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He wants to give hope to the tens of thousands of Ukrainians who have lost limbs since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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CNET’s experts have tested and reviewed the best kamado-style grills to upgrade your grilling experience.

The Biden administration introduced new consumer tax credits for climate-friendly heat pumps. What does a Trump administration and GOP-led congress mean for that money?

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This golf city is known for being below par, but Augusta’s internet service is well above par. Here are CNET’s top picks for the best providers in the area.

An Azerbaijani airliner has crashed in the Kazakhstani city of Aktau with 30 people likely dead and at least 28 survivors, according to Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry.

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Your physical and mental well-being are crucial—but the picture isn’t complete if you aren’t flexing your connection muscles, too. Here’s how to build—and keep—your social health.

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 review: One-minute review

The Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 arrives as an updated version of the Jabra Elite 8 Active, which were released in September 2023. They were sporty truly wireless earbuds and we were big fans, stating they were “everything you’d want from a pair of fitness earbuds”.

For Gen 2, Jabra is still promising buds and a charging case that can withstand the rigours of a tough workout and stay put in the process. Now it’s increased the Elite 8 Active’s spatial sound powers, and promises improvements with how they’ll block out the world with ANC and HearThrough modes.

Outside of those upgrades, it’s largely the same experience as using the Elite 8 Active Gen 1. They offer a great, reliable fit without ear hooks and bright, customizable sound with good but not class-leading battery life.

These are set to be Jabra’s last set of Elite true wireless earbuds, as it’s decided to shutter its consumer headphone business. It’s a genuine shame because the Elite 8 Active Gen 2, while not a necessary upgrade for Gen 1 owners, is one of the best true wireless sports earbuds you can buy that also work great outside of workouts and are well worth the money in our opinion.

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2: Price and availability

• Priced at £229.99 / $229.99 / AU$329
• Released: June 2024

The Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 launched in June 2024 and went on sale for $229.99 / £229.99 / AU$329. That does mean they come in pricier than the Elite 8 Active Gen 1, which are currently available for $199.99 / £199.99 / AU$329.

These are definitely true wireless sports earbuds that sit at the top end in terms of pricing. They’re slightly more expensive than the Beats Fit Pro, but do remain cheaper than the Beats Powerbeats Pro and the Sennheiser Momentum Sport, which unlike the Elite 8 Active, uses ear hooks to keep them secure during your sweatier sessions with them.

• Value score: 4/5

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 review: Specifications Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 review: Design

(Image credit: Michael Sawh)

• Same reliable fit as Gen 1
• Charging case now slightly heavier
• Added USB-C to 3.5mm cable

Essentially, the design and the way the Elite 8 Active Gen 2 sits and operates in your ears hasn’t changed from Gen 1. You can pick it up in black, coral, navy blue and olive (pictured) colors, with its liquid silicone rubber coating which has a pleasingly soft touch to it.

Like Gen 1, it’s using Jabra’s ShakeGrip fit to keep them inside of your ears without the need for wingtips or ear hooks. Again much like its predecessor, the fit is great: they really do really stay put without aids. There’s not many earbuds that achieve this kind of secure fit when your exercise time gets more intense without adopting some sort of earhook design, but these really do the job of remaining secure. They’re comfortable too, I’ve used them for over an hour-long workouts and they’ve not caused any sort of irritation.

While there’s nothing here to add extra security to its fit, Jabra does still include large, medium and small silicone eartips to improve sound isolation and help you make sure you enjoy the best ANC performance, with the ideal fit inside of your ears.

Jabra builds physical controls once again into the exterior of the buds, which can be customised in Jabra’s Sound+ companion smartphone app. These controls allow you to handle calls, adjust volume, skip back and forward through tracks and are some of the best controls I’ve used on fitness-focused earbuds, especially when you’re on the move. The controls are more reliable to press than to swipe or tap on touch controls, which seems to be the route a lot of other earbuds opt for. Jabra’s approach works great here, and I found the volume control support particularly well integrated into the buds.

In terms of its defence against moisture, it’s the same as Gen 1 with Jabra sticking to an IP68 water resistant rating. This gives it one of the strongest levels of protection against moisture you’ll find on a set of earbuds: we dropped the first gen into a glass of water, no trouble. The case also carries an IP54 rating, which isn't as strong a defence against water, but does mean as a package the Elite 8 Active Gen 2 offers good protection against sweat, rain and a splash of water or two.

The charging case has slightly jumped in weight, likely to account for its added smarter powers, with a physical button in front to pair with your devices and a single LED light above to indicate pairing and charging status. At the base is a USB-C port to charge the buds or you can use the accompanying USB-C/3.5mm cable to enable the new spatial sound mode when connected with other devices like a monitor or TV..

• Design score: 5/5

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 review: Features

(Image credit: Michael Sawh)

• New LE Audio smart case
• Improved ANC and Heathrough modes
• Bluetooth 5.3

The headline news here lies with the case, which Jabra is calling the world’s first LE Audio smart case. That case allows you to enjoy spatial sound from devices such as TVs and screens built into gym equipment, by using a physical USB-C to 3.5mm cable jack to plug the case into that device, and stream audio from the case. Then when you stick the buds in your ears and have spatial sound enabled in the app, you can enjoy that surround-sound listening experience. It’s a revolution to no longer need cabled headphones for gym equipment.

On the listening front, Jabra says it’s improved the effectiveness of the ANC and HearThrough modes on Gen 2 to be twice as effective at cancelling out sound. There’s Bluetooth 5.3 to offer reliable connectivity, support for multipoint sharing and a welcome Bluetooth range of up to 10 meters.

Inside of the companion smartphone app, you’ve got scope to tinker with that sound and enable a Spotify Tap mode for quick access to the music streaming service. There’s fast pairing for Android devices and you can summon your smartphone’s assistant, whether that’s Siri or Google Assistant, straight from the buds.

In terms of audio codecs supported, it’s the same AAC and SBC ones offered on Gen 1, which might be a source of bad news for serious audiophiles, though I’d expect that’s not going to be an issue for those grabbing these predominantly for workouts.

• Features score: 4/5

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 review: Performance

(Image credit: Michael Sawh)

• Same enjoyable, workout-friendly sound
• ANC mode good but not best in class
• Spatial sound case mode could have its uses

The remit of the Gen 2 Elite 8 Active is the same as Gen 1, to offer a sound that’s a great fit for workouts. There’s the option of active noise cancellation, but like its predecessor it’s not Jabra’s best available advanced ANC support. There’s also a HearThrough mode, which can be tweaked in the app to control the balance of your sound and exterior sounds, to give you more or less awareness of your surroundings. You can also choose to have neither of these modes in play as well.

When you head into the companion Sound+ app, you’ll be met with an equaliser, six EQ presets and the scope to build custom ones. There’s also a Dolby Spatial Sound mode, which is designed for when you’re exercising in front of a screen. So, maybe watching the TV on a screen built into a treadmill as opposed to listening to music. This Spatial Sound mode is also now extended to the case. It feels like quite a niche feature to add in here and actually more of a useful feature when you’re not in the gym with them. They’re a nifty solution for when you’re flying and don’t want to use those free wired headphones.

These are buds tha sonically sound solid when you’re working out and when you’re just working at your desk. To me, the sound profile doesn’t sound all that different from the first generation Elite 8 Active. It’s a sound quality I’d describe as bright, powerful with plenty of bass warmth. They don’t give you the best they have to offer in sound straight out of the box, but once you’ve tinkered with things in the app, you can get something that helps that treble sparkle and achieve overall a more balanced sound whether you opt for bass-heavy songs or prefer things far more relaxed.

It’s a similar story for call quality, where there’s six microphones in place to deliver calls to your ears. The call quality overall here is very good for a truly wireless earbud. Calls offer good volume and the clarity overall makes them ideal to break your workout for an important call.

Jabra claims that the ANC support on the Gen 2 can cancel out twice as much noise as Gen 1, but does stick to the same adaptive hybrid ANC support, so that ANC adjusts based on your environment. It’s particularly designed to help battle more blustery, windy conditions such as the sort of intrusion you get running or cycling.

(Image credit: Michael Sawh)

I’d say that the ANC performance has been good overall. I’m not wholly convinced it’s twice as good as Gen 1, but I’d put its performance below the top-performing ANC-packing truly wireless earbuds. Inside and outside, they muffle the sounds around you in an effective way as opposed to entirely drowning them out. I found that running near busy roads did an effective job of drowning the sounds in my environment. While they don’t entirely block out wind, they do a good job of muting it. It was a similar story using them in a gym and dampening the sound of the gym speaker system.

It’s a similar story with Jabra’s HearThrough mode: I can’t say I noticed a discernible difference between Gen 1 and Gen 2, but it remains one of the best examples of a mode that wants to achieve a better balance between interior and exterior sounds.

In terms of connectivity, I’ve had some good and a little bad here, which wasn’t really the case with Gen 1. In general, connecting to a range of devices including an iPhone, Android phone, Android tablet, MacBook Air, a connected rower and an Apple Watch Ultra and Garmin Forerunner 965 has been fine. With the iPhone, I’ve experienced the buds disconnecting and reconnecting during some listening time. It could have something to do with running a beta version of iOS on my iPhone, but this isn’t something I’ve experienced on the previous version. Thankfully, it’s only happened a couple of times, but it’s not ideal.

For battery life, it's more of the same here with Gen 2. Jabra promises the same battery numbers with and without ANC in use. It’s up to 8 hours of music streaming with ANC in use or 14 hours with ANC turned off. When you factor in a fully charged case, you’re getting anywhere from 32-56 hours depending on that ANC use.

My experience suggests certain EQ modes in use also offer quicker drain on battery, as does listening volume. For over an hour of use with the ANC enabled and the bass boost EQ mode, the battery dropped by around 30%. For a similar workout without ANC, it was half that. So I wouldn't say those promised numbers entirely correspond with my experience of using them.

Fortunately, Jabra does still include its useful fast charge mode, which gives you an hour of listening time from a 5-minute charge. You've also got the convenience of wireless charging if you happen to have QI-certified setup.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 review: Scorecard Jabra Elite 8 Active: Should I buy? Buy it if...

You want the most comfortable earbuds for workouts

The fit is great, the sound is too and as a package, these are some of the best fitness-focused buds you can put in your ears.View Deal

You want a sound upgrade

While it won’t be for everyone, the new smart case gives you scope to improve the experience of watching shows and films from devices that don’t easily let you pair over Bluetooth.View Deal

You want earbuds with good controls

Jabra’s approach controls to the Elite 8 Active Gen 2 make them one of the best to tinker with playback, volume or take calls when you’re in the heat of a workout.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You already have Gen 1

If you love the sound, fit and performance of the Elite 8 Active Gen 1, then there aren’t huge reasons to make that upgrade.View Deal

You only have a small budget

These buds don’t come cheap and while you get what you pay for, you could pick up cheaper buds with less extras and still have workout-worthy sound.View Deal

Also consider

JLab Go Air Sport

The best really cheap workout earbuds.

Read our full reviewView Deal

Sony WF-1000XM4

The best workout headphones for noise canceling.

Read our full reviewView Deal

How I tested

I used the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 for two weeks, using them for a range of workouts including indoor and outdoor runs, gym workouts like indoor rowing, cycling and strength training. I also used them for travelling on trains and buses and using them for work.

In terms of pairing to devices, I paired with an iPhone, Android phone, Android tablet, MacBook Pro streaming from services and apps including Spotify and YouTube. I also tested with the Garmin Forerunner 965 and Apple Watch Ultra to test the connectivity support for smartwatches and sports watches. I also paired them with a connected rower and treadmill.

I have over a decade of experience testing and writing about consumer technology and that includes a big focus on sports headphones. I’ve tested sports headphones and truly wireless earbuds across a range of prices from budget to premium, so have a good idea of the good and bad in this category and what makes a great pair of headphones for exercise.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is Lenovo's take on an all-around perfect portable workstation machine. The Gen 7, of course, replaces the Gen 6 and now boasts up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and an NVIDIA RTX 4070. However, it can also be built with integrated graphics and an Intel Core Ultra 5 with a light 16GB of RAM.

Much like Dell's Precision line-up, the ThinkPad P series is designed for professionals needing a computer that can handle computationally demanding tasks like 3D rendering, video editing, coding, data analysis, and things of that nature. Like many of the best Lenovo ThinkPad laptops I've reviewed, while casual users can use it, this price point focuses on professional users who rely on their machines to be workhorses and get work done.

Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7: Price and Availability

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 starts at the base level for under $2,000 with an Intel Core Ultra 5, 16GB of RAM, and integrated graphics. This can be upgraded to a machine that costs over $5,000 when equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9, NVIDIA RTX 4070 Graphics, 64GB of RAM, and 4TB SSD. What's great about this is that yes. At the same time, this is not an entry-level computer. Thanks to the customization options available for processor, memory, storage, and graphics, it can be kitted to fit just about any professional need. That said, check out our Lenovo coupon codes to see if you can save on the ThinkPad P1 Gen 7.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7: Unboxing and First Impressions

Out of the box, it's clear this is not designed to be a super-lightweight-ultra-portable-thinnest-device-ever kind of machine. It's beefy. But not in a way that resembles the laptops of a decade ago. As we've seen from many of the best mobile workstations, it's sleek where it can be but houses a lot under the hood -- or keyboard. Depending on the GPU configuration, the P1 Gen 7 has a 135W or 170W charger, the appropriate manuals, and any accessories purchased at Lenovo. The minimalist matte-black design exudes sleek professionalism. However, one thing to note is that it is prone to smudges.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7: Design and Build Quality Specs

CPU: Up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
GPU: Up to an NVIDIA RTX 4070
Display: Up to 4K OLED
RAM: Up to 64GB LPDDR5X
Storage: Up to 8TB SSD with built-in RAID options

Overall, the laptop is 17mm thick and 4.3lb. That's not huge in the world of laptops, though it is larger than some of the laptops I am working with. The P1 Gen 7 is made of a combination of Magnesium and Aluminum and has a durability rating of MIL-STD 810H. It can withstand your daily wear and tear and the burdens of being an everyday workhorse.

Completing the all-too-famous ThinkPad design, the TrackPoint is prominently in the center of the keyboard, and the overall design language matches what is frequently found with ThinkPad.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7: In use

I have used this computer extensively in my workflow for the past few months. Overall, it is an impressive machine. It is remarkably powerful, easily handles multitasking and demanding performance programs, and has a sleek and attractive design. What more could you ask for in a computer? It even has a better port offering than the ever-popular Dell Powerhouses and better port offerings than MacBooks. I have only heard the fans kick on during heavily intensive or many heavy tasks stacked together. Outside of that, I have not heard the fan kick on for my day-to-day professional work even once.

Some more features that make this computer great would be the Wi-Fi 7 antennae, great port offering, a solid trackpad, a comfortable keyboard, and a decent battery.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)

I've enjoyed using this computer for everything in my day to day. The keyboard is comfortable enough for long email sessions or writing articles (like this one). The trackpad is responsive enough that I don't need to bring a mouse in my backpack when I am away from my desk for the day. The ports are fantastic. I can leave my dongles at home since this laptop has everything I could need on a given notice built into the computer. Another thing that makes this computer great is that it is super portable. Yes, it's powerful and practical, but it's also surprisingly easy to carry around from place to place in my studio, office, coffee shop, bag, house, and so on. It's simple, and it doesn't get in the way. It's great for my professional workflow.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7: Final verdict

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is an impressive example of what mobile workstations can be. Though premium priced, its versatility, build quality, and performance justify its cost for professionals seeking the best tools to do their work reliably.

For more workplace hardware, we've reviewed the best business laptops

A recipient of a Grammys Trustee Award in 2015, Richard Perry died at a Los Angeles hospital on Tuesday. Perry was a hitmaking record producer with a flair for both standards and contemporary sounds.

(Image credit: Lennox McLendon)

CNET experts have scoured through Pensacola’s best internet providers, offering a variety of high-speed options to suit different needs. Here’s how the top choices stack up.

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 25.

Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1,285 for Christmas Day, Dec. 25.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for the Dec. 25 Strands puzzle, No. 297.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 563 for Dec. 25.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 93 for Dec. 25.

Cable and fixed wireless are the main internet options in the Wilkes-Barre area. Find out which providers are best with the help of our CNET experts.

Looking for the top local internet providers in Cambridge? We've found the fastest and cheapest options.

Your iPhone can do a lot more with MagSafe. Here are our picks of the best MagSafe accessories to get the most out of your iPhone, from chargers to car mounts to cute grips.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1066) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1066) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1066) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1066) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1066) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• L

• C

• S

• M

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1066) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1066, are…

• LIVER
• CRIER
• SHORE
• MURKY

Despite a really good start I ended up with a Christmas Day flop – although it could have gone both ways with CRIER and DRIER both options for my final go.

I’m also pondering over whether I did the right thing in leaving a word that’s almost there in order to give yourself a chance with the rest. If I’m honest I think I was hoping for a little bit of festive luck and it failed to arrive. Well, Merry Christmas everyone anyway!

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #1066) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1066, are…

• LYMPH
• SOBER
• DOWNY
• INLAY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1065, Tuesday 24 December: TIPSY, SCALE, FLYER, VALVE
• Quordle #1064, Monday 23 December: SNAKE, SAVVY, ELBOW, TWEED
• Quordle #1063, Sunday 22 December: DOUBT, SLURP, PAPER, CIVIL
• Quordle #1062, Saturday 21 December: STRIP, BUDGE, SAPPY, SHELF
• Quordle #1061, Friday 20 December: PENAL, EAGLE, DILLY, QUITE
• Quordle #1060, Thursday 19 December: JEWEL, GNOME, TRAMP, IDLER
• Quordle #1059, Wednesday 18 December: LITHE, BIRTH, HUMID, ROBOT
• Quordle #1058, Tuesday 17 December: DOING, ENJOY, SNAKY, AMPLE
• Quordle #1057, Monday 16 December: HYDRO, CREAM, CHIDE, SLIME
• Quordle #1056, Sunday 15 December: DROVE, STILT, LINEN, GIANT
• Quordle #1055, Saturday 14 December: SPIEL, ONSET, TIGER, DITTO
• Quordle #1054, Friday 13 December: ERECT, REBAR, MOIST, IDIOM
• Quordle #1053, Thursday 12 December: MILKY, CRIER, STORK, DRIER
• Quordle #1052, Wednesday 11 December: BRIAR, NASAL, SHARD, FLUFF
• Quordle #1051, Tuesday 10 December: BEGAN, TRIAL, IDEAL, GUIDE
• Quordle #1050, Monday 9 December: TITAN, FORTE, SPEED, BRIAR
• Quordle #1049, Sunday 8 December: BUNCH, SHINY, MOULT, INTRO
• Quordle #1048, Saturday 7 December: SHAKY, CROOK, GHOUL, VERSE
• Quordle #1047, Friday 6 December: BRAWL, UNTIL, DOWRY, STING
• Quordle #1046, Thursday 5 December: AGING, BICEP, CLOVE, SPILL

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #563) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• QUEEN
• STAR
• CUPID
• STRONG
• RUDOLPH
• SAGITTARIUS
• NANNY
• COMET
• VIXEN
• MOON
• ROBIN HOOD
• SHANNON
• HAWKEYE
• FEY
• JENNY
• PLANET

NYT Connections today (game #563) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Astronomy
• GREEN: Bow and arrow
• BLUE: Lady beasts
• PURPLE: “Live from New York…” 

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #563) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: CELESTIAL OBJECTS 
• GREEN: ARCHERS 
• BLUE: FEMALE ANIMALS 
• PURPLE: "S.N.L." CAST MEMBERS 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #563) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #563, are…

• YELLOW: CELESTIAL OBJECTS COMET, MOON, PLANET, STAR
• GREEN: ARCHERS CUPID, HAWKEYE, ROBIN HOOD, SAGITTARIUS
• BLUE: FEMALE ANIMALS JENNY, NANNY, QUEEN, VIXEN
• PURPLE: "S.N.L." CAST MEMBERS FEY, RUDOLPH, SHANNON, STRONG

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

The stars aligned for me today as I turned groups of three into four.

I knew that the symbol for SAGITTARIUS was a centaur, but i forgot that he was also holding a bow and arrow – apparently it's meant to symbolize how people born under this star sign are decisive and hit the mark every time.

ROBIN HOOD also gives his name to the archery equivalent of a hole-in-one – when an archer splits an arrow already in the target with another arrow shot from the same spot. A moment as rare as me getting through Connections without a mistake.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, 24 December, game #562)

• YELLOW: "LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS, OH MY!" BEARS, LIONS, OH MY, TIGERS
• GREEN: BELOVED, AS A FRIEND CLOSE, DEAR, INTIMATE, TIGHT
• BLUE: WORDS THAT SOUND LIKE PLURAL LETTERS BEES, EASE, JAYS, USE
• PURPLE: WHEN TRIPLED, HIT SONG TITLES BILLS, BYE, GIMME, PLEASE

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.