Technologies

Mario Kart World Makes Racing Wilder and More Social Than Ever

The new version of Nintendo’s classic, available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2, introduces massive multiplayer races and new chat features.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has already become Nintendo’s fastest-selling console ever, moving 3.5 million units in its first four days on sale. And while the new Switch makes it easy to upgrade your old games for its bigger screen and better graphics, the real reason everyone is so excited to get their hands on it: a new version of Mario Kart.

You can get the bundle that includes the Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World now at Best Buy. (If you aren’t able to buy it online, check your local Best Buy store; the retailer limited online stock to prevent scalping.)

A rainbow road that never ends

Mario Kart World’s coolest innovation is Free Roam mode, designed for those hungry to explore the universe outside of lap-based races. Think The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Grand Theft Auto, but with Super Mario characters in cars. Drive a few seconds in any direction and you’ll find a P-switch, which initiates a short mini-game. («Hitch a ride on the train,» for example, when there’s a locomotive in front of you.)

In Knockout Tour and Versus modes, the courses melt into each other like a cinematic one-shot. We’re a long way from the Nintendo 64 days, when you could get stuck at the edge of the map, staring into the digital fog.

More racers, more chaos

But let’s be honest: you’re playing Mario Kart to race friends. Multiplayer mode in Mario Kart World expands the field to up to 24 drivers, which means wide lanes and total chaos.

Purists may think there are just too many characters this go-around; why would you choose the lesser-known Dry Bones or Lakitu when you have all-stars like Mario and Luigi, Toad and Yoshi, Bowser and Peach? (They may be quickly convinced when they start dominating with Cow.) And the classics are still there: Toad, it turns out, is voiced by the original spokesman for Nintendo in the 1990s: Paul Rudd.

Knockout Tour mode adds another (cutthroat) wrinkle to the new stampede-style races: some players are eliminated after each race.

Play together, wherever you are

Nintendo paid attention to the gamers who joined a Discord call or fired up a Zoom room to (trash) talk with friends while playing video games, especially during the pandemic. (Basically, a LAN party that isn’t in your parents’ basement.) For $55 you can buy a Switch 2 camera that connects via a new USB-C port located on the top of the console. The GameChat feature admits 12 audio friends or 4 video friends in a «chatroom.» And for those who want their gaming grounded in some sort of reality, meatspace faces can appear next to a racer’s kart so you can see real-time reactions.

Get your Nintendo Switch 2 with Mario Kart World at Best Buy

Mario Kart World is available now with the Nintendo Switch 2, which you can get today at Best Buy. If you can’t find it online, be sure to check your local Best Buy, where they’ve kept plenty of stock available in person to keep it from being scalped.

Technologies

Facebook Brings Back Local Job Listings: How to Apply

One of Facebook’s most practical features from 2022 is being revived by Meta.

On the hunt for work? A Local Jobs search is being rolled out by Meta to make it easier for people in the US to discover and apply for nearby work directly on Facebook. The feature is inside Facebook Marketplace, Groups and Pages, Meta said last week, letting employers post openings and job seekers filter roles by distance, category or employment type.

You can apply or message employers directly through Facebook Messenger, while employers can publish job listings with just a few taps — similar to how you would post items for sale on Marketplace.

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Facebook offered a Jobs feature before discontinuing it in 2022, pushing business hiring toward its other platforms. Its return suggests Meta is attempting to expand Facebook’s usefulness beyond social networking and to position it once again as a hub for community-driven opportunities.

«We’ve always been about connecting with people, whether through shared interests or key life events,» the press release states. «Now, if you’re looking for entry-level, trade and service industry employment in your community, Facebook can help you connect with local people and small businesses who are hiring.»

How to get started with Local Jobs on Facebook

According to Meta, Local Jobs will appear as a dedicated section in Facebook Marketplace starting this week. If you’re 18 or older, you can:

Tap the Marketplace tab on the Facebook app or website.
Select Jobs to browse available positions nearby.
Use filters for job type, category and distance.
Tap Apply or message the employer directly via Messenger.

Businesses and page admins can post jobs by creating a new listing in Marketplace or from their Facebook Page. Listings can include job details, pay range, and scheduling information and will appear in local searches automatically.

The Local Jobs feature is rolling out across the US now, with Meta saying it plans to expand it in the months ahead.

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

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 — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough 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: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

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:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

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:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.