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? It’s the long Saturday one, and it’s going to take a while — some of them are tough. Need help? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

Sadly, the NYT Mini Crossword is now behind a paywall. You can of course subscribe to the Times’ Games package to receive full access. If you just can’t, there’s at least one way you can still access it.

Read more: The New York Times Mini Crossword Is No Longer Free to All: Here’s One Way to Play

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: «Thanks, I ___ you one!»
Answer: OWE

4A clue: Egg-laying mother
Answer: HEN

7A clue: Plant with tart red stalks used in pie filling
Answer: RHUBARB

9A clue: Proud father of daughters, in lingo
Answer: GIRLDAD

10A clue: Tart-tasting beers
Answer: SOURS

11A clue: Largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands
Answer: STCROIX

13A clue: Wedding companion
Answer: PLUSONE

14A clue: «Mm-hmm»
Answer: YEP

15A clue: Booker T. and the ___
Answer: MGS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Wikipedia’s URL ender
Answer: ORG

2D clue: It might be blown in the fourth quarter
Answer: WHISTLE

3D clue: Continent-wide soccer tournament, informally
Answer: EUROCUP

4D clue: Wasn’t too full for dessert
Answer: HADROOM

5D clue: Wiping, as a hard drive
Answer: ERASING

6D clue: Texter’s «Don’t worry about it»
Answer: NBD

8D clue: Fuzzy photo features
Answer: BLURS

11D clue: Many a character on Apple TV+’s «Slow Horses» or Netflix’s «Black Doves»
Answer: SPY

12D clue: Crosses (out)
Answer: XES

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 had some super-weird words in it. Reich? Stink? Suck? Both Emo and Eno? Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now 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: Hit the right notes.

Green group hint:  Bad.

Blue group hint: Good.

Purple group hint: Modern music.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Music genres.

Green group: Not be good.

Blue group: Do exceptionally well.

Purple group: Contemporary composers.

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 music genres. The four answers are emo, funk, metal and pop.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is not be good. The four answers are bite, blow, stink and suck.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is do exceptionally well. The four answers are eat, rock, rule and slay.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is contemporary composers. The four answers are Cage, Eno, Glass and Reich. (John Cage, Brian Eno, Philip Glass and  Steve Reich.)

After months of tracking leaks and speculation, we now have a solid date for when the iPhone 17 will be announced. Apple sent out invitations — once again with an enigmatic design that raises even more questions — for its fall event, which is happening Sept. 9. Although it’s entirely possible that the secretive company could pull a head-fake and not announce a new flagship iPhone lineup, that’s about as likely as catching Taylor Swift riding a giraffe.

But we don’t know everything yet. Once the rumored iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, Pro and Pro Max are actually revealed, we’ll be able to confirm speculation about colors, display, cameras and more. We’ll also learn how much the new iPhone will cost, which is also still up in the air, thanks in part to constantly changing tariffs.

Read more: Should You Buy an iPhone 16 or Wait for the iPhone 17?

Exact dates for the preorder and release of the iPhone 17 are still the subject of speculation.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

When will the iPhone 17 be released?

For nearly a decade, Apple has announced its new iPhone lineup in early September. The only exception was in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when the release was pushed back to Oct. 23 for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, and Nov. 13 for the iPhone 12 Mini and 12 Pro Max.

A supposed leak reported on by German site iPhone-Ticker lines up with expert opinion, and we cannot verify these dates because we don’t have access to the internal documents iPhone-Ticker is sourcing. But if these leaks are true, they suggest that preorders for the iPhone 17 will begin on Sept. 12, with a Sept. 19 release. 

Here’s a chart for the release dates of previous iPhone models:

To see this year’s dates in the same chart format (because some of us prefer an easy-to-read chart), the schedule looks like this. The preorder and release are not official dates from Apple: 

Will all of the new iPhones be released in the fall?

Based on last year’s release, Apple may release everything in the fall except its least expensive option — this year, the iPhone 17E. The iPhone 16E was released in February, and Apple is widely expected to follow the same format for the rumored iPhone 17E.

That would mean the iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Air and the iPhone 17 base model — if that’s the lineup — would be released in September. The iPhone 17E — if it exists — would be released in February.

Apple’s future iPhone release dates

Apple is expected to change its release format with the rumored iPhone 18. Reports suggest that Apple will only release higher-end models in fall 2026 — iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, Air and a rumored new foldable iPhone — and release the rest of the line in winter 2027.

Why does Apple split iPhone release dates?

By pushing its top-of-the-line Pro and Pro Max models in September, Apple can capture much of the holiday shopping season. Releasing the more basic models in the winter allows a second crest of excitement, but diehard fans and holiday shoppers will have already spent their money on the pricier models in the fall.