Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? 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? The Across clues were tricky, but the Down clues helped me fill in the blanks. Read on for the answers. 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: When pigs fly
Answer: NEVER

6A clue: Courtroom excuse
Answer: ALIBI

7A clue: «That’s a ___!» («Seems unlikely!»)
Answer: BIGIF

8A clue: Cash register compartment
Answer: TILL

9A clue: She, in French
Answer: ELLE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Catch, as a crook
Answer: NAB

2D clue: Designation for prolific Yelp reviewers
Answer: ELITE

3D clue: Candlelight ___ (solemn observance)
Answer: VIGIL

4D clue: Online invoice
Answer: EBILL

5D clue: Piece of equipment in a Winter Olympics biathlon
Answer: RIFLE

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Samsung is doubling the number of devices it’ll deliver with Galaxy AI this year to 800 million units, the company’s co-CEO TM Roh told Reuters on Monday. 

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«We will apply AI to all products, all functions and all services as quickly as possible,» Roh told Reuters. 

Galaxy AI includes features like circle to search, live translate on phone calls, real-time translation, a writing assistant, generative photo editing and generative wallpaper. 

The AI features are currently available on the Samsung Galaxy S25 series of phones, the Galaxy S24 series, the Galaxy S23 series; the Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy S24 FE and Galaxy S25 FE; the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Fold 6 and Z Fold 7; the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Z Flip 6 and Z Flip 7; the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, S10 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S11; and the Galaxy Tab S9 series.

Although Samsung is also a manufacturer of RAM, it is facing supply issues caused by exceedingly high demand resulting from the rise of AI. 

«As this situation is unprecedented, no company is immune to its impact,» Roh told Reuters. The co-CEO also didn’t rule out price increases, but said he’s working with partners to find solutions. 

A representative for Samsung didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The AI push from Samsung comes during a memory chip crunch fueled by AI data centers, causing the cost of certain electronics to surge. Analysts predict that high demand and low supply will result in price increases across multiple product categories, including phones and cars. 

AI systems require more RAM, which is why, for example, the iPhone 16 shipped with 16GB of RAM to power Apple Intelligence. The demand for power from AI data centers that run ChatGPT is so high that US memory manufacturer Micron killed off Crucial, its consumer RAM business, to pivot toward enterprise clients. Crucial had been around since 1996.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI will use up about 40% of DRAM output from South Korean firms Samsung and SK Hynix alone, according to Reuters. DRAM refers to Dynamic Random-Access Memory, the main working memory in computers, phones and servers, and AI relies heavily on it.

This memory crunch has reportedly left Google and Microsoft scrambling to secure supply for 2026, leading to firings and heated exchanges, according to South Korean publication Seoul Economic Daily. As a result, consumers may see devices with less RAM hit the market, reminiscent of products from years ago, such as 4GB smartphones and potentially 8-12GB graphics cards.

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 is a tough one. Remember that athlete surnames sometimes look like regular nouns, especially since Connections lists all its words in all caps, so you can’t tell if they’re a name or not. 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 app. You can also 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: Go the other way.

Green group hint: Nothing but net.

Blue group hint: Fire it in there.

Purple group hint: Not front.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Change direction.

Green group: Basketball shot types.

Blue group: Active MLB pitchers.

Purple group: Back ____.

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

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

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The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is change direction. The four answers are pivot, turn, veer and zig.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball shot types. The four answers are alley-oop, fadeaway, floater and layup.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is active MLB pitchers. The four answers are Cease, Crochet, Wheeler and Woo.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is back ____. The four answers are board, field, stop and stretch.