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Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 29.

Appointment scheduling tools streamline the booking process by letting clients pick their own time slots. You avoid the back-and-forth emails and phone calls. These systems sync with your calendar and send automatic reminders.

Having scheduling built into your website builder offers unique advantages. Your clients never leave your site to book appointments. The integration feels seamless and maintains your brand experience throughout. You can customize the booking page to match your website's design perfectly.

Squarespace's Acuity Scheduling brings professional appointment management to your website. It handles everything from simple consultations to complex group classes. The tool can work independently, but also integrates smoothly with your Squarespace site.

We tested Acuity against other scheduling solutions to see how it performs. Our review covers pricing accuracy, feature depth, and real-world usability. You'll discover whether this tool fits your business needs and budget.

Squarespace Acuity: Pricing

(Image credit: Squarespace)

Acuity subscriptions are separate from your Squarespace site subscription, meaning you can use Acuity on its own or integrate it with your Squarespace website.

There are three plans to choose from for this product, starting with the Emerging plan. This plan is ideal for start-ups and solo entrepreneurs. It costs $20/mo ($16/mo on annual billing) and offers essential appointment management features like calendar syncing and automatic reminder emails.

Next, the Growing plan at $34/mo ($27/mo for a yearly subscription) supports 2-6 calendars and additional perks like SMS reminders and support for packages, memberships, and subscriptions.

Lastly, the $61/mo ($49/mo annually) Powerhouse plan supports up to 36 calendars and includes advanced features like multiple time zones and custom API and CSS integration. In the end, it’s all about picking the right plan based on the size and complexity of your business.

Although you don’t need a Squarespace website builder subscription to use Acuity, building your website on the platform makes it super easy to integrate your site with the scheduling tool. Check out our Squarespace promo codes page to find the best discounts across the Squarespace range of tools.

Squarespace Acuity: Features

(Image credit: Squarespace)

Acuity offers scheduling features that rival dedicated appointment platforms. You get unlimited appointments, payment processing through Stripe/Square/PayPal, and automated email/SMS reminders. The system handles recurring bookings, group sessions, and custom intake forms seamlessly.

Compared to competitors like Calendly, Acuity actually provides more business-focused features. Calendly excels at simple meeting scheduling, but, Acuity supports subscriptions, memberships, and gift certificates. You can create appointment packages and offer multiple services with different durations.

Other website builders offer basic scheduling, but few match this level of depth. WordPress booking plugins require technical setup and multiple extensions. Wix provides simpler booking widgets without advanced payment or business features.

Acuity's integration ecosystem includes 40+ apps through Zapier and direct connections to Google Analytics. However, it lacks some team-specific integrations that Calendly offers, like CRM connections to Salesforce or HubSpot. That's because the focus stays on service-based businesses rather than sales teams.

Squarespace Acuity: Ease of use

(Image credit: Squarespace)

Acuity strikes a good balance between power and simplicity. The setup wizard guides you through essential configurations like time zones, booking intervals, and client permissions. We found the interface intuitive even for non-technical users, though it's more complex than basic schedulers like Calendly.

Its learning curve sits in the middle range among scheduling tools. Beginners can get basic booking running quickly, but mastering advanced features takes time. The "look busy" feature and buffer time settings show thoughtful design for real-world scheduling challenges.

Client-facing booking pages are clean and straightforward. Your customers can select services, pick times, and complete intake forms without confusion. The mobile experience works well, though some users report the timezone selector is small and easy to miss.

That said, Acuity lacks specific accessibility documentation or WCAG compliance features. While most scheduling tools don't prioritize accessibility, this could still be a limitation for businesses serving diverse clients. Its interface relies heavily on visual cues and mouse interaction, which may challenge users with disabilities.

Squarespace Acuity: Tools

(Image credit: Squarespace)

Email notifications

Acuity lets you send automated emails to clients about their appointments, packages, and subscriptions. Currently, you can send various notifications to your clients including initial confirmation, reminders, cancellations, follow-ups, package/gift certificate orders, and subscriptions, including payments, renewals, and cancellations.

If you're on the Growing or Powerhouse plans, you can send text message appointment reminders so your clients don’t miss a booking. Plus, to make sure your team stays on the same page, you can set up internal notifications to keep your staff informed about new, rescheduled, or canceled appointments.

Lastly, to reach out to your clients with promotions, updates, and more, you can also send marketing emails using Squarespace Email Campaigns.

Syncing appointments with third-party calendars

Acuity easily syncs with calendar programs like Google, iCloud, Outlook Office 365, Outlook Exchange, and Outlook.com. Any changes made to your appointments in Acuity, whether canceled, rescheduled, or edited, are automatically reflected in your synced third-party calendar. For instance, Google Calendar updates almost instantly, while Microsoft Calendars may take up to 10 minutes to reflect these changes. Plus, to prevent clients from booking appointments when you're busy, you can also block off time in Acuity for events on your third-party calendar.

You can even let your staff members see Acuity appointments on their personal calendars by syncing their third-party calendars. To do this, simply add them as a contributor if you're using a Squarespace account or as a user if you're logged in with an Acuity account.

Payment processor integrations

Squarespace lets you collect payments for appointments by integrating with popular payment processors like Stripe, Square, and PayPal. Before accepting payments, you must connect at least one of these processors to your Acuity account. However, once connected, you can manage your payment preferences and account settings through the processor’s online portal or mobile app.

Remember, the payment processors used in Acuity are separate from those in Squarespace Commerce, and each comes with its own terms and conditions. For instance, Square’s processing fees differ depending on how the payment is made, while Stripe’s fees vary by country (USA, UK, Ireland, and Australia).

Scheduling blocks

Squarespace Acuity's Scheduling Blocks let you smoothly integrate your scheduling page into your Squarespace site.

This means your visitors can book appointments directly without leaving the site. Setting up a scheduling block is simple; just edit the page, click "Add Block," and select "Scheduling." You can then choose which schedule to display, whether it's your general schedule or one for a specific calendar, appointment type, or category.

Similarly, you can display a calendar from an Acuity account that is not linked to the Squarespace website as a custom link. Plus, for improved privacy, you can password protect your scheduling page, limiting access to only those with the password.

Squarespace Acuity: Integrations

(Image credit: Squarespace)

Acuity integrates with Google Analytics to help you track how clients interact with your scheduler. With its valuable insights, you can refine your booking process and improve appointment rates.

Getting started is fairly simple. Just sign up for a Google Analytics account and follow the guide available on their site. After setting up the integration, it may take up to 24 hours for statistics to start populating in Google Analytics. Acuity will only send events that occur after the integration is live. When using Google Analytics for conversion tracking, keep in mind that conditions are case-sensitive. For instance, entering "Page_view" instead of "page_view" can stop your goals from tracking properly. So, it's better to consult Google's documentation on custom dimensions and metrics for accuracy before you get started.

Further, with the help of API services like Zapier, you can integrate with several third-party apps. Some key integrations include syncing your appointments with personal or business calendars, setting up video conferencing, and connecting with tools for social media, email marketing, accounting, conversion tracking, CRM, or other client engagement applications. These integrations help you to streamline your workflow and enhance your scheduling capabilities.

Squarespace Acuity: My verdict

With its wide range of features, seamless integrations, and flexible pricing plans, Acuity makes it easy to manage scheduling, payments, and client communications all in one place. Whether you just launched your first business or are part of a larger team, you get the tools to improve your booking flow, client engagement, and grow your business efficiently.

But, don’t just take our word for it, it's always best to try out the features for yourself. So, if you have a website on Squarespace or are currently on a free trial, give Acuity Scheduling a test run and see if it meets your expectations.

If you want to learn more about what Squarespace offers, you can read our full Squarespace review here.

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Nutribullet Triple Prep System: one-minute review

True to its name, the Nutribullet Triple Prep System is a blender combo that provides the functionality of three kinds of kitchen appliances in one. Nutribullet as a brand may have made its start with personal blenders, but the lineup has expanded to include

Alongside a 1,500 watt motor base, the system includes a long list of accessories: a 64oz pitcher, two travel cups with lids, a food processor work bowl, a shredding/slicing disc, a tamper, a food pusher, and a dough blade. So, it’s pretty much a full toolkit for any home chef looking to whip up smoothies, shakes, soup, dips, and more.

(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

As expected, during my tests, there was almost no hurdle the Nutribullet Triple Prep System stumbled at. From chopping carrots to crushing ice, the machine proved to be an exceptionally useful assistant in the kitchen again and again. What’s more, it was more user-friendly than many

There are a few problems that held the Triple Prep System back from perfection though. For one, the blades in the pitcher can’t be removed, which makes hand washing a good bit more difficult than it needs to be. As well as that, it doesn’t perform well with very small batches, given its smallest container is 24oz.

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: price and availability

• List price: $244.99 / £229.99 / AU$349.95
• Available in the US, UK, and Australia
• Sold through Nutribullet’s website and other third-party retailers

The Nutribullet Triple Prep System is widely available to buy in the US, UK, and Australia. Across all three of these regions, you can pick up the Triple Prep System directly from the Nutribullet site or on Amazon. When it comes to third-party retailers in the States specifically, some of your other options are Target, Best Buy, and Walmart.

At over $200, the Triple Prep System is undoubtedly on the higher end of the Nutribullet range. It is one of the brand’s most multifunctional machines though, so it makes sense that it would set you back more than the rest. For context, you can get a basic Nutribullet personal blender for as little as $80.

Even with that higher price tag, if it saves you the cost of buying a blender and food processor separately, the Triple Prep System is incredible value for money. That said, it’s probably not a great idea to opt for it if you don’t plan to make use of its full suite of features.

• Value score: 4/5

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: specs

Price

$244.99 / £229.99 / AUS $349.95

Weight

8.7lbs / 4kg

Size (H x W x D)

8.75 x 8 x 7.75 inches / 22.2 x 20.3 x 19.7cm

Travel cup capacity

32oz / 900ml or 24oz / 700ml

Jug capacity

64oz / 1.8 liters

Work bowl capacity

7 cups

Presets

Smoothie, puree, frozen drinks, nut milk, dressing, chop, dough, dip.

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: design

• Plenty of presets to choose from
• Smart attachment recognition
• Slightly large footprint, but accessories nest for storage

One of my favorite features of the Triple Prep System is how it smartly recognizes which container you have attached to the base, and changes which presets are available based on that knowledge. It even modifies the duration of presets depending on which attachment you’re using.

For example, the Smoothie preset runs for 50 seconds with the pitcher and 60 seconds when using the travel cups. More blending time for a smaller container may sound counterintuitive, but your ingredients having less space to move around means that the motor has to process for longer to ensure all of the mix comes in contact with the blades.

(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

You wouldn’t have to know all that though, because the Triple Prep System makes that change for you. The touch button layout is clean and intuitive: you’ve got start/stop controls, a pulse button, and clearly labeled presets for smoothies, soups, frozen drinks, and food processing tasks. Any preset that isn’t suitable for your attached container conveniently disappears too, helping to make using the machine an almost foolproof experience.

The majority of parts are dishwasher-safe, which offers a welcome reprieve from having to scrub out smoothie remnants and soup leftovers by hand. The extractor blade isn’t suitable for dishwasher cleaning, but given the fixed pitcher blades caused me far more struggle when cleaning than the extractor blade, I didn’t find this to be too much of an issue.

(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

Given the sheer number of functions this machine serves, its slighter larger footprint feels like a worthy trade. If you cook from scratch or make fancy drinks at home regularly enough, you can probably justify keeping the motor base on your kitchen counter between uses. When you go to store the Triple Prep System away in your kitchen cupboards, you’ll probably find its wealth of accessories and attachments more of a curse than a blessing.

Certain parts of the system (like the shred/slice disc) slot together or into each other so it does seem like there was some effort made to save space. However, it still is a system that requires some generous-sized kitchen cupboards.

• Design: 4.5/5

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: performance

• Consistently great results with smoothies and soups
• Does a great job crushing ice
• Struggles with very small batches

Blenders are Nutribullet’s bread and butter – particularly ones for making smoothies. With that in mind, it made a lot of sense to start my testing there.

The smoothie recipe that’s used during TechRadar’s testing processes is a doozy in a couple of respects. It includes blueberries, which have skin and tiny seeds for the blender’s blades to try to contend with. But it also contains kale: the fibrous leafy vegetable that’s the enemy of many at-home smoothie lovers. While kale is great for sneaking nutrients in your drinks, it can be really difficult to completely break down if your blender isn’t up to the task – and plenty of blenders aren’t.

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(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

Thanks to the Triple Prep System’s 1,500W motor and the guidance of its smoothie preset, I managed to blitz up a thick, tasty smoothie with virtually no off-putting ‘bits’. Any grittiness from the berries’ seeds disappeared entirely and no chunks of leaf remained.

Roughly the same was true when I tried to replicate the smoothie in one of the travel cups. Upon very, very careful inspection, there were minuscule flecks of unprocessed kale floating in the smoothie but these were few and far between, and weren’t large enough to detect in the mouth when drunk.

Crushing the ice in the travel cup gleaned far less than ideal results so I opted to try it in the pitcher instead. Don’t get me wrong, I was reasonably satisfied with what the travel cup produced: well-crushed ice with some little chunks that escaped the wrath of the extractor blade. However, I wanted to see if the added surface of the pitcher would produce a better end result.

(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

Sure enough, without much fuss, the pitcher’s blades managed to pulverize the cubes into fine, icy grounds that were just perfect for a snow cone or daiquiri. The Triple Prep System’s volume output hit a peak of 96db during this part of the test (roughly equivalent to some power tools). While this level of noise is certainly not pleasant to be exposed to for too long, it is a good bit higher than the blender’s average which was closer to 87db.

As testing continued, the Triple Prep System continued to impress. After mixing up a hummus recipe in the food processor’s work bowl on the ‘dip’ preset and scraping the sides, I was treated to a creamy dip with zero unincorporated segments of chickpeas. Thicker blends sticking under the blades and on the edge of the container was a notable problem with the Nutribullet SmartSense that I found added extra time to making this simple, delicious recipe. Thankfully, the Triple Prep System avoids the same mistake.

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(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

Next, I put its shred/slice disc to work on a block of cheese and found that it provided a result that was really consistent. However, the slight inconvenience of chopping the cheese small enough to fit through the narrow gap in the food processor’s lid might make this a less attractive option in the future.

The only real disappointment I experienced during testing was how the Triple Prep System performed making mayonnaise. The pitcher was obviously too large to properly blend a batch, so I opted to use the food processor work bowl instead. The issue is that – even when I doubled the usual recipe – the container was still far too spacious.

(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

An alternative mayonnaise recipe written specifically for a Nutribullet suggested using a 18oz cup, but the Triple Prep System not only doesn’t include a container that small but doesn’t have any more compact attachments that would allow you to gradually drip oil into the emulsion as it’s blending. So, unless you’re anticipating mixing up an industrial-sized tub of mayo, it’s worth doing this recipe by hand or with an immersion blender.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Nutribullet Triple Prep System?Nutribullet Triple Prep System score card

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

It’s far from the lowest-cost option when it comes to blenders. But given the breadth of tasks it can be used for, it’s very good value.

4/5

Design

Takes up more space than many blending solutions but attachments nest for storage. Build quality is very strong.

4.5/5

Performance

Excels in almost every test. Great for smoothies, hummus, and crushing ice. Struggles with small batches.

4.5/5

Buy it if

You want a complete food prep system

If you're in the market for a personal blender, jug blender, and food processor all in one, the Nutribullet Triple Prep System has you covered.

You’d like a blender with dishwasher-safe parts

Once you’re done blitzing up something tasty, you can just pop your pitcher, processor, or cup into the dishwasher. There’s no need to hang over the sink and wash them by hand.

You struggle with chopping or dicing

If your knife skills are lacking or you just want to save yourself some time and effort in the kitchen, the Nutribullet Triple Prep System is more than suited to stepping in as your sous chef.

Don't buy it if

You just need a blender for drink prep

If you’re not much of a home chef and solely see yourself using your blender for mixing up smoothies and shakes, the Triple Prep System is seriously overkill.

You’re on a super tight budget

At over $200, there are definitely lower-cost blenders you can opt for instead.

Nutribullet Triple Prep System: also consider

If you’re on the look-out for options that are similar to the Nutribullet Triple Prep System, here’s some alternatives worth considering:

Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo

If you need a powerful base and multiple blender cup sizes but don’t care for having a food processor, this is a slightly cheaper and more pared back alternative from the same brand.

Read our full Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo review

Breville the Fresh and Furious

If you’re a home cook but don’t see yourself batch blending too often, it probably makes more sense to opt for a jug blender that’s on the smaller side. While you don’t get travel cups with this blender, it has a variety of useful presets and is ideal for singletons or small families.

Read our full Breville the Fresh and Furious review

How I tested the Nutribullet Triple Prep System

Alongside my usual kitchen tasks, my testing involved using the Nutribullet Triple Prep System to make TechRadar’s standard test recipes.

Throughout this process, I assessed the effectiveness of both manual and preset blending. I used a decibel tracker to determine how loud the blender is during use and after each blend, I cleaned the blender attachments and accessories by hand.

The Triple Prep System makes light work of even tricky blending jobs, only struggling a little when it comes to small quantities

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