved one is worth more than the lives of strangers. The questions is, now that he's part of a collaborative community like Jackson, is that approach always going to work?

The Last of Us Season 2 premieres April 13 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.