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Social Security Disruptions: What to Know About Access Issues

Ongoing Social Security Administration website issues continue. Here’s what we know about what’s going on.

The Social Security Administration is reeling from dramatic changes over the past few months that have affected beneficiaries across the country, stirring widespread anxiety. 

In February, the agency laid off  7,000 employees. Meanwhile, it’s become harder to contact the SSA via phone, and the website has been struggling to stay online. 

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According to a report from The Washington Post this week, the Social Security Administration website issues have left beneficiaries unable to log in. There have been spates of intermittent uptime and crashes caused by an influx of traffic due to an expanded fraud checking system that wasn’t tested at scale. 

Below, we’ll break down what’s been going on at the SSA and call out a few things you can try to do if you run into issues yourself. The agency provides benefits to 73 million recipients, so even a modest percentage of that could be a substantial number of people.

For more, don’t miss Social Security Disability Insurance recipients may want to file taxes this year.

Newly expanded fraud checking system

An expansion of an existing contract with a credit-reporting agency seems to be the main source of the SSA website issues, according to the report in The Washington Post. The agency tracks an assortment of personal information for verification purposes, and claims now require these checks to happen earlier in the process, boosting traffic volume significantly. It also appears that the implementation wasn’t tested at the full scale of the website, and bugs resulted in the login portal failing, leaving Social Security recipients unable to access their accounts, the report said. 

Login issues, missing information and a broken appointment system

Many people are having trouble logging in to their My Social Security accounts, and those who can get in don’t seem to get much further. Some people who can successfully log in discover that information is missing, with many Supplements Security Income recipients receiving incorrect messages saying they «currently are not receiving payments.» 

The Post’s report also says people aren’t able to schedule appointments at all via the website, which has led them to wait on hold for extended periods. Long waits on the phone have been common in the past but seem to be getting markedly worse. The New York Times also has a recent report with similar findings. 

Employees have limited access to internal tool systems

It’s not just beneficiaries: Outages mean employees at the SSA are also being locked out of their internal tools at times, preventing them from completing tasks at offices. This has resulted in some employees having to write down on paper information from recipients and manually input the information once their system goes back online, according to the Post’s report. 

Payments haven’t been affected

Despite the problems, payments haven’t been affected, at least not yet. If you’re in good standing with your My Social Security account, you can more than likely get away with not logging in while the issues get resolved. 

More-strict identification rules go into effect on April 14

In late March, the SSA announced new rules pertaining to identity proofing that will go into effect on April 14. The new rules said that in-person identity proofing for people unable to use their My Social Security account will be required for certain services. It later announced on X (Formerly Twitter) that it had walked back some of the restrictions. 

Prior to the rollback of restrictions, those applying for retirement or survivor benefits and spouse or child auxiliary benefits who can’t use their online account would potentially be required to do in-person identity proofing. Now, as long as you pass the anti-fraud check, any claim can be completed over the phone. If you’re flagged during the check, you will have to complete your claim in-person and can expect additional identity proofing measures. 

The only thing that hasn’t been touched by the rollback is if an individual needs to update their direct deposit information for any benefit and cannot perform or complete the action online. This will require an in-person visit at a local office. 

What can you do now?

If you’re unable to log in to your My Social Security account and need to make an adjustment to your account, like updating your earnings or changing your emergency contact information, you have a couple of options. 

First, you can try to use the phone system by calling 1-800-772-1213. Once you get through the menus, you should be given an estimated wait time. You can visit the SSA’s contact page to see the average wait times per hour on any particular weekday.   

If you’re limited on time or can’t get through via phone, you can also head to a local field office. And despite the rumors of field offices potentially closing all over the country, the SSA published a blog post that said rumors were false and that it hasn’t closed one field office in 2025, only General Services Administration office spaces that were underutilized, and most of which had no assigned employees. 

Because of the website problems and the problems making an appointment, wait times at local offices could be longer than usual. But at least for now, these offices aren’t going anywhere. 

For more, check out the Supplemental Security Income payment schedule and the Social Security and SSDI cheat sheet. 

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Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Dec. 26

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 26.

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.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Some of the clues are tough today — I thought maybe 1-Across was referring to the Grinch, or even Oscar the Grouch, but was I ever wrong! Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

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 to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Furry and green, say
Answer: MOSSY

6A clue: State known for its potatoes
Answer: IDAHO

7A clue: Like a faithful friend
Answer: LOYAL

8A clue: Had a beverage
Answer: DRANK

9A clue: Pronoun frequently paired with «her»
Answer: SHE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Not spicy, as salsa
Answer: MILD

2D clue: Reasons for wrinkled noses
Answer: ODORS

3D clue: Words from a doctor checking your tonsils
Answer: SAYAH

4D clue: Comedian Gillis
Answer: SHANE

5D clue: Part of an egg used to make hollandaise sauce
Answer: YOLK

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Dec. 26, #459

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Dec. 26, No. 459.

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.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. That purple category once again has players looking for a different, but related, hidden word in four of the clues. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for 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: Big Apple jock.

Green group hint: College football fun.

Blue group hint: On the road.

Purple group hint: Hunt down a word in other words.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: A New York athlete.

Green group: Bowl games.

Blue group: Associated with a team road trip.

Purple group: Ends in a movement verb.

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 a New York athlete. The four answers are Islander, Net, Ranger and Yankee.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is bowl games. The four answers are Alamo, Gator, Liberty and Pinstripe.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with a team road trip. The four answers are bus, flight, hotel and visiting locker room.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends in a movement verb. The four answers are foxtrot (trot), newsprint (sprint), terrace (race) and thunderbolt (bolt).

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Dec. 26, #929

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Dec. 26 #929

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 NYT Connections puzzle is full of fun pop-culture references. 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: Golden state cliches.

Green group hint: Funny films.

Blue group hint: Rock on.

Purple group hint: Not white.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: California-based character tropes.

Green group: Comedy subgenres.

Blue group: ’70s rock bands.

Purple group: Black ____.

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 California-based character tropes.  The four answers are movie exec, surfer, tech bro and Valley Girl.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is comedy subgenres. The four answers are buddy, cringe, screwball and stoner.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is ’70s rock bands. The four answers are America, Chicago, Foreigner and Journey.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is black ____. The four answers are Forest, Friday, Panther and Widow.

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