Technologies

Black Friday 2021: The best deals on TVs, headphones, kitchenware, and more

Here is our round up of the best early deals happening at major retailers like Amazon, Target, Best Buy and many more

This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2021, our list of ideas, by topic, by recipient and by price, to help you discover the perfect gift.

It seems as if Black Friday begins earlier and earlier every year. And this year is no exception. Both in store and online, companies like Walmart, Target, Amazon, Best Buy and pretty much every other major retailer are already getting a jump on the holiday savings. And some very solid deals are already available. In many cases the sales are labeled as Black Friday offers, so you won’t have to work too hard to find them. As the seasonal chaos grows, we’ll keep scouring the internet in search of the best Black Friday deals so you don’t have to. Expect this page to be updated frequently, as we’ll keep adding to it as more offers appear. This story was last updated Thursday, Nov. 11 with the latest deals.

Note: Today is also Veteran’s day and Singles Day, which often see additional discounts on top of the usual holiday sales. If you’ve got your eye on something, now is a great time to snag it as it may jump back up in price tomorrow.

Black Friday sales at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target and more

On the calendar, Black Friday is Friday, Nov. 26 — the day after Thanksgiving. But «Black Friday sales» are already alive and well. To help navigate the pandemonium, here is a handy guide of what you can expect on sale when and where:

Amazon: Sales are ongoing now.
Best Buy: The big-box retailer has an early Black Friday sale running now.
Walmart: The Black Friday Deals for Days sale has been running since Nov. 3, and another big wave of sales just dropped yesterday (Nov. 10), adding more great deals like $89 Airpods.
Target: The first wave of Target’s deals were pretty unimpressive, but the retailer opened a new wave of sales last Thursday, with more following every Sunday from here on out. Full details here.

Best Black Friday deals at Walmart

More great deals at Walmart:

Apple Airpods (2nd gen): $89 (save $40 vs. apple store)
Roku Ultra LT: $30 (save $39)
Toshiba 1TB portable HDD: $39 (save $13)
Tineco cordless vacuum: $125 (save $74)
Anker Eufy Robovac 25C: $99 (save $50)

Best Black Friday deals at Target

More great deals at Target:

JBL Tune wireless headphones: $30 (save $40)
Beats Solo 3 wireless headphones: $100 (save $100)
Motorola Moto G Fast: $170 (save $30)
Vizio V-Series compact sound bar: $50 (save $50)
Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen): $25 (save $15)

Best Black Friday deals at Best Buy

More great deals at Best Buy:

Samsung 75-inch 7 Series TV: $850 (save $250)
Apple iMac — 21.5″: $1000 (save $500)
Acer Chromebook Spin 514: $299 (save $200)
Ninja Mega System blender: $160 (save $40)

Best Black Friday deals at Amazon

More great deals at Amazon:

Garmin Instinct outdoor watch: $170 (save $130)
Roku Streambar Pro: $150 (save $30)
Blue Yeti USB Mic: $100 (save $50)
Le Creuset enameled cast iron oven: $180 (save $120)

Best Black Friday headphone deals

You can always find headphones on sale during Black Friday events, but finding the right balance between a good deal and a good set of headphones can be a challenge. Here’s what we’ve found so far.

More great headphone deals:

Beats Studio3 wireless headphones: $180 (save $170)
AirPods Pro with MagSafe charging case: $190 (save $59 versus Apple Store)
JBL Live 660NC noise canceling headphones: $100 (save $100)
Beats Powerbeats Pro: $150 (save $100 in select colors)

Best Black Friday TV deals

Televisions frequently fill out Black Friday sale pages, but it’s not always easy to tell which sales are actually worthwhile. Here are some deals on good TVs worth adding to your shopping cart.

More great TV deals:

LG 43-inch Class 4K UHD Smart TV: $400 (save $80)
TCL 32-inch Class 3-Series Roku Smart TV: $160 (save $50)
LG 48-inch C1 OLED TV: $1,097 (save $200)
Insignia 32″ Fire Smart TV: $150 (save $50)
Samsung 32-inch The Frame wall-art TV: $528 (save $72)

Best Black Friday laptop deals

More great laptop deals:

Acer Aspire 5: $530 (save $100)
Samsung Chromebook 4+: $209 (save $110)
MSI Prestige 14: $699 (save $400 after rebate)
Lenovo Yoga 9i: $1,350 (save $400)
Lenovo IdeaPad S340: $729 (save $71)

Best Black Friday tablet deals

It’s never hard to find a cheap tablet, but it can occasionally be challenging to find a good tablet at a reasonable price. Here are all of the worthwhile tablet deals we’ve found for early Black Friday.

More great tablet deals:

Apple iPad Pro (2nd Generation): $750 (save $150)
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: $90 (save $50 versus current Amazon price)
Apple iPad Mini (256GB): $600 (save $50 versus Apple store)
Hyundai HyTab 7LC1: $80 (save $20)

Best Black Friday kitchen deals

Kitchen tech can totally change the way you cook, and a great sale on kitchen tech makes that exploration even more enjoyable. Here are the best Black Friday kitchen deals we’ve found.

More great kitchen and home deals:

KitchenAid Food Chopper: $40 (save $15)
Bella 1.7L Electric Kettle: $20 (save $20)
Mr. Coffee Iced Coffee Maker: $25 (save $10)
Ninja Foodi 6-in-1 Indoor Grill: $250 (save $50)
Ninja Mega Kitchen blender system: $160 (save $40)

Best Black Friday fitness deals

With New Year’s Day inching ever closer, those fitness resolutions can start to feel daunting. But not if you’ve got the right equipment. Here are the best Black Friday fitness deals we’ve found.

More great fitness deals:

Fitbit Luxe: $100 (save $50)
Airex Fitline Non Slip Floor Mat: $61 (save $31)
Total Gym APEX Versatile Indoor Home Workout: $399 (save $136)
Sunny Health & Fitness Air Bike: $238 (save $52)

Best Black Friday deals under $50

Roku Streaming Stick 4K: $29 (save $21)
Google Nest Mini (2nd generation): $25 (save $24)
TP-Link Wi-Fi Extender: $30 (save $20)
Lenovo Smart Clock: $30 (save $20)

More great Black Friday deals

Marshall Kilburn II portable Bluetooth speaker: $250 (save $50)
Sony UBP-X700M 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player: $178 (save $72)
Samsung HW-A650 soundbar with wireless subwoofer: $208 (save $192)
WD EasyStore 14TB external hard drive: $260 (save $160)

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 10, #533

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 10, No. 533.

Looking for the most recent regular 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 and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features a lot of team names, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy one to solve. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

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

Yellow group hint: Play ball!

Green group hint: Not front.

Blue group hint: Certain NFL player.

Purple group hint: They play at Smoothie King Center.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: An AL Central player.

Green group: Words appearing before «back,» in football.

Blue group: Associated with Derrick Henry.

Purple group: New Orleans Pelicans.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is an AL Central player. The four answers are Guardian, Royal, Tiger and Twin.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is words appearing before «back,» in football. The four answers are corner, defensive, full and running.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Derrick Henry. The four answers are Heisman, King, Ravens and Titans.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is New Orleans Pelicans. The four answers are Bey, Fears, Murphy and Queen.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, March 10

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 10.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? I’d just like to point out that the New York Times puzzle-makers love the 7-Across answer — they use it about every other week. Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Writing that lacks substance
Answer: FLUFF

6A clue: Pencil in a cosmetics bag
Answer: LINER

7A clue: ___ acid (building block of proteins)
Answer: AMINO

8A clue: Partner of services, in economics
Answer: GOODS

9A clue: Small criticism
Answer: NIT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Warning sign in a relationship, metaphorically
Answer: FLAG

2D clue: Fancy prom ride
Answer: LIMO

3D clue: SAG-AFTRA, for one
Answer: UNION

4D clue: Luxury fashion house headquartered in Rome
Answer: FENDI

5D clue: Ground coating on a cold morning
Answer: FROST

Technologies

Australians Flock to VPNs in the Wake of Online Age-Restriction Laws

App downloads for VPN services increase sharply as websites in Australia go behind age-restriction walls.

A new set of laws in Australia requiring adult websites and app stores to age-restrict content for those under 18, and requiring AI companies to restrict chatbot offerings from displaying certain types of sensitive or adult content to minors, is apparently driving many to download Virtual Private Network apps there.

Major adult sites have closed their virtual doors to those who aren’t age-confirmed in Australia, and these changes follow a nationwide ban on social media use by teenagers and young children that went into effect in December.

According to reports from Reuters, The Guardian and others, in response to the bans, downloads of VPN-related apps, which people can use to circumvent location-based restrictions, are sharply on the rise. According to Reuters, three of the 15 most downloaded free iPhone apps in the country were VPN-related as the new laws went into effect on Monday.

Lawmakers in some regions, including the US, are well aware that people use VPNs in this way. In states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, laws are being proposed to limit or outright ban VPN use. Wisconsin’s proposed law would require adult sites to block VPN traffic, while Michigan’s proposal would ban VPN use entirely in the state.

There is also a proposal in England under consideration to ban VPN use by minors. That proposal is currently under review.