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How to Get the Map in Silksong and Unlock Shakra’s Full Shop

Your first stop in the game should be finding this map and getting access to Shakra’s shop.

When it comes to Metroidvania games like Hollow Knight: Silksong, the map is arguably the most important item to have, as it shows where you’ve explored and where you need to go next. And, like a lot of aspects of this game, it’s not meant to be easy. 

Silksong, like its predecessor Hollow Knight, has a map feature you can expand as you play, but you have to find one particular NPC to unlock it. Once you find that character, the game will feel slightly easier in getting around its nooks and crannies — until it crushes you with difficult sequences and boss fights.

Read more: Hollow Knight Silksong Guide: Read These 11 Tips Before Starting

How to find the map in Silksong? 

To get a map, you’ll need to go from the hub center of Bone Bottom to The Marrow, which is directly to the east. While exploring the area, the sound of someone singing will quietly echo. Following the singing will take you to Shakra, the bug warrior who also does cartography. 

Shakra will introduce herself, and if you continue to talk to her, she will tell you about her map-making skills. This is when she’ll officially become a merchant and sell all the map items you could want. 

What does Shakra sell? 

At the start, Shakra has several items for sale, but the most important ones are maps, a Compass and the Quill. 

There will be two maps for sale when you first meet Shakra: The Mosslands map and The Marrow map. The first will cost you 40 rosaries — the in-game currency — and the other will cost 50 rosaries. As you progress into a new area of the game, return to Shakra, and she will have the map for that area available for purchase. 

The next item to buy from Shakra is the Quill. It costs 50 rosaries, and whenever you rest at a bench, Hornet will quickly mark on the map where she’s been. 

The last item you’ll want to buy is the Compass. It’s an equipable tool that will show an icon of Hornet’s current location on the map, giving you a clear idea of where you are. This will cost 70 rosaries. 

Shakra also has other items available to buy, such as Bench Pins that show where you can rest at a bench and Shell Markers to indicate where something important is on the map. 

This will cost a lot of rosaries to get them all, but luckily, if you continue exploring The Marrow, you will find a bench as well as a passage to loop back to the Mosslands, where a shortcut to Bone Bottom will be waiting. This creates an easy setup to kill enemies for rosaries, rest and repeat. This is a good opportunity to get these important items without risking much and also developing your combat skills. 

How does the map work? 

Depending on the platform, there is a map button (it’s left bumper on the Xbox). Hold the button and the map overlay will appear. You can even move Hornet around while you’re viewing the map. 

One thing to note is that the map doesn’t auto-populate as you explore. Maps come with an outline of the area, and you still need to go through the area to fill it in. Once Hornet rests at a bench, she will mark up the map to indicate where she’s been, what markers she’s come across and so on. 

How do I find more maps and pins? 

When you take out the next boss, the Bell Beast, Shakra will move her store to Bone Bottom. She’ll be located in a section above the other denizens that you can reach by following the hanging metal rings. She will hang out here until you find her again throughout the game. Even when you meet her somewhere else, once you finish interacting with her and rest at a bench or die, she will head back to the Bone Bottom. 

As you explore more areas, Shakra will also have more maps and more items, so always make sure to head back to Bone Bottom. 

Hollow Knight: Silksong is out now on PC, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, PS4 and PS5. It’s also available for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. 

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Sept. 9, #351

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Sept. 9, No. 351

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 rather difficult. Let’s hope you know your golf, and are familiar with a certain midwestern state. 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: They enforce the rules.

Green group hint: Show Me State jock.

Blue group hint: Fore!

Purple group hint: Bird of prey.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Officials.

Green group: A Missouri athlete.

Blue group: Last 4 golfers to win The Masters, familiarly

Purple group: ____ hawk

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is officials. The four answers are judge, linesman, referee and umpire.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is a Missouri athlete. The four answers are Blue, Cardinal, Chief and Tiger.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is the last four golfers to win The Masters, familiarly. The four answers are Hideki, Jon, Rory and Scottie.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ hawk.  The four answers are ball, black, jay and sea.

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Technologies

Get This Item to Make Hollow Knight: Silksong Much Easier

The Crest of the Wanderer can make Silksong way less frustrating.

Hollow Knight: Silksong received a lot of hype in the lead-up to its release on Thursday. When the long-awaited title finally came out, a flood of players rushed to download it, but it appears some caught up in the hype were not prepared for the game’s crushing difficulty. But there is some help for struggling players near the very start of the game. 

Silksong protagonist Hornet is far more agile than the Knight from Hollow Knight, especially in her diagonal downward slash. But this angled attack is causing lots of frustration for players online, especially in areas of the game where Hornet has to bounce off objects with the slash to get past deadly obstacles. For those struggling, there is an item available almost at the beginning of the game that can change this diagonal attack to a vertical downward slash attack, making bouncing off enemies and objects much easier. 

How to get the Crest of the Wanderer in Silksong

To find the Crest of the Wanderer, start off at the main hub of the game, Bone Bottom. The vendor here sells one expensive item called the Simple Key at a whopping 500 rosaries, the in-game currency. That’s a lot of rosaries that will take time to grind out if you want to change the direction of the aerial attack, but there are places to repeatedly kill enemies so you can fatten your wallet. 

The nearest place to grind rosaries is directly above Bone Bottom, but it requires a trek through The Marrow to where you first meet Shakra, who sells you maps. There is a bench near her and multiple enemies who drop rosaries. Simply make your way through the area, clear the enemies, rest at the bench and repeat until you have 500 rosaries. 

Once you do, head back to Bone Bottom using the elevator shortcut. Buy the Simple Key and head back up the elevator (if you haven’t unlocked the elevator shortcut yet, check out our Silksong beginner’s guide). Proceed up one screen, and to your left will be what appears to be a big empty space. Give it a few seconds, and a bird will fly in your direction. Jump toward the bird and then use the downward slash to bounce off the enemy onto a hanging cage. Do it again for the next cage, and you can then reach a ledge to the far left, where it will take you to the next area. 

This area is very dangerous, as there is one giant enemy on the ceiling that spews out liquid that can deal big damage to Hornet. Luckily, there are platforms to shield you from its attacks. Once you see the enemy coming, immediately run under a platform and make sure to stay centered in the platform, as the angle of the liquid can hit you. As soon as it stops, run to the next platform and wait again for it to attack. Keep it going until you reach the end of the area. 

This next area is where a door is located, and the Simple Key will unlock it. Going through the door will take you to the Wormways area. Be careful, as spiked monsters will move vertically through the tight corridors and damage you when touched. Once here, go down the first hole you see and then head right. You will eventually return to Mosshome, where Bone Bottom is located. 

This new area of Mosshome you’re in is actually above the church, which is where the game started. Simply drop all the way down until you reach the ground. For the sake of safety, go right first to clear out the vines and unlock the door for another shortcut. That will take you back to the Church, and you can proceed to Bone Bottom, where you can finally rest. 

When you go back through the door you unlocked, keep heading left until you find a hut. Inside, there are enemies and traps, so be prepared. Once you clear out the area, you’ll be able to claim the Crest of the Wanderer and change your weapon attack. 

What does the Crest of the Wanderer do? 

Crests are equippable items that change Hornet’s moveset and switch her tool slots. They can be found throughout the game after going through some difficult areas or beating certain bosses. Hornet starts with the Hunter Crest and can find six more: Wanderer, Beast, Reaper, Shaman, Witch and Architect. 

When equipped, the Wanderer Crest allows Hornet to do quicker attacks, although they are slightly smaller slashes in comparison to the wider arcs when using the default Hunter Crest. More importantly, when airborne, pressing down and the attack button will do a vertical downward attack instead of an angled attack. This will be a big help in later levels to avoid obstacles and will make it a little easier to bounce off of bigger enemies by doing repeated downward slashes while in the air. 

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Technologies

SpaceX Strikes Wireless Gold With EchoStar Sale. Expect Better Coverage With These Carriers

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has acquired $17 billion worth of EchoStar’s wireless spectrum, dramatically boosting Starlink’s satellite-to-cell coverage.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has acquired $17 billion worth of EchoStar’s wireless spectrum, the two companies announced on Monday. The coveted chunk of spectrum, which is used to transmit cellular data through the air, exists in the 1.9 and lower 2GHz spectrum bands. The news comes six weeks after SpaceX launched its satellite texting partnership T-Mobile, called T-Satellite.

SpaceX’s Starlink internet service is now poised to dramatically increase its direct-to-cell coverage, which allows users to text, call or use apps in remote areas outside the reach of cellular towers. 

Out of Starlink’s 8,140 satellites in orbit, 657 belong to its first-generation direct-to-cell constellation. In a blog post heralding the deal, SpaceX says the deal will allow for more than 100 times the capacity it currently has.  

The news is a huge boon to T-Mobile customers, who will be the main beneficiaries of Starlink’s spectrum grab in the US. AT&T and Verizon customers can also use Starlink’s satellite-to-cell texting for an extra $10 a month by using a second eSIM. You can find instructions on setting up the eSIM here.

“The most immediate beneficiary of SpaceX’s empowerment is its primary US partner, T-Mobile. The combination of T-Mobile’s extensive terrestrial 5G network and Starlink’s enhanced D2C [direct-to-cell] capabilities creates a hybrid network with a profound competitive advantage,” writes Roger Entner, a telecom analyst and founder of research firm Recon Analytics.

Ironically, the spectrum acquisition was ignited by a SpaceX complaint to the Federal Communications Commission in April, in which the company alleged that EchoStar “barely uses” the valuable spectrum. Less than a month later, FCC Chair Brendan Carr opened an investigation into how it was using its spectrum licenses. 

EchoStar, which owns DISH, Boost Mobile and Hughesnet internet, had once hoped to become the nation’s fourth wireless carrier, following AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. As part of the deal, Boost Mobile customers will also have access to Starlink’s direct-to-cell network. 

«In connection with the transaction, SpaceX and EchoStar will enter into a long-term commercial agreement, which will enable EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers… to access SpaceX’s next generation Starlink Direct to Cell service,» EchoStar said in a statement. 

The FCC investigation into EchoStar is now expected to be resolved after the company sold $23 billion of its spectrum to AT&T in a separate deal two weeks ago.

Starlink’s spectrum acquisition still needs to be approved in a complex regulatory environment. But if it does, it could spell the end of wireless dead zones as we know them. 

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