Technologies

Pokemon Sleep Is a Sleep-Analyzing Game Coming to Android and iOS

Gotta catch them z’s.

Pokemon Sleep, revealed during Monday’s Pokemon Presents livestream, is a sleep-analyzing game coming to Android and iOS this summer. We’ve waited a while for this one — The Pokemon Company first hinted at it back in 2019.

You play by placing your phone by your pillow when you go to bed, so it can record and measure your sleep. The longer you slumber, the higher your score will be in the morning and more Pokemon will have gathered around sleeping legend (and Pokemon Sleep mascot) Snorlax.

Your sleep will be classified as one of three styles — dozing, snoozing or slumbering — and Pokemon that sleep in similar ways will show up in the morning. Each Pokemon has a number of different sleep styles to discover and log in your sleep style dex.

The Pokemon Sleep app's menus are shown on three phones. — The game analyses and categorizes the time you spend sleeping.

The Pokemon Company

Those who prefer not to put their phone by their pillows will also be able to use the Pokemon Go Plus+ accessory, which connects to Pokemon Sleep via Bluetooth. Once it’s connected, you hold the device’s central button, place it by your pillow and sleep. In addition to measuring your sleep, a Pikachu voice can prompt you when it’s time to wake up or go to sleep.

Like the Pokemon Go Plus device that came out in 2016, it’s compatible with Pokemon Go — you can use it to spin Pokestops and catch Pokemon in the hugely popular mobile game. Linking the new device to Pokemon Go will let you catch an adorable Snorlax wearing a nightcap.

A future update will also let you use Pokemon Sleep data in Pokemon Go, but it’s unclear what that data will do.

Pokemon Sleep didn’t get a firm release date, but the Pokemon Go Plus+ comes out July 14 — it’s likely the app will arrive around the same time this summer.

Gotta eat ’em all at the Pokemon Cafe

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Technologies

Bishop Takes Rook: You’ll Be Able to Learn Chess on Duolingo Soon

The course is in beta now but will be available to everyone in a few months.

«Hola, ajedrez» means «Hello, chess» in Spanish. You’ve always been able to learn Spanish on Duolingo. And you’ll be able to learn and practice chess on the language learning app soon. Duolingo announced on April 22 that beta testers can practice the centuries-old board game in Duolingo now, and others will be able to learn the game on the app in a few months.

Chess will be the first new Duolingo course since the app began offering math and music lessons in 2023. And Duolingo hopes that to bring the classic board game to more people of all experience levels.

Duolingo chess lessons aim to be friendly to beginners

I spoke with a Duolingo rep about the upcoming lessons. He said the company wants to continue expanding what people can learn through the app, and chess was an early contender.

Chess is «one of those things that … any age group can learn … but then also something that takes the 10,000-hour theory to really master,» Edwin Bodge, a senior product manager with Duolingo, said. «We thought it would fit with the Duolingo medium really well.»

When I asked why people would use Duolingo over other chess learning sites and tools, Bodge said a lot of other chess content is geared toward advanced users, not newcomers. «We really saw a great opportunity to try and cater to more of a beginner, medium (player) and try and increase access to the game,» he said.

The chess lessons are slightly different from others you might find on Duolingo, like Spanish and math, but the progression system is similar. And from what Duolingo showed me, the lessons really do start at square one, or A1 on a chessboard.

Chess lessons feel similar to other Duolingo lessons

When you start, Duolingo asks how much you already know about chess, like in other lessons on the app. Duolingo will then adjust the lessons according to your response. If you say you’re brand-new to chess and have no knowledge of the game, early lessons will focus on how each piece moves before moving on to capturing other pieces and checking the king. Other lessons are similar to mini-puzzles where you might be asked to capture different pieces using a single piece, like your knight or rook, in four moves or fewer.

You can access hints for each lesson, but if you get something wrong, your opponent will react to show you you’ve left a piece open for capture, like in a real match. And if you keep getting something incorrect, Duolingo will show you what to do. «If you get it wrong multiple times, eventually we’ll show you an arrow that shows you exactly where to move,» Sammi Siegel, a software engineer with Duolingo, said.

If you are subscribed to Duolingo Max and make a mistake in a language lesson, the app can explain the mistake — and what the right solution is — with a feature called Explain My Answer. However, that feature won’t be available with the chess lessons for now. It’s not always easy to explain why something is right or wrong in chess because there are so many millions of different moves.

«We want to get better at fuller explanations,» Siegel said. «There is some mix of AI and model training that we’re hoping to use to better explain why a certain move is wrong.» Because there are so many moves in chess, it’s possible to make moves that could be correct but aren’t the best options. In such instances, Duolingo will show a banner that lets you know that a move isn’t wrong but isn’t necessarily the best move.

Duolingo also said each section represents a range on the Elo rating system, the method by which a chess player’s skills are calculated. As you progress, your lessons will be tougher and more challenging. This is similar to the CEFR language proficiency levels attached to the different language sections in the app.

You’ll also have the opportunity to have «mini-matches» or full-on games against Duolingo’s chess coach, Oscar. These matches will scale in difficulty to challenge you as well, so you aren’t facing a grandmaster-level chess player after your first week of playing the game. But that doesn’t mean you can slack off and play sloppily. If you make a mistake, like leaving your queen open to capture, Oscar will take advantage and leave you scrambling to recover.

While playing against Oscar is good practice, you won’t be able to face off against other players when these chess lessons launch. But Duolingo said matches against other people are something they are looking into, so you might be able to play against a friend over the app in the future. «One of the big reasons why we’re doing this is we think we can get a whole generation of people interested in chess,» Bodge said.

Duolingo’s new chess lessons are now available in the beta version now and will start rolling out on iOS in English in May. Duolingo said it is working to bring these lessons to Android devices and more languages in the coming months.

For more on Duolingo, check out how well the free version prepared me for a trip to Italy and our review of the language learning app. You can also check out our best language learning apps.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, April 27

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 27.

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 NYT Mini Crossword isn’t too much of a stumper. A lot of words contain A and E, for some reason. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. 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 at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Outdoor spot to people-watch, maybe
Answer: STOOP

6A clue: Big name in health insurance
Answer: AETNA

7A clue: Broadway theater helper
Answer: USHER

8A clue: Easy to understand
Answer: CLEAR

9A clue: When many show up to a job interview
Answer: EARLY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What «salsa» literally means
Answer: SAUCE

2D clue: Electric car maker since 2003
Answer: TESLA

3D clue: «… in one ear and out the ___»
Answer: OTHER

4D clue: Tatum ___, youngest-ever Oscar winner (at age 10, for Best Supporting Actress)
Answer: ONEAL

5D clue: Defensive maneuver in fencing
Answer: PARRY

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 27, #216

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 216, for April 27.

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 might be a breeze, as long as you know your sports-league commissioners. 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: Dunk it.

Green group hint: Get it moving.

Blue group hint: They run the leagues.

Purple group hint: Like house, kind of.