Technologies

Why You Shouldn’t Cancel Netflix This November (But Hulu Can Probably Go)

Which streaming services to keep and which to cancel for the month of November, based on fluctuating prices and what’s new to watch.

OK, we know, we know: This is the month Netflix launches its ad-based subscription for $7. But you only get one stream with that, and prices on the other plans are not changing. With that said, it’s a service you want to rock with this November for sure, especially with House of the Dragon, Rings of Power and She-Hulk already wrapped.

Every month you may wonder if you should cancel a streaming service to cut costs. And each month, I give advice on which ones to drop or keep during these difficult financial times. So, I’d like to offer one strategy: Churn like ice cream.

What does that mean? Subscribe for a term, cancel, switch to a different service, then resubscribe, keeping your favorites in a rotation. You can even pick one or two must-haves for the year and treat other streaming platforms like seasonal add-ons.The upside is that you get to save money when Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max and others don’t have the content you want to watch at a given time. Just remember to shut off autorenewal for your monthly subscriptions. Rotating may not be an option if you’re sharing your accounts with people outside your household, but if you can work out a system with your streaming posse, go for it.

Here are my recommendations on the streaming rotation you should have for November, primarily based on new TV shows and movies coming to each platform. Your tastes may differ, but if nothing else I urge you to at least consider the concept of rotating for savings. It’s easier than you might think.

Don’t let go of these streaming services in November

Netflix: Netflix has lots to offer this month. Animated flick The Bad Guys arrives on Nov. 1, but there are new releases galore. On Nov. 3, Blockbuster Season 1 arrives with Randall Park headlining the cast, and The Dragon Prince Season 4 drops as well. Enola Holmes 2, Manifest Season 4 part 1 and K-drama The Fabulous all land on Nov. 4. Then watch The Crown Season 5 starting Nov. 9 and Lindsay Lohan’s holiday movie Falling for Christmas on Nov. 10. Warrior Nun Season 2 also hits on Nov. 10.

Florence Pugh stars in The Wonder beginning Nov. 16, and the third and final season of Dead to Me debuts on Nov. 17. The ball keeps rolling with Elite Season 6 and Jason Momoa’s new film, Slumberland, on Nov. 18. Cap it off on Nov. 23 with Tim Burton’s Wednesday to see the Addams Family’s favorite daughter head to Nevermore Academy. Then follow up with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery starring Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc.

HBO Max: HBO Max is worth keeping if you’re a fan of The White Lotus. Season 2 has seven episodes that will air into December. Other notable releases this month include Titans Season 4 (Nov. 3) with Joseph Morgan from The Originals/Vampire Diaries debuting as Brother Blood. A Christmas Story Christmas — the sequel to the 1983 movie — premieres on Nov. 17, as well as season 2 of The Sex Lives of College Girls. On Nov. 1, all the Harry Potter movies and a collection of Star Trek films come to the streamer.

Disney Plus: Binge what you can on Disney Plus, especially if you plan to cancel in December when the ad-free plan shoots up to $11 per month. This month, Andor wraps its 12-episode run on Nov. 23, so you can binge the whole show after that date. Here’s what’s new: The Santa Clauses TV series (Nov. 16), Enchanted sequel Disenchanted finally drops Nov. 18, and an unmissable Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special arrives Nov. 25. Director James Gunn stated that the holiday film will serve as a prequel of sorts for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. After you watch it, you may want to check out The Hip Hop Nutcracker starring Run DMC’s Rev. Run.

Dancing With the Stars airs its live finale on Disney Plus on Nov. 21. And Willow, the sequel series to the 1988 fantasy movie, premieres on Nov. 30 with Warwick Davis reprising his role. The show will consist of eight episodes.

Prime Video: If you already get this service through your Prime membership, you may as well keep it. My Policeman starring Harry Styles will be free to stream for Prime members on Nov. 4. Catch Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 fashion show on Nov. 9. The English with Emily Blunt and Mammals starring James Corden are two new Prime Video series that premiere on Nov. 11.

You can cancel these services this month

Hulu: Cancel Hulu if you’re not into anime or network TV — or finishing up The Handmaid’s Tale, which ends season 5 on Nov. 9. As for new titles, God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty about Jerry Falwell arrives on Nov. 1. The dubbed version of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War premieres Nov. 4, and Welcome to Chippendales lands on Nov. 22. You can keep watching Chainsaw Man, Hulu’s new roster of holiday movies or broadcast shows from Fox, ABC, etc. if you like.

Starz: Raising Kanan and The Serpent Queen have ended their seasons. BMF won’t return until January 2023. Cancel Starz for now.

Paramount Plus: If you want to watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, it’ll be on this platform. New animated series, Transformers: EarthSpark debuts on Nov. 11. Other than that, Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King series — from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan — debuts Nov. 13 but it will also air right after Yellowstone on regular TV. Cancel unless you want to watch these shows or NFL football.

Peacock: Speaking of Yellowstone, if you were hoping to stream the season 5 premiere on Nov. 13 or right after, sorry to disappoint you. The show won’t be available on Peacock anytime soon. However, you can still watch sports like Sunday Night Football here.

Apple TV Plus: There are few new releases here, including the film Causeway with Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry and The Mosquito Coast Season 2, both arriving on Nov. 4. Mythic Quest Season 3 debuts Nov. 11. Because Mythic Quest and The Mosquito Coast have 10 episodes each, you can choose to binge both series next year when the entire seasons are available.

Save more money by being patient

If you’re not someone who routinely gets FOMO, then a smart method is to wait until the bulk or all episodes of your favorite series land on a platform. That way, rather than pay for a service for two or three months to cover the 6- to 10-week run of a show, you can catch up on everything by subscribing for one month. And then repeat the cycle again.

As an example, there are eight episodes of Willow this season on Disney Plus. The finale airs in January, so season 1 episodes will be available to stream at that time. Though it premieres on Nov. 30 and runs into 2023, why pay for all three months when you can wait to watch it in full anytime in January or February?

Think about how much you’re paying per month for each streaming service you have, and do the math. Netflix is $10 to $20, Disney Plus is anywhere from $3 to $8 depending on bundles, HBO Max costs $10 or $15, Hulu starts at $8 and Starz runs $9. The others have a base rate of $5 per month, and again, ad-free Disney Plus jumps to $11 starting in December. Should you decide to churn, set yourself a calendar reminder to alert you when it’s time to re-subscribe or cancel. We’ll see you next month for another streaming breakdown.

Technologies

Pope Francis’ Funeral: How to Stream Live or Watch the Replay

Here’s how to stream the pope’s funeral very early Saturday, and what you can expect to see during the service.

After a week of global mourning for Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, the pope’s funeral will be celebrated on Saturday . Francis’ funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City (which is very, very early if you’re tuning in from the US or Canada), and he will be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

The Vatican will be livestreaming the papal funeral and procession, though not the burial, on its YouTube channel as it happens. The funeral will also be televised live on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as on streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus. Due to the time difference, it seems likely that many interested North American viewers will catch it when it’s replayed later on Saturday. Numerous networks will rebroadcast the service later that day.

If you choose to stay up, or get up early, here’s when the live broadcast of the pope’s funeral will air in your time zone in the continental US on April 26:

ET: 4 a.m.
CT: 3 a.m.
MT: 2 a.m.
PT: 1 a.m.

The papacy of Pope Francis was notable for the progressive reforms he brought to the Roman Catholic Church. He appointed more than half of the current College of Cardinals and attempted to foster more positive attitudes toward members of the LGBT community and migrants worldwide.

What to expect from the funeral

The funeral will follow many rituals, though not all traditional protocols will be followed. Most popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica or its grottoes, but the AP reports Francis chose the St. Mary Major Basilica to reflect his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary that is located there, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the People of Rome).

His funeral will be less elaborate than those of other popes per his own wishes. Francis simplified papal funeral rites last year, permitting his burial outside the Vatican, and emphasizing his role as a bishop rather than as pope (the pope is also the Bishop of Rome).

Previous popes were buried in three coffins: one of cypress, one of lead and one of oak. Francis requested to be buried in a single wooden, zinc-lined coffin and not to be placed in an elevated bier as other popes were.

The coffin will be taken from St Peter’s Basilica and placed on a dais in St Peter’s Square, where Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will lead the service. After the service, the coffin will return to St Peter’s Basilica before it is carried across the River Tiber and to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for burial. The ceremony is estimated to end around 2 p.m. local time, or four hours after it begins.

Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will be the first of nine Masses held daily at St. Peter’s until May 4. This is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church that observes nine days of consecutive mourning. According to Vatican News, a different group of mourners will participate each day, though the Eucharistic celebrations are open to everyone.

Who will attend Pope Francis’ funeral?

Hundreds of people, including world leaders and royals, are expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral.

US president Donald Trump confirmed on his Truth Social Platform that he and first lady Melania Trump will be at the funeral. This will be Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term. He is expected to have a seat in the third row, though the Vatican has yet to release an official seating chart. It is tradition for the first row of seats to go to Catholic royalty, and the second row to non-Catholic royals.

Prince William, who is attending on behalf of King Charles, will sit in the second row, which is reserved for non-Catholic royals. Former president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, devout Catholics, will also attend the funeral.

Conclave: What happens next to choose the new pope

After Pope Francis’ funeral, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will vote on his successor in an assembly of cardinals known as a conclave.

There are many matters for the cardinals to settle before the conclave begins, but once it does, it can take days or even weeks to conclude. Two-thirds of the cardinals’ votes are required to elect the next pope. The conclave occurs behind closed doors and the vote tally is never made public.

Read more: Where to Watch Conclave, the Vatican Thriller About Electing a New Pope

Look for the white smoke

The ballots are burned after each round, and chemicals are added to the flames to produce black smoke if there’s no majority. When a new pope has been selected, the chemicals will be added to the flames so they produce white smoke. Crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square to watch for the results.

If you’re fascinated by the process, you can watch a dramatized version of the events in 2024 film Conclave.

In the movie, Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who spearheads the election of the next pope while investigating rumors about potential candidates. The film is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris and is completely fictional — though it does represent some of the events of how actual papal conclaves take place. In March, the film won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

You can stream Conclave on Amazon Prime Video, or rent it for $6 on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube or Google Play Movies.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 26, #685

Hints and answers for Connections for April 26, #685.

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 features a lot of short words, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That purple category requires a lot of thinking — probably most people will solve it only by solving the other three and having four words left over. 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: Rainbow.

Green group hint: San Fernando ____.

Blue group hint: Think Robert.

Purple group hint: Mixed-up hue words.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tint.

Green group: Valley.

Blue group: Bobs.

Purple group: Color anagrams.

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 tint. The four answers are color, hue, shade and tone.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is valley. The four answers are dale, dell, glen and hollow.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bobs. The four answers are Dole, Hope, Marley and Ross.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is color anagrams. The four answers are Dre (red), Gary (gray), genre (green) and lube (blue).

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 26, #215

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 215, for Saturday, April 26.

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.

Connections: Sports Edition is tough today. The purple category theme threw me because of one phrase I didn’t know. And let’s hope you’re familiar with college coach surnames. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it 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: Try to achieve.

Green group hint: Move through it.

Blue group hint: Sideline bosses.

Purple group hint: Like a carton.