Technologies

Google Now Pays You Back if It’s Wrong About the Cheapest Flights

Google introduced this and other new features just in time for vacation planning.

Google on Monday announced three new Search features that could make planning your next vacation cheaper and easier. The features are meant to help you save money on your next flight, explore a hotel before you book it and easily plan things to do on your trip.

Here’s what you can expect to see if you plan your next vacation using Google.

Flight price guarantee

Google Flights already shows you whether flight prices are low or high compared to historical averages, but now Google is launching a pilot program for price guarantees in the US.

How it works is that Google will place a badge next to low-priced flights. Google doesn’t think the price for these flights will get any lower, but if the price does go down, it’ll send you the difference via Google Pay.

Price guarantee badge and information box — The price guarantee badge (top) means if tickets for your flight go down, Google will send you the difference.

Google

This pilot program is only available for «Book on Google» flights that depart from the US.

Explore hotels before booking

If you use Google Search on mobile to find a hotel, you can view a slideshow to explore different hotels and find the right one for you. You can save hotels you like and pull up more information about the area around particular hotels, too.

Find prices for and book nearby activities

Finally, you can find prices for nearby attractions in Google, and you’ll also find a link to book tickets for those activities.

To view these, you have to use Google Search or Google Maps to find an attraction or tour company. You’ll see prices attached to different attractions and companies, as well as a «Tickets» tab that pulls up different ways to book admission. Searching for some attractions will also show you suggestions for similar experiences you might enjoy.

For more on Google, check out eight new Google products CNET expects in 2023, how to travel back in time with Google Maps and tips and tricks to help you save money on Google Drive and Gmail.

Technologies

Tariffs Explained: Price Hikes Loom as Trump Clashes With Walmart

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 20, #443

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 443 for May 20.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle reminds me that I haven’t had a meal in a fancy restaurant in some time. Maybe it’s time to make a reservation. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Oh, of course!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Elegant eats.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

SITE, FINE, SINE, DINE, PEAS, TEEN, PEER, STEEP, DEER, SEED, SEEN, POET, TREE, NOPE, SEES.

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

SOUP, SALAD, CHEESE, ENTREE, DESSERT, APPETIZERS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is FINEDINING. To find it, start with the F that’s three letters down on the farthest row to the left, and wind across.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 24, #713

Hints and answers for Connections for May 24, #713.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle has a fun variety of categories. The purple one appeals to my English major heart. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Goo-goo.

Green group hint: Not shirts.

Blue group hint: City that never sleeps.

Purple group hint: Acclaimed writers.