Technologies

WhatsApp Adds Channels Where You Can Follow Teams, People, Groups

What we know so far about Channels, which the chat app hopes you’ll use to follow your favorite teams, hobbies and more.

WhatsApp is a messaging app with big plans. On Thursday, Meta-owned WhatsApp announced that a new feature, WhatsApp Channels, is coming to the encrypted messaging service.

Channels is a «one-way broadcast tool for admins to send text, photos, videos, stickers and polls,» the company said in a statement. You’ll be able to use a searchable directory to select channels to follow and can choose to follow channels for your favorite sports teams, hobbies or updates from local officials.

A promotional video calls Channels «a private way to follow all topics you care about,» displaying such topics as «carpentry tips,» «traffic» and «weather.» Partners at launch will include the soccer teams FC Barcelona and Manchester City, as well as the International Rescue Committee and the World Health Organization.

A representative for WhatsApp didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on when exactly the new feature will arrive, but the company statement says that Channels will be first available in Colombia and Singapore before arriving in other countries.

How Channels will work on WhatsApp

Channels will appear on a new tab within WhatsApp labeled Updates, separate from regular chats. Admins won’t be able to add followers to their channels, so you can’t be forced into receiving updates from any groups.

«Channels will aspire to be the most private broadcast messaging product available and will come with the strong privacy protections people expect from WhatsApp,» Meta’s statement said, noting that Channel history will only be available for 30 days, after which it will disappear automatically.

Phone numbers and profile photos of channel admins also won’t be shared with followers, and following a channel won’t reveal your phone number to the admin or to other followers.

«We also believe there is an opportunity to support admins with a way for them to build a business around their channel using our expanding payment services as well as the ability to promote certain channels in the directory to help increase awareness,» the statement said.

For more on WhatsApp, here’s how to link multiple phones to your WhatsApp account and how to edit messages you’ve already sent.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, May 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 18.

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 offers up two golf-computer clues, which sound confusing, but are pretty easy once you give them some thought. 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: Golf shot that’s also a piece of computer hardware
Answer: CHIP

5A clue: Golf shot that’s also a piece of computer hardware
Answer: DRIVE

6A clue: Screenwriter Sorkin
Answer: AARON

7A clue: Nonreactive, chemically
Answer: INERT

8A clue: «Bye-bye!»
Answer: SEEYA

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Origami bird
Answer: CRANE

2D clue: Person added to the staff
Answer: HIREE

3D clue: Material used to plate the skin of the Parthenon Athena and the statue of Zeus at Olympia
Answer: IVORY

4D clue: Five: Prefix
Answer: PENTA

5D clue: Speaker’s platform
Answer: DAIS

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 May 18, #237

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 237, for May 18.

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.

The blue group in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle played on my Gen X heart. If you know your classic video games, you’re golden here. 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: Not lose.

Green group hint: A baseball out.

Blue group hint: Glass Joe.

Purple group hint: Think Chicago.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Win

Green group: Strike out

Blue group: Classic sports video games

Purple group: Associated with Michael Jordan.

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 win. The four answers are dub, triumph, victory and W.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is strike out. The four answers are fan, K, ring up and whiff.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is classic sports video games. The four answers are NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, Punch-Out and Tecmo Bowl.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Michael Jordan. The four answers are 23, 6 rings, His Airness and Last Dance.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #707

Hints and answers for Connections for May 18, #707.

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 is a mix of difficult and easy. The purple category does what most purple categories do, and makes you really break down how you think about the words. 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: School days.

Green group hint: About there!

Blue group hint: Sure, let’s go.

Purple group hint: The Scarlett Letter.