Technologies

Get Discounts of Up to 25% on Google Pixel Buds Pro and Pixel Buds A-Series

Snag a pair of quality true-wireless earbuds for less, with prices starting at just $79.

Whether you want to listen to music and podcasts privately or need to stay connected with voice calling while on the go, just about everyone can benefit from a pair of everyday wireless earbuds. If you’re in the market for a quality pair, check out this deal happening at Amazon. The Google Pixel Buds A-Series are discounted by 20% and Google Pixel Buds Pro are discounted by 25% right now.

See at Amazon

Pixel Buds Pro are premium wireless earbuds featuring active noise canceling. They’re some of our favorite earbuds, particularly for Android users. CNET’s David Carnoy reviewed these earbuds and found the design and fit make this pair a true stand out, explaining such features, «helps enhance their strong performance on both the sound quality and noise-canceling fronts.» They also get up to 11 hours of battery life per charge and good voice-calling performance. They also sport a transparency mode. Normally $200, you can snag a pair for $150 right now.

And for even less, you can grab the budget-friendly Pixel Buds A-Series for $79. That’s a $20 discount on the list price. They only offer up to 5 hours of battery life per charge and lose the active noise canceling available on the Pro models, but they do offer good sound quality for the price and, according to CNET’s Pixel Buds A-Series review, can handle voice calling and do «a very good job reducing a lot of background noise during calls.»

Both are rated IPX4-rated water-resistant or splash-proof, which means they can handle a little moisture at the gym or weather while on the go. And for Android users, there is also access to Google Assistant for hands-free voice commands. Apple users can use either of these Pixel Buds, however they’ll lose access to a few key features, which is why we recommend pairing these earbuds with an Android device.

Looking for something a little different? Be sure to check out our roundup of headphone and earbuds deals happening now.

Technologies

Tariffs Explained: Price Hikes Loom as Trump Clashes With Walmart

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 20, #443

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 443 for May 20.

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 reminds me that I haven’t had a meal in a fancy restaurant in some time. Maybe it’s time to make a reservation. 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: Oh, of course!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Elegant eats.

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:

SITE, FINE, SINE, DINE, PEAS, TEEN, PEER, STEEP, DEER, SEED, SEEN, POET, TREE, NOPE, SEES.

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:

SOUP, SALAD, CHEESE, ENTREE, DESSERT, APPETIZERS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is FINEDINING. To find it, start with the F that’s three letters down on the farthest row to the left, and wind across.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 24, #713

Hints and answers for Connections for May 24, #713.

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 has a fun variety of categories. The purple one appeals to my English major heart. 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: Goo-goo.

Green group hint: Not shirts.

Blue group hint: City that never sleeps.

Purple group hint: Acclaimed writers.