SharkNinja unveiled a new vacuum on Tuesday that has the ability to flex underneath furniture, along with an auto-empty dock. The $499 Shark PowerDetect Speed Clean and Empty System is lightweight and can store dust and debris for up to 45 days before you have to empty it.

The stick vacuum’s flexible headline feature, which SharkNinja refers to as MultiFlex Technology, appears in photos like a bendable straw to clean in tight spaces. The vacuum can also adjust its suction based on the surface it’s on, including boosting power when carpet and dirt are detected. Its intelligence system can also detect edges and use higher suction along walls and corners.

The inclusion of this vacuum’s auto-emptying dock could make it a particularly good value: CNET Home editor and vacuum expert Ajay Kumar told me that self-emptying stations are a big quality-of-life feature for cordless vacuums, allowing for quick cleanup while the vacuum charges. 

While Kumar said that we will need to test this vacuum, Shark’s $500 Stratos vacuum was one of the top cordless vacuums he’s seen recently, even though it doesn’t self-empty. The addition of that feature for the same price makes it a promising upgrade for those looking to replace their vacuum.

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.

I found today’s NYT Connections puzzle a bit tough. 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: Pomp and circumstance.

Green group hint: What a bore.

Blue group hint: Too easy.

Purple group hint: Checkmate!

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Graduation gear.

Green group: Tedious undertaking.

Blue group: Oversimplistic.

Purple group: Shapes of chess pieces.

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 graduation gear. The four answers are cap, diploma, gown and tassel.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is tedious undertaking. The four answers are chore, grind, hassle and trial.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is oversimplistic. The four answers are facile, clip, shallow and trite.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is shapes of chess pieces.  The four answers are castle, crown, horse and miter.

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 a fun one. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so 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: Gift of the month.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: September is sapphire.

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:

• POST, POET, POETS, TONED, NAPE, STONE, STONED, TONE

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:

• OPAL, TOPAZ, TURQUOISE, DIAMOND, GARNET, PERIDOT

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BIRTHSTONE. To find it, start with the B that’s four letters down on the far-left row, and wind over and down.