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9 Amazon Prime Benefits to Use in 2023

2023 is almost here. Here’s how you use your Amazon Prime membership for access to exclusive deals.

The new year is coming up in just a few days, and there are Amazon deals going strong with more to come for the new year. If you’re a Prime member, there are a slew of perks included with your subscription that you’ll want to use all year round.

No, we’re not just talking about free two-day shipping. Amazon Prime members have access to tons of other perks and bonuses you might not know about.

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For example, Amazon Prime members can get deliveries much faster than two days, sometimes in a few hours. They can also schedule delivery dates for convenience or to avoid times when they’ll be away from home. And they even get exclusive deals simply by using Alexa on an Amazon Echo.

If you’re thinking about signing up for an Amazon Prime account (here’s how) or don’t know much about all of the included features, here are some ways you can get the most out of your membership while shopping for Black Friday deals.

Read more: New Amazon Prime Perk: How to Get Free Grubhub Plus Food Delivery

You can get free same-day delivery on qualifying items

If there’s a product you want immediately, you can see if it’s available for delivery the same day you order. To check a product’s eligibility, look for delivery that’s marked as «Prime FREE Same-Day» while shopping. Note that your order will need to contain over $35 of qualifying items. If not, you’ll have to pay a small fee.

Amazon will deliver from morning until evening, so you won’t have to worry about receiving your order at 3 a.m. However, same-day delivery isn’t available in all locations, so enter your ZIP code on the Amazon Same-Day Delivery page to see if you’re eligible.

Alexa can share extra discounts when you shop on Echo

You can use your Amazon Echo to ask «Alexa, what are my deals?» anytime. Alexa will then share Prime-exclusive deals and you’ll have the option to add the item to your cart, buy it now or move on to the next deal.

Schedule a convenient shipping date for your package

Everyone knows about Amazon’s free two-day shipping, but another option is to choose a delivery date during checkout. It’s called Amazon Day and it’s helpful if there’s a specific day you know someone will be at home to answer for packages — especially if it’s something pricey that you don’t want to risk leaving unattended.

If you order multiple items on different days, you can have them delivered on the same day as long as they’re eligible for this offer.

Use your Amazon Echo to help track packages

If you have an Amazon Echo of any kind, you can use it to track your orders.

Just say «Alexa, where’s my package?» and your Echo will let you know where it is, who it’s for and when it’ll arrive. Once your order has been delivered, the Echo’s ring light will pulse yellow and if you have the Echo Show, the delivery notification will appear on the screen.

Shop Early Access deals before non-Prime members

If something you’ve been eyeing says «Prime Early Access,» as a Prime member you can shop that sale 30 minutes before non-Prime members. However, you’ll still have to compete with other Prime members who are interested in the product before it sells out.

Amazon can leave your package inside your house

When you know you’re not going to be home for a while and you’ve got a shipment on the way, it’s much safer to have an Amazon employee leave your items inside your house to avoid theft.

For in-home delivery, you’ll need a Key-compatible smart lock and an (optional) Amazon Cloud Cam. The Amazon driver will send you a notification when they’ve arrived at your house and will request to unlock your door. Amazon will verify the package is at the right address and the driver is near the door, then will turn on Amazon Cloud Cam and unlock your door.

If you’re wary of letting a complete stranger into your home, keep in mind that you’ll also receive notifications during the entire process. Note that you can opt to block delivery access to your home — for example, if you know you’ll be home during that time.

You can also have packages delivered inside your garage

«Porch pirates» — thieves who steal packages left in front of homes — are no joke. Security site SafeWise told CNET that about 260 million packages have been stolen from home exteriors in 2022. The Amazon Key in-garage delivery service can stop porch theft completely and is free for all Amazon Prime members.

When you use Amazon In-Garage Delivery, select Key Delivery at checkout. The garage kit is $29 right now and turns your garage into a smart garage. It works the same as in-home delivery so Amazon will do all the verifying for you.

Send a gift to someone without knowing their address

An Amazon Prime feature lets you send someone a gift, even if you don’t have their address. For instance, if you’d like to send a coworker something for the holidays or their birthday but don’t know what their address is, you can still send a gift. But there’s a catch — that person must also have a Prime account and you need either their phone number or email address associated with the account.

Just note that not every item on Amazon is eligible.

Share Prime perks with family

If you’ve got another adult living in your household, like a significant other or friend, you can share your Prime membership with them. You’ll still be able to keep your personal accounts separate, but you’ll both have access to all the same Prime benefits.

You can also share your account with up to four teens and up to four children in your household. While they’ll have their own logins, you can still manage their profiles.

For more shopping tips, here’s how to send your Amazon packages back the fast, easy and free way.

More from 12 Days of Tips: Alexa’ isn’t the only thing your Amazon Echo can listen for. Here’s What Else

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Change These Browser Settings Right Now to Boost Your Privacy


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Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, July 13

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 13.

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.


Today’s Mini Crossword is a little meta. Two clues refer to Wordle, another super-popular game from The New York Times. We have answers for that puzzle, too. In fact, iff you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

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: Gibbon or gorilla
Answer: APE

4A clue: Bird whose name is an excellent starting guess in Wordle, according to WordleBot
Answer: CRANE

6A clue: Cry from a judge
Answer: ORDER

7A clue: Family nickname that would make a terrible starting guess in Wordle
Answer: MAMMA

8A clue: «Hooray!»
Answer: YAY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Widespread display
Answer: ARRAY

2D clue: Lakshmi who was a longtime host of «Top Chef»
Answer: PADMA

3D clue: «Don’t let perfect be the ___ of good» (aphorism)
Answer: ENEMY

4D clue: URL ending
Answer: COM

5D clue: Historical period
Answer: ERA

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 13, #293

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 13, No. 293

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 has some fun categories. There’s only one requiring last names, and one requiring teams, so if you can sort those easily, you should be in good shape. 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: Bad news for a golfer.

Green group hint: Aries animal.

Blue group hint: Think California capital city.

Purple group hint: No charge.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Mess up a golf shot.

Green group: Rams

Blue group: Sacramento Kings greats.

Purple group: Free ____.

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 mess up a golf shot.  The four answers are duff, flub, mishit and shank.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is rams. The four answers are Colorado State, Los Angeles, Rhode Island and VCU.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Sacramento Kings greats. The four answers are Divac, Richmond, Stojaković and Webber.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is free ____.  The four answers are agent, kick, safety and throw.

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Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 13, #1485

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 13, No. 1,485.

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


Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fun word, but not easy to guess. That first letter doesn’t come up in any of the starter or secondary words I tend to choose. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with G.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends in a vowel

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a legendary creature that’s often depicted in garden statues.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is GNOME.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 12, No. 1484 was EXILE.

Recent Wordle answers

July 8, No. 1480: DREAD

July 9, No. 1481: NOVEL

July 10, No. 1482: JUMPY

July 11, No. 1483: BRAND

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