Technologies

Battlefield 6 Beta Double XP Exclusive to PS Plus and Other Changes For Weekend Two

Here’s everything new for the Battlefield 6 Beta’s second weekend.

The Battlefield 6 Beta is raging with players free to jump into the fray now through the end of Sunday, Aug. 17. As the second weekend of the preview period, there are a few changes that open up the beta with more modes, maps and play options.

Those enjoying the beta on PS5 have to be subscribed to PS Plus to play online, but for their trouble, they’re getting 2x XP and can earn an exclusive skin, as the official PlayStation account posted on X.

For all players, here are the changes for Battlefield 6 Beta’s weekend two.

Battlefield 6 Beta new maps and modes

While the first weekend introduced the maps Liberation Peak, Siege of Cairo and Iberian Offensive, the second weekend has added Empire State, a close-quarters map mixing unfinished buildings and blacktop basketball courts for players to take to the New York City streets.

As for new modes, the first weekend featured Conquest (as well as a Closed Weapons Conquest version that locks certain guns to specific classes), Domination, King of the Hill and Breakthrough. The second weekend adds Rush, Squad Deathmatch and several playlists that combine a few of these modes into a rotation.

On the second weekend, players will also get to select which maps and modes they want to queue up for with Custom Search. Note that this will ensure that «matchmaking will prioritize putting you in a match with this combo [of maps and modes], if available,» according to a Battlefield 6 Beta information page — which suggests that players may end up getting stuck with maps and modes they haven’t selected if there aren’t other options.

Broken down by day, with some modes and playlists rotating in and out, the BF6 Open Beta’s weekend two looks like this:

Thursday, Aug. 14 — Day One

Conquest
Rush
Attack & Defend playlist (Breakthrough, Rush)
Close Quarters playlist for smaller maps (Domination, King of the Hill)
Closed Weapons All-Out Warfare for larger maps (Conquest, Breakthrough)

Friday, Aug. 15 — Day Two

Conquest
Squad Deathmatch
Close Quarters playlist (Domination, King of the Hill, Squad Deathmatch)
All-Out Warfare (Conquest, Breakthrough, Rush)
Closed Weapons All-Out Warfare (Conquest, Breakthrough)

Saturday, Aug. 16 and Sunday, Aug. 17 — Days Three and Four

Conquest
Close Quarters (Domination, King of the Hill, Squad Deathmatch)
All-Out Warfare (Conquest, Breakthrough, Rush)
Closed Weapons All-Out Warfare (Conquest, Breakthrough)

Publisher EA noted on the beta’s website that this playlist rotation is just for gathering player feedback and won’t be a feature in the final version of the game.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #1008

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 15, No. 1,008

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 kind of tough, but the yellow category has some fun options in it. 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: Mine, all mine!

Green group hint: A part you might use to build something.

Blue group hint: Blended words.

Purple group hint: Not a cow, but close.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Greedily control.

Green group: Toothed wheels.

Blue group: Portmanteaux.

Purple group: Bull ____.

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 greedily control. The four answers are bogart, corner, hog and monopolize.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is toothed wheels. The four answers are cog, gear, pinion and sprocket.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is portmanteaux. The four answers are blog, motel, smog and spork.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is bull ____. The four answers are dog, doze, frog and horn.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #742

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 15, No. 742.

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 fun and timely, relating to a certain big ceremony held this weekend. Some of the answers are difficult 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: Best of all

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: The envelope, please.

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:

RATE, RATED, DATE, DOTE, DATED, DOTED, GATE, GATES, TROD, TRODS

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: