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 helps to brush up on your Shakespeare. Need answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

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: Slumber party attire, casually
Answer: PJS

4A clue: Surplus
Answer: GLUT

5A clue: Bobby ___, co-founder of the Black Panthers
Answer: SEALE

6A clue: Soccer announcer’s cry after a goal
Answer: ITSIN

7A clue: Famous star-crossed lover
Answer: ROMEO

8A clue: D.C. baseball player
Answer: NAT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Substance inside early flat-screen TVs
Answer: PLASMA

2D clue: Famous star-crossed lover
Answer: JULIET

3D clue: Recorder in a courtroom
Answer: STENO

4D clue: «Hop aboard!»
Answer: GETON

5D clue: «___, yes, ___!»
Answer: SIR

Android’s big UI overhaul, Material 3 Expressive, was announced earlier this year and is preinstalled on the new Pixel 10 series of smartphones. Now it’s time for older Pixel devices to get the makeover treatment, thanks to the September Pixel Drop. 

Material 3 Expressive is now coming to Pixel 6 devices and up, including the Pixel tablet. Google’s focus with the UI overhaul is to make Android more personalized, colorful and livelier overall. It’s easier to identify actions you want to take within apps, and the splash of color throughout gives the OS a somewhat youthful and fresh feel. 

While some Android phones receive only major version releases and security updates, Pixel owners not only typically get these updates sooner but are also treated to Pixel Drop updates. These updates are quarterly and can take the form of a system update, Google app updates with new features or both. The update also includes the latest security updates for supported Pixel devices, which patch the latest identified vulnerabilities. 

While the big news from this update is the addition of Material 3 Expressive, a handful of other features have also been added in the latest drop:

• Google’s keyboard, Gboard, is getting new AI writing tools that will fix grammatical errors and change the tone of your messages faster with a new Writing Tools button that will appear in the keyboard’s suggestion bar.  
• Emoji Kitchen, Google’s emoji remixer, is now better than ever. You can now browse the entire library of stickers and favorite them for quicker access. 
• Now you can share audio with someone directly or create a private broadcast that others can join just by scanning a QR code.
• The Android Quick Share menu has been revamped so you can toggle between sending files and files you’ve received, creating a more fluid experience. 

New for Pixel Buds Pro 2

Coming later this month, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will also see an update that will give it a few new and welcomed features, too. Here’s what’s on the way:

• Adaptive Audio will automatically adjust to your environment to stay aware of your surroundings. 
• Loud Noise Protection will give your ears some added protection from, well, loud noises. 
• Have an uninterrupted experience with Gemini when your environment is particularly noisy, like when your TV is on or people are talking around you. 
• You’ll soon be able to accept calls or dismiss replying to texts by nodding or shaking your head.

For more, don’t miss our hands-on with Samsung’s latest Galaxy Tab S11 tablets.

Marvel Rivals season 4 is about to begin, bringing a one-winged angel of vengeance to the free-to-play game’s roster of playable heroes. No, we’re not talking about Sephiroth: The next vanguard is Angela, the former Image Comics angelic bounty hunter and current Marvel Comics Asgardian goddess.

While the radiant new tank is the centerpiece of the season 4 update, a new map, hero balance changes, cosmetics and live events will also shake up how the game plays over the next two months.

If you’ve been following the character leaks, you might be bummed out that a certain horned Defender isn’t making his appearance quite yet. Rest assured that the melee fighter Daredevil has been revealed as the next playable character for Marvel Rivals season 4.5, though it’s unclear what his role or abilities will be.

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

When does season 4 start?

Marvel Rivals season 4 starts on Friday, Sept. 12. Expect servers to go down for a couple hours around midnight PT before being turned back on in the early morning. When the servers come back online, you can download and play the newest seasonal content.

Angela’s abilities in Marvel Rivals

Angela joins the roster as another vanguard — the first new tank since Emma Frost was added to the game in season 2. The Asgardian angel is the first flying tank, which means the pressure is no longer on Doctor Strange to use his levitation spell to take the fight to the skies. Angela has a strong mix of tools that let her deal damage, block enemy attacks and displace opponents who have wandered too far from their team as a mobile but close-range attacker.

The new tank quickly rotates her arsenal depending on the situation at hand. On the ground, she wields powerful dual axes that hack and slash chunks of enemy health bars away.

When Angela takes to the skies with her third ability, however, she uses a lance that does powerful burst damage — enemies that are struck by this weapon are skewered, and Angela can carry them a short distance before they’re released.

Angela can also summon a 250-health point shield that protects her from attacks — it reminds me of Captain America’s personal shield rather than Doctor Strange’s team-protecting arcane ward.

Once players have dealt enough damage to the enemy team, they can unleash Angela’s ultimate ability. The Hand of Heven throws down a battle banner, damaging enemies and binding them to a single location. The banner can be destroyed, but it won’t be easy to do once Angela swings her blades at her trapped opponents. This ability is a strong crowd control tool, and is fairly reminiscent of Groot’s ultimate, though it seems to be usable from the air, which will grant it more impressive range.

It’s not immediately clear to me if Angela will fit into brawl team compositions, where players smash into one another on the frontline, or dive team compositions, where players try to end the fight before it even starts by removing key enemy heroes from the backline. She seems like a Swiss army knife of a tank, with a kit of abilities that lets her do a little bit of everything. Only time will tell if she excels in any of her niches.

Big balance changes inbound for vanguards and strategists

In the Dev Vision Vol. 9 video, Marvel Rivals developers explained which heroes are receiving changes in season 4 and why. The full numerical breakdown of every hero change is included in NetEase’s detailed patch notes.

Individual hero changes keep different roles feeling impactful

The game balance of Marvel Rivals season 3 turned most vanguard heroes into punching bags. These tanky characters (such as the Thing, Hulk and Thor) are supposed to soak up damage to protect their teammates while creating advantages by pushing further into the battlefield, but strong long-ranged damage dealers such as Hela and Phoenix quickly struck them down.

In season 4, many tanks are getting buffed in order to compensate for their lack of shield. Peni Parker and Thor are getting their ultimate abilities buffed. While ultimates are supposed to be game-changing moments that players activate back and forth to change the flow of battle, Peni and Thor’s ultimates made them sitting ducks, having to expose themselves for very little advantage. The patch makes their ultimates stronger, hopefully making picking these characters feel like a more impactful choice.

Doctor Strange is also receiving a buff to his offensive power, increasing the power of his dark magic, while dominant tanks Emma Frost and Captain America will be nerfed to bring them more in line with the rest of the cast.

Whereas vanguards have been getting bullied, we saw strategists potentially having their most impactful season yet. These healers defined the flow of the game in season 3, with powerful abilities essentially shutting down fights by making players nigh-on invincible for their duration.

The must-pick strategists, Luna Snow and Loki, are also getting nerfs in season 4 — they’ve long outperformed the other heroes in the same role and are getting dialed back. On the other hand, Ultron, Jeff the Shark and Invisible Woman are getting buffs to their ultimate abilities to make them more viable in high-level play.

Damage-dealing duelists also received key balance changes in this patch, though I suspect they won’t impact the meta as much as the vanguard and strategist tweaks. Moon Knight, Scarlet Witch and Blade will be on the receiving end of buffs this season.

Squirrel Girl’s long range damage is getting nerfed, since she had too much potential to control low-rank matches. Black Panther is losing some health points and Psylocke is losing burst damage, which means players will have more time to react to and defeat these backline threats in high-rank matches.

Team ups shake up as Angela joins the roster

In addition to balance changes for individual heroes, Marvel Rivals is balanced around powerful synergetic «team up» abilities that can only be activated when specific groups of heroes are on the same team. These offer a range of perks, from extra abilities that can be activated in a fight to passive improvements that make heroes even deadlier if they have the right teammates.

In season 4, certain existing team ups are being removed or tweaked, while a new team up is being added for Angela. Here are all of the changes.

• New — Divine Armory: Angela anchors a new team up for Thor, allowing him to throw thunderous spears at his opponents, restoring ability-generating Thorforce charges on hit. Thor is able to jump to the location where the spear landed, which will enable him to become an integral part of dive team compositions.
• Updated — Gamma Charge: Black Panther joins the existing Hulk and Namor team up. If Hulk is on the team, Black Panther gains a gamma shield that protects him from damage after dropping below the threshold of 100 health points.
• Updated — Arcane Order: Magik joins the existing Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch team up. If Doctor Strange is on the team, Magik gains the ability to throw a magical chain that binds two enemies together, slowing their movement if they try to split up.
• Removed — Dimensional Shortcut: Black Panther can no longer use Magik’s Limbo dimension to rewind his position and gain temporary health.

What else does NetEase have in store for Marvel Rivals players in season 4?

Season 4 is shifting the fight away from the planet Klyntar and back to Earth. That means there will be a new map for players to fight across. Players will be able to dive into the Eighth City of K’un-Lun as Daredevil and Angela fight over the fate of the city’s newest prisoner.

More casual players will likely be happier about the new Arcade Hub. Previously limited-time game modes like Giant-Size Brain Blast and Clone Rumble will become permanent fixtures in this menu, alongside Conquest, Doom Match and Free Fight game modes.

Free-to-earn accessory cosmetics, which were introduced in season 3, are getting expanded upon in season 4. Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Luna Snow and Cloak and Dagger players will all be able to earn new wearable accessories for their favorite hero.

Another cosmetic change applies to legendary costumes. If a player is using a skin that changes the visual effects of an ultimate ability, other people are now able to see those effects as well (with the option to toggle the visual effects off in the settings menu).

A long-awaited competitive change isn’t arriving in season 4, but we finally got an update on it alongside the new info. Placement matches are being worked on and will come to Marvel Rivals’ ranked mode at a later date.

When placement matches are implemented, new accounts will need to play a series of games to decide their true rank — players won’t have to fight their way up from bronze if their true skill lies much higher on the ranked ladder. It’s promising to hear that this is being worked on, and it gives me some hope that Marvel Rivals’ matchmaking — one of the weakest aspects of the game — will hopefully be improved in the near future.