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? 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 to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue:  Org. defending individual rights
Answer: ACLU

5A clue: Repeated words that lead up to …
Answer: HIPHIP

7A clue: What puzzle solvers don’t look down on
Answer: ACROSS

8A clue: … a big cheer!
Answer: HOORAY

9A clue: Hathaway who starred in «The Princess Diaries»
Answer: ANNE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Garment on which it’s totally acceptable to get food stains
Answer: APRON

2D clue: Doing the dishes or mowing the lawn
Answer: CHORE

3D clue: Younger sister to Bart, older sister to Maggie
Answer: LISA

4D clue: «___-daisy!»
Answer: UPSY

5D clue: Bit of laughter
Answer: HAHA

6D clue: Image of a compass, for Safari
Answer: ICON

If you fly often, you know the drill. You finally settle into your seat, scroll through the in-flight movie selection, and then it hits you: your AirPods won’t connect to the seatback screen. That leaves you stuck with the airline’s clunky wired headphones that barely work, don’t block any noise and make everything sound muffled.

It’s one of the most frustrating parts of flying, especially on long trips when decent audio can make all the difference. Between the engine noise, crying babies and that one guy snoring in 14C, you need a better option. The good news is there’s a simple device that fixes the problem completely and makes flying feel a lot more like streaming at home. If you travel often, you probably already know the struggle: You’re settled into your seat, ready to dive into the in-flight entertainment, only to realize your AirPods won’t connect to the screen. The airline’s wired headphones? Practically useless. They’re uncomfortable, have no noise cancellation and let in every engine roar and crying baby within a three-row radius. For long flights, it’s a recipe for a frustrating, low-quality listening experience.

That’s exactly why the AirFly Pro has become a must-pack item in my travel bag. It’s a simple Bluetooth dongle that lets you connect your wireless earbuds (like my AirPods Pro) directly to the airplane’s entertainment system, no adapters or wired workarounds required. Since I started using it, I’ve stopped dreading in-flight audio and finally get to enjoy movies the way they were meant to be heard. If you fly often, this little gadget might completely change how you travel.

The AirFly Pro lets me truly enjoy in-flight entertainment

The AirFly Pro from Twelve South is a minimally designed dongle that lets me connect to the 3.5mm headphone jack on my flight to listen to in-flight entertainment on my noise-canceling earbuds. All I have to do is pair the AirFly Pro with whichever Bluetooth headphones I’m using, like my AirPods Pro, plug the AirFly Pro into the display in front of me — and I’m all set. I don’t even need to use my phone to connect the two devices. 

There are four versions of the AirFly: the AirFly SE, which costs $35 on Amazon and connects to just one set of headphones; the AirFly Pro ($55); the Pro V2 ($60), the newest version of the Pro; and the Pro Deluxe ($62), which comes with an international headphone adapter and a suede travel case.

I use the AirFly Pro, and it’s been a game-changer for me on flights. I’ve never had to worry about battery life — the AirFly Pro lasts for more than 25 hours and can fully charge in 3 hours. I can also pair two separate pairs of headphones to a single AirFly Pro, in case I’m with someone else on a flight and want to watch the same movie or show. 

And if that’s not enough, the AirFly Pro also doubles as an audio transmitter, so I can turn any speaker with a headphone jack, like my old car stereo, into a Bluetooth speaker.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.  

The AirFly Pro makes a great gift

The AirFly Pro is the perfect present to give to someone who’s planning to travel this year. Besides my Anker MagSafe battery pack, the AirFly Pro really has become my most treasured travel accessory when I fly, which is why I consider it to be one of those can’t-go-wrong gifts. 

For more travel gear, here are our favorite tech essentials to travel with and our favorite travel pillows.

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 tough at first, but once you realize the theme, you can look for the obvious answers. 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: Just a dusting.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Fine, dry particles.

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:

• BASE, BACH, KING, DEAR, DEARS, CHOW, SAIL, BING, STING, STINGS, TWIT, PAUL, THIN, THING, BLAH, BLAST, SALT, DITCH.

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:

• BABY, CHILI, COCOA, BAKING, TALCUM, ITCHING, BLASTING.

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is POWDERS. To find it, start with the P that’s five letters down on the far-right row, and wind across.