Technologies

‘Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars’ Builds Hype for Survivor With a Fun Tale

Book review: Author Sam Maggs gets into the heads Cal Kestis and company in this fun prequel to the upcoming video game.

It’s been more than three years since Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order‘s trainee Force wielder Cal Kestis and his swashbuckling buddies survived an encounter with the Sith, so the details of that video game adventure may have faded with time. With sequel Jedi: Survivor coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC in April, you might be pondering a replay of the 2019 original.

Star Wars: Jedi Battle Scars cover — Star Wars: Jedi Battle Scars takes place between video game Fallen Order and upcoming sequel Survivor.

Penguin Random House

You could also check out author Sam Maggs’ tie-in novel Jedi: Battle Scars, which comes out March 7 and takes place in the five-year period between the two games. The writer effortlessly reacquaints us with Cal and the rest of the Stinger Mantis crew, taking us on an intense adventure that captures the danger of living on the run from the Galactic Empire and waging a seemingly hopeless rebel campaign in the era between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

This story follows the crew after they encounter a defecting Imperial who says she can lead them to fancy cloaking technology that would give them a major advantage over the totalitarian regime. However, following this lead represents a major risk since it’s unclear if the defector is trustworthy and her mission will bring them directly into the path of a Jedi-hunting Imperial Inquisitor.

See Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars on Amazon

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The sense of mistrust is among the tale’s most engaging elements, since Maggs infuses our heroes with convincing internal conflict and reminds us of their past traumas. Each character has a distinct voice that comes to the forefront when we jump to their point of view, giving each character new dimension beyond what we saw in the game.

As the main hero of the games, Cal will be the most familiar personality to fans. This novel dives into his doubts and fears more than the game could, and exploring his unexpressed thoughts proves fascinating. Maggs nicely captures his mixture of irreverence and seriousness, along with his uncertain dynamic with his master Cere Junda. Cere herself has an intriguing arc but remains aloof for much of the tale.

Merrin, a Nightsister who joined the crew in Fallen Order, adds another wrinkle by becoming emotionally entangled with their new ally. She presents a severe exterior, but this novel places her at the center of its story and reveals a rich inner life.

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Since her Force abilities are derived from the Dark Side, this should put her at odds with the Light Side-wielding Cal. Maggs touches on this only briefly; it’s disappointing that we don’t dive into this dichotomy more deeply.

Offering a break from all the intensity is four-armed alien pilot Greez Dritus, whose wise-cracking tone Maggs clearly enjoys writing. You’re in for a treat whenever the story jumps to his perspective, since he’s so clearly exhausted with his crewmates’ idealism and willingness to rush into danger.

Greez openly mistrusts the defector, making him the most pragmatic and relatable of the crew (mirroring the movies’ Han Solo). He’s still on board with his friends when it counts though, and his comic relief status feeds into the drama wonderfully in the novel’s latter stages.

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The action sequences mirror the game in a deeply satisfying way, right down to Cal’s supercute droid buddy BD-1 flinging him healing stims in the longer battle sequences. However, both Cal and Merrin feel invincible as they mow down squads of stormtroopers and bounty hunter goons — there’s little sense of peril and these scenes can drag on a little. The danger comes only when they run into more intense foes, since we don’t know if everyone in this novel will make it to the video game sequel.

Some of the environments our heroes explore are a little dull as well; the bases and prisons lack much color. In contrast, Maggs’ descriptions of the Stinger Mantis make the ship feel incredibly homey and familiar (especially if you’ve played the game). We also get to see city planet Hosnian Prime long before its destruction in The Force Awakens.

Jedi: Battle Scars sends Cal and his buddies on a tense adventure and infuses them with new depth. It doesn’t dive into every intriguing narrative possibility as much as it could, but it offers a way to reintroduce yourself to these rebels as Jedi: Survivor draws near.

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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.