Technologies

New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025

Did you get INBOX? What about EDIFY? Plus: The New York Times has a sort of Spotify Wrapped for Wordle players.

Did Wordle keep you busy this year? Some words are more challenging than others. INBOX — the Wordle answer on April 19 — was this year’s most difficult Wordle puzzle in the US, according to the language learning platform Preply, which connects learners with tutors.

Preply identified the trickiest word by analyzing Google search interest for «Wordle hint» across every puzzle from January to November. It selected the toughest puzzles by examining which ones «produced the largest relative spikes nationally and within each US state.»

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Preply listed nine other words that ranked as the hardest in 2025. (It looks like Aug. 13-14 was a particularly stressful period for puzzlers.) Here’s a look at the top 10.

INBOX (April 19)
EDIFY (June 6)
KEFIR (Aug. 13)
KNELL (Aug. 14)
LORIS (July 18)
QUOTA (March 30)
HAZEL (April 7)
IDIOM (May 30)
IMBUE (Aug. 8)
GIZMO (Nov. 11)

EDIFY — which means to instruct or improve — and KEFIR — a fermented milk drink — may have led to a lot of Google searches.

But not all Wordles were brain-busters. Preply found the easiest puzzles to solve in 2025 were CHAIR (Sept. 11), BLUNT (Sept. 24) and SPORT (May 27).

Spotify Wrapped for Wordle, kind of

You’re familiar with Spotify Wrapped, the music service’s annual roundup of each user’s year in Spotify songs. There’s a similar yearly recap for YouTube videos. Now, The New York Times is getting in on the trend with a year-end recap for players of Wordle and its other games, like Connections.

For Wordle, the Times’ Year in Games roundup shows how many days you solved a puzzle, what time of day you did most of your solving, which Wordle you solved the fastest, how many guesses it took you on average and your most common starter word.

For Connections, it shows how many times you solved it without any mistakes, what the year’s trickiest puzzle was (hint: that one with all the symbols) and which color category you usually solved first.

For Spelling Bee, it shows how many words you found all year, what your longest found word was, how many times you used all seven letters to find a pangram and how many times you reached Genius level.

For Strands, it shows how many times you solved it without any hints and what your longest streak was.

The roundup also shows what your most-played game was this year. (Connections for the win!) As with other similar roundups, you’re able to share your result summary if you want.

For more coverage on puzzles, you can check out CNET’s daily answers and hints for Wordle, The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands. And you can view our guide to the most popular letters to make your starter word as strong as possible.

Technologies

YouTubers Sue Amazon, Claim AI Tool Was Trained on Scraped Videos

The lawsuit alleges that Amazon bypassed YouTube protections to collect content for its generative AI video system.

A group of YouTube creators is suing Amazon, accusing the tech giant of secretly scraping their videos to train its AI video model without permission.

The proposed class action lawsuit, filed in federal court in Seattle, alleges Amazon used automated tools to download and extract data from millions of YouTube videos to build and improve its Nova Reel generative AI system — a model that can create short videos from text prompts and images.

At the center of the complaint is how that data was obtained. The plaintiffs claim that Amazon bypassed YouTube’s protections using virtual machines and rotating IP addresses to avoid detection, effectively sidestepping the platform’s safeguards against bulk downloading.

The lawsuit was brought by several creators, including Ted Entertainment (the company behind the H3 Podcast and h3h3 Productions), as well as individual YouTubers and channel operators. They argue that the alleged scraping violated copyright law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and are seeking damages as well as an injunction to stop the practice.

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.

The case lands at a pivotal moment for generative AI, as courts weigh whether training on copyrighted material qualifies as fair use and how much control creators retain once their work is used to build these systems. The disputes have often centered on written material, which has been at the center of the AI revolution for several years, while AI video generators such as OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo have emerged more recently.

The lawsuit is one of dozens testing the boundaries of AI training practices, alongside high-profile cases from authors, artists and news organizations, including lawsuits against OpenAI and Meta, all circling the same unresolved question: Where does fair use end and infringement begin?

Technologies

The Galaxy Z TriFold Is Back. You Can Buy It From Samsung Soon

The $2,899 phone paused its sales in March after selling through its inventory, but Samsung is bringing it back to its online store.

Samsung’s $2,899 Galaxy Z TriFold is going back on sale on Friday, following a halt to its sales in March after the foldable phone sold through its inventory. Samsung has announced the TriFold’s return with a countdown clock on the phone’s online store page along with a Wednesday newsletter email sent to customers.

The initial pause, which Samsung said at the time was related to the TriFold being a «super-premium device in limited quantities,» happened after just three months of availability. The TriFold first went on sale in South Korea on Dec. 12 and then arrived in Samsung’s US store on Jan. 30. The TriFold sold out in the US within minutes of going on sale — which I know personally after joining my colleagues that morning in an attempt to buy it. Thankfully Senior Reporter Abrar Al-Heeti succeeded, and then reviewed the TriFold.

It’s unclear whether the Galaxy Z TriFold is now permanently returning to Samsung’s online store or if it is again on sale until its stock sells through. Given that the phone is very expensive, and unfolds to reveal a large, 10-inch display, it wouldn’t be surprising if its stock will be in limited quantities. We’ve asked a Samsung representative to clarify and will update if we hear more.

The Galaxy Z TriFold’s return also comes ahead of the summer season when we expect a slew of other foldable phones: Samsung typically refreshes its Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip line in July or August, and Motorola has announced its first book-style Razr Fold phone will also debut during the season. And Apple’s rumored iPhone Fold (or perhaps iPhone Ultra based on latest rumors) could also be teased later this year.

Technologies

Help Us Crown the Most Loved Headphones and Earbuds of 2026

Got a pair you swear by? Take our People’s Picks survey to help us find a winner.

CNET just launched People’s Picks, a series of surveys where actual humans like you vote for the products and services you use. Starting in April, we want you to weigh in on your favorite headphones and earbuds. We’ll pick a winner based on which ones you love the most.

Why we want to hear from you

Our writers and editors test hundreds of products each year, but your real-world experience with these devices is something we can’t replicate in our labs. You’ve used these headphones at the gym, on your commute to work and on long flights, and that perspective is invaluable. Your voice helps others know about the headphones or earbuds you love, too.

«I review a lot of headphones and earbuds for CNET, and there are plenty of great models from the top brands in this survey that I rate highly. I’m always curious about what models people ultimately choose and why, so I’m excited to get your feedback and learn the results of this survey,» says David Carnoy, CNET’s executive editor and headphones expert.

With our survey, we’ll collect answers from real-world users like you. The headphones and earbuds chosen through our 3-minute survey will be featured in our People’s Picks roundup of the top picks based on your recommendation.

Make your voice heard

Whether you swear by a pair of $25 earbuds or love a pair of high-end headphones, your pick counts. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete, and after we gather enough information, we’ll tally the results and publish the winners.

Not sure what to pick? Check out our Best Headphones to revisit your favorites before voting.