Technologies

Remember That TikTok Ban? This Week’s Deadline Brings Hints of a Deal

The Trump administration waxes optimistic once again about getting to a resolution for TikTok in the US.

The Trump administration is working on a deal with China to determine TikTok’s fate, which could be finalized by the end of this week, according to reports citing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

President Trump has plans to meet on Friday with China’s President Xi Jinping, and the two are expected to discuss the fate of the Chinese-owned social media platform. That means the deadline of Wednesday, Sept. 17, may pass before there’s a definitive resolution on the matter. The key question is whether ownership of TikTok will transfer to a US-based company. The platform could shut down temporarily in the US, as it has before, in accordance with a federal law passed last year in response to national security and privacy considerations.

That law requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media service to a US-based company or essentially be shut down in the US. The initial deadline, set for January, has been extended twice already by the Trump administration as it cited progress on the matter.

Bessent said on Monday that the two countries have reached a preliminary deal and «commercial terms have been agreed upon.»

Neither TikTok nor the Treasury Department responded immediately to requests for comment.

An agreement over TikTok has been complicated by ongoing trade warring between the US and China and a new ruling against US-based Nvidia. China claims Nvidia has violated anti-monopoly laws in that country.

Skepticism about a TikTok deal

Even with the administration’s suggestion that a deal is imminent, it’s possible that TikTok’s future could remain in limbo even longer.

«I have seen the TikTok negotiations stall and shift so many times that I am not holding my breath on a deal being completed this week,» said Star Kashman, founder of Cyber Law Firm, who’s been following the TikTok saga. «Every time we hear about progress or a framework getting reached, some external complication throws the whole negotiation back into limbo.»

Tariffs and the Nvidia claims have further complicated what was already a complex negotiation over TikTok, she said. «It is likely that too much is already at play, including ByteDance’s potential obligations to the Chinese government, national security concerns, and privacy issues, as well as the desire to keep TikTok’s addictive algorithm, without isolating and segregating US users.»

Kashman said that none of the parties have been transparent about what would happen to TikTok under US ownership, including addressing reports that a US-only TIkTok app would be offered

Negotiation factors

If a deal is reached to keep TikTok available in the United States, it could be just the start of wrangling over the platform’s future, said one expert on US-China relations.

«The Chinese generally look at the signing of a deal as the beginning of negotiations, not the end,» said Usha Haley, Barton Distinguished Chair in International Business at Wichita State University. «So the devil will be in the details as they unfold over several years.»

Haley said that any deal would be subject to congressional scrutiny and could set a precedent for how future foreign-based apps operate in the US.

The Trump administration would likely insist on US-based storage of TikTok data, independent oversight and insulation from Chinese legal and political demands, while China’s government would want to protect its tech champion and maintain cultural influence, she said.

Whatever requirements the US imposes, Haley said, China might still find a way to maintain some control over TikTok by «keeping some possibly secret doors and trapdoors open for intervention in the future, if needed.»

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

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 a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough 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: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

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:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

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:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Oct. 22, #1586

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Oct. 22, No. 1,586.

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.

Today’s Wordle puzzle features some letters I don’t often guess, but it’s not terribly difficult. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with S.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with T.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to an action displaying spectacular skill and daring.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is STUNT.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Oct. 21, No. 1,585 was DETOX.

Recent Wordle answers

Oct. 17, No. 1,581: GROSS
Oct. 18, No. 1,582: HAVEN
Oct. 19, No. 1,583: IDEAL
Oct. 20, No. 1,584: LIMBO

Quick tips for Wordle

#1: Check our list ranking the popularity of all the letters in the alphabet and choose your starter words accordingly. (TRAIN, STERN and AUDIO are good.)

#2: Don’t forget that letters can be used more than once.

#3: Many words are similar. You don’t want to use up multiple guesses that don’t advance your cause. So if the puzzle is STA_E, don’t guess STARE, STATE and STALE. Guess something that uses that R, T and L, like TWIRL.