Technologies

Popular Noise-Canceling Beats Studio Buds Return to All-Time Low of $90 at Amazon

Save $60 on these true wireless Beats earbuds for a limited time.

Going into 2023, you don’t have to spend a fortune for a decent set of noise-canceling earbuds. With solid sound quality, active noise cancelation and a transparency mode, the Beats Studio Buds are a great option to consider. And right now, they are back down to their best-ever price of $90 at Amazon. That’s $60 off the suggested retail price, though the discount only applies to gray color at present, with other options seeing a $50 price break.

See at Amazon

Beats Studio Buds are small, lightweight, comfortable to wear and fit most ears securely. Despite being made by Apple these days, Beats products work great with both iPhones and Android phones and there are plenty of features to love, including quick pairing and sound quality that CNET’s David Carnoy said beats out AirPods Pro and Powerbeats Pro in his review.

Unlike some other Apple-made Beats products, the Studio Buds lack a few of the fanciest features like in-ear detection and the ability to pair to all of your Apple devices via iCloud and switch between them automatically. That probably won’t be a deal breaker for most folks, especially given the price differential between the Studio Buds and something like the AirPods Pro.

The Beats Studio Buds provide up to 8 hours of listening time on a single charge, with up to 24 hours when combined with the charging case. They are also IPX4-rated sweat and water-resistant, so they’re a solid option to use on your commute or at the gym.

And if the Studio Buds aren’t quite the right fit for you, check out the other Beats headphones deals currently available.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 7, #941

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 7, #941

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 is rather tricky. The purple category is especially mystifying. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times 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: Lookalikes.

Green group hint: Part of something.

Blue group hint: National symbol.

Purple group hint: Squish down.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Doppelgänger.

Green group: Portion.

Blue group: Common flag symbols.

Purple group: Pressed using a press.

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 doppelgänger. The four answers are clone, double, mirror and ringer.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is portion. The four answers are concern, interest, share and stake.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is common flag symbols. The four answers are crescent, cross, star and stripe.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is pressed using a press. The four answers are cider, garlic, trousers and wine.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 7 #675

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 7, No. 675.

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 easier than some have been. Once you learn the topic, the words come pretty easily. But 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: Open wide.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Brace face.

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:

MIST, SOIL, RICE, LICE, RUDE, LUDE, BRUSH, TOOT, RIDE, RIDER

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:

DRILL, FLOSS, MIRROR, FLUORIDE, TOOTHBRUSH

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is DENTISTSOFFICE. To find it, start with the D that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind up and then across.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.