Technologies

Trump Warns, ‘Keep Oil Prices Down’ After US Strikes Iran: What’s Next for Gas Prices?

The all-caps post came hours after weekend bombings in Iran rattled oil markets and reignited fears of rising fuel costs.

President Donald Trump delivered an all-caps message about oil prices on Monday, less than a day after US and Israeli forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites. «EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING!» Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. «DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!»

The attacks briefly sent Brent crude, the world’s benchmark oil price, above $81 a barrel. Traders drove that price back into the low $70s after Iran retaliated against the US by firing missiles at a US military base in Qatar, a relatively limited response.

What does this mean for drivers?

Crude oil makes up a little more than half of the cost of what drivers pay at the gas pump, and analysts say every $10 hike in oil prices usually nudges the average US gasoline price up by 20 to 25 cents per gallon.

Read more: Best Electric Cars and EVs for 2025

As of June 23, AAA puts the national average for regular gasoline at $3.22 a gallon, with diesel fuel at $3.68. A week ago regular was $3.14, so tensions have already tacked on 8 cents. Californians are paying the most at $4.66, while Texas drivers enjoy the lowest statewide average price at about $2.85.

CNET will track AAA’s daily averages and key market benchmarks as long as the Iran standoff threatens fuel costs.

If Tehran follows through on threats to close the 21-mile-wide Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil, Goldman Sachs warns that the price of Brent crude could leap past $110, a level likely to push the average US pump price over $4.

Monday’s oil spike faded after the missiles Iran aimed at the US base in Al Udeid, Qatar, were intercepted, leaving energy infrastructure untouched. Traders are betting Tehran won’t endanger its own export revenue, at least for now.

If a tanker is hit or the Strait of Hormuz is even partly blocked, experts say supplies could get tight almost instantly. So far, the OPEC-plus oil alliance hasn’t called an emergency meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the group doesn’t need to act yet, and Saudi Arabia’s energy chief says it’ll wait to see what the market actually does.

The administration could tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if Iran disrupts oil flows, but no steps have been taken so far.

Technologies

Spotify Brings Wrapped Energy Year-Round With Friend-Sharing Stats

The music service introduced new ways for music nerds to share their listening habits with friends.

It can be a long wait for Spotify Wrapped, the end-of-year promotion that allows Spotify users to view and share their listening habits. Now, users can keep an eye on those stats daily, plus share their listening habits with friends.

You can view your Spotify usage statistics every 24 hours and share your updates via social media services, such as Instagram Notes or Spotify Messages. The new share icon gives you access to eight different services where you can post your stats.

Every week, you’ll get updates on your top artists and songs from the past month, and Spotify will recommend new playlists. The app also gives you a «special highlight» based on a specific artist or song.

To access your personal musical data, click on your profile in the top left corner of the app and scroll down to «listening stats.»

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The new features are somewhat similar to Spotify Wrapped, the service’s annual end-of-year review of users’ listening habits, which is designed to be shared. Every year, Spotify adds extra details to Wrapped, such as assigning users a listening personality or a city that supposedly reflects their music tastes. It’s been the most popular way for Spotify users to view and share their music listening in the past. A number of third-party services do the same thing, including Volt.fm.

Read more: Best Music Streaming Services

Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming service, offering 100 million tracks and serving more than 713 million users. In addition to its $12-per-month subscription service, Spotify also offers a free, ad-supported option.

Technologies

Wordle Gets Personal: You Can Now Make and Share Your Own Puzzles

If you’re a Wordle obsessive, you can now make your own inside joke puzzles to send to friends.

Wordle’s an immensely popular New York Times word game (we post the answers daily), but it’s not the most personal game in the world. Answers such as GUISE and PERIL are tricky, but generic. Now, Wordle fans who have ever dreamed of making their own puzzles can test their friends and family by creating their own Wordle creations up to seven letters in length.

No surprise, you have to be a New York Times Games or All Access Subscriber to use this feature. If you are, you’ll find the Create a Puzzle option available from the top menu above today’s Wordle. While you must be a subscriber to create your own personalized puzzle, you can share it with anyone — they only need the link, not a subscription, to complete your Wordle.

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Enter a word, and the site will tell you if it is available. Real Wordle limits you to five-letter words, but the puzzle-making feature lets you choose words between 4 and 7 letters.

The usual dictionary rules apply, and so curse words, some pet names, and obscure inside jokes are essentially out. If your cat is named TANGO, that’s there, but RINGO is not an option. You can drop a proposal with a single word like MARRY, but MARRYME will get rejected since that’s two separate words.

Word chosen, you can then fill out your name and add an optional hint, and the feature will generate your puzzle with a link you can send around. Unlike standard puzzles, your puzzle doesn’t appear to reset after a day, so whoever you send it to doesn’t need to rush to solve it.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 8, #411

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 411 for Saturday, Nov. 8.

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 tricky one. The theme of the purple category is also a word hidden among the answers, but of course, it doesn’t end up in the purple group. If you’re struggling 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 show up in the NYT Games app but appears 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: Brawl.

Green group hint: The Steel City.

Blue group hint: They once played in Oakland.

Purple group hint: Not always made of cardboard.