Technologies

Oscar Mayer offers NASA a Wienermobile to transport moon astronauts

So, yeah, that’s probably not going to work out.

Some day, in the hopefully not-too-distant future, NASA’s next moon-bound astronauts will catch a ride to the launchpad to board their Orion spacecraft atop a massive SLS rocket. Oscar Mayer, the food company known for hot dogs, would like to offer a bold and dignified vehicle to take them there. A Wienermobile.

NASA actually is looking for some new astronaut ground transportation. It put out a call last week for commercial providers to chime in on possible replacements for the shiny Astrovan that once moved shuttle astronauts the nine miles from their crew quarters to the launchpad.

NASA is gearing up for its crewed Artemis missions, with the intention of returning humans to the moon. «The proposals should be unique, embrace new technology and visually embody Artemis to the public,» NASA said.

I’m not sure a Wienermobile quite embodies the Artemis spirit of lunar exploration full of courage and space adventure. It embodies a hot dog, full of beef.

NASA’s vehicle request came to the attention of Oscar Mayer, which tweeted «Hey, NASA, we got you» on Friday along with a photo of a Wienermobile.

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The Wienermobile is likely to face some competition. In recent years, Airstream kitted out a touring coach for use with Boeing’s delayed Starliner missions and SpaceX Dragon astronauts have had the chance to enjoy a lift in a Tesla Model X.

This isn’t Oscar Mayer’s first attempt at getting into the space game. It jumped on the Blue Origin «dong rocket» meme bandwagon when Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos flew to suborbital space in July by tweeting a photo of the Wienermobile rocketing off this rock.

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Even though I know an astro-hot-dog-mobile would be so, so wrong, I still kind of want to see it happen. A Wienermobile, boldly rolling toward the launchpad, astronauts safely ensconced within its tubular shell, with nothing but space and the bright lantern of the moon ahead of them. Epic.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 3, #876

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle No. 876 for Monday, Nov. 3.

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 NYT Connections puzzle has some exceptionally long clues. All of them have at least two words. If you need help, you’re in the right place. 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 the 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: Primary color.

Green group hint: Your lungs also qualify.

Blue group hint: Parents’ nightmare toys.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection in the second word of each phrase.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Things that are red.

Green group: Things filled with air.

Blue group: Things with a lot of pieces.

Purple group: Ending with animals.

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

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that are red. The four answers are clown nose, fire engine, maraschino cherry and stop sign.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is things filled with air. The four answers are balloon animal, bouncy castle, water wings and whoopee cushion.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is things with a lot of pieces. The four answers are jigsaw puzzle, Lego set, Lite-Brite and pick-up sticks.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ending with animals. The four answers are dark horse, funky chicken, jumbo shrimp and sea monkey.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 3 #610

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 610 for Monday, Nov. 3.

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 is a really fun one that may take you back to your childhood. 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: Wee wee wee!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Nursery rhyme counted out on a child’s toes.

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:

RANT, TAME, TAMES, NAME, NAMES, RATE, RATED, GORE, SAME, SPRIG, MARK

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:

WENT, MARKET, STAYED, HOME, ROAST, BEEF, NONE

(Confused? Read this classic nursery rhyme.)

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THISLITTLEPIGGY. To find it, start with a T that’s a bit hard to find. You’ll need to go over three rows from the far left, then count down six letters to find the correct T. Then you wind around and back up (see image above).