Technologies

This $40 Prime Day Deal Is My Favorite New Must-Have Charging Gadget

The Anker MagGo 622 battery pack is my iPhone’s new full-time travel companion.

There’s nothing worse than low battery anxiety — that point where your phone goes below 20% battery life, and you have no idea when you’ll be seeing a charger in the next few hours, be it because you’re on a plane, a train or just out and about. That’s why a supplementary batter is a must.

For iPhone owners, there are plenty of choices, but it’s the Anker MagGo 622 that I’ve grown to appreciate over the past few weeks. The black version is currently $40 for Prime Day — a nice 20% discount from the usual $50 price, or a whopping 43% off the list price.

Previously, I had — and liked — the similar 321 model. Like Apple’s similar MagSafe Battery Pack, the MagGo 321 magnetically attaches and powers recent iPhones that are MagSafe-equipped (that’s most models since 2020’s iPhone 12). However, that Anker only cost me $22 at the time, while you’d pay close to $100 for the Apple model. And it gave my iPhone another full charging cycle, while still being slim enough to fit in my pocket without any annoying connecting cords or cables.

Read more: Best MagSafe Accessories for iPhone

But the MagGo 622 adds a fold-down kickstand. That’s a key feature when I’m traveling — plop it on the tray table of a plane or a train, and you can enjoy video on your phone in landscape or portrait mode. Have a nearby power outlet? The 622 has passthrough charging via its USB-C connector.

Amazon Prime Day 2023

Now, a few notes and caveats:

The Anker products aren’t officially compatible with Apple’s MagSafe standard, so they charge more slowly than those pricier Apple-sanctioned products.
You’ll need to have a MagSafe-compatible phone case for the 622 or any magnetic battery to attach properly. And, like most gadgets nowadays, you’ll need to bring your own power adapter, as only the USB-C cable is provided in the box.
Lastly, you don’t get the fancy on-screen indicator of how much juice the battery has left in it (but it does have a four-bar LED indicator on the side for that).

But those are all basically quibbles. If I’m spending the day traveling — or just walking around — the Anker MagGo 622 is clipped onto my iPhone, ready for action.

Technologies

This Transformable Electric Truck Could Become the Cheapest EV in the US

Merging retro touches with a high-tech electric platform, the Slate Truck offers a customizable, budget-friendly alternative to traditional EVs.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #686

Hints and answers for Connections for April 27, #686.

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 might make you hungry — especially if you spot the four words in the blue category. 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: Do the math.

Green group hint: Tresses.

Blue group hint: Munchies.

Purple group hint: Think Stockholm.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Calculator buttons.

Green group: Amounts of hair.

Blue group: Salty snack unit.

Purple group: Swedish ____.

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 calculator buttons. The four answers are equals, minus, percent and times.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is amounts of hair. The four answers are lock, shock, thatch and tuft.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is salty snack unit. The four answers are Combo, Goldfish, Ruffle and Taki.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Swedish ____. The four answers are Chef, Fish, massage and meatball.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #420

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 420 for April 27.

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.

Sleep used to be so simple, but now it can be complex, as we try to add in extra things to help us get that good night’s rest. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights sleep assistance, and a few of the words are tricky. 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: Sleep tight

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzzz…

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:

BEDS, MINE, TAKE, TAKES, TAKER, STAKE, LATS, EARL, PLUG, PLUGS, ROUT, MIKE, DATE

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’ve got 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: