Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Sept. 30
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 30.
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.
Is it just me, or was today’s Mini Crossword especially hard? I thought I was never going to solve it, and I’m used to this puzzle being a nice easy one! Possible SPOILER: I just organized my 40th high school class reunion this summer, and I swear I have never used the related word that is the answer to 2-Down before. 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: Exclamation made with a shiver
Answer: BRR
4A clue: Putt ‘er there!
Answer: GREEN
6A clue: «___ gotta be kidding me!»
Answer: YOUVE
7A clue: Negative attribute, so to speak
Answer: MINUS
8A clue: Got some shut-eye
Answer: SLEPT
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Oven button with a «high» or «low» setting
Answer: BROIL
2D clue: Get together again, like alumni
Answer: REUNE (Editor’s note: Whaaaaaa? How is this a word? It’s even in the dictionary! I realize REUNITE did not fit, but…)
3D clue: Make go «Vroom!»
Answer: REVUP
4D clue: Spots where you might spot some spotters
Answer: GYM
5D clue: Egg container
Answer: NEST
Technologies
AI Can Now Help You Create Top-Grade Word Documents and Excel Spreadsheets
Microsoft adds a whole new vibe to its 1980s-era software pioneers.
I’m not a wizard with Word and Excel. Are you? Do we know what to do with all those many menus at the top? Now, thanks to AI, maybe we don’t need to.
Microsoft has added AI to those software programs of yesteryear with Agent Mode for both Word and Excel. Powered by Microsoft 365 Copilot, Agent Mode can help anyone — even those with little experience — create high-quality, professional-grade documents and spreadsheets. Microsoft will add Agent Mode to PowerPoint at a future date.
Microsoft has also added Office Agent to Copilot chat to help create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. Functionality for Excel will be added later.
Vibe coding
It’s a new take on the vibe coding wave, whereby developers can create software with natural language prompts instead of writing lines of code by hand, said Sumit Chauhan, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Office product group.
«Get started with a simple prompt and then work iteratively with Copilot — steering it as it orchestrates multi-step tasks to deliver high-quality Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations,» Chauhan said in a statement. «It’s the new pattern of work for human-agent collaboration.»
How Agent Mode works
Say you want to create a household budget in Excel. Tell Agent Mode to create budget categories such as rent or mortgage, groceries, utilities, gas and entertainment. You can have Agent Mode create formulas to let you know if you’re over and under budget, among other tasks. Agent Mode in Excel could also help you create a financial analysis for a business.
In Word, Agent Mode can help you create or refine a limitless number of documents, such as revising and cleaning up your resume, composing a holiday letter, or writing a progress report or executive summary for a business.
Microsoft says Agent Mode for Word «handles the heavy lifting: drafting content, suggesting refinements, and asking clarifying questions. » The consumer works with Agent Mode to keep refining and honing the document to the finished product.
Office Agent in Copilot chat
You can start creating a PowerPoint from Copilot chat, using a prompt such as «Create a 10-slide PowerPoint deck of the most popular tech products in the US.» The Office Agent will then work with you to clarify intent, such as visual theme and target audience, refine the presentation, and determine how much research is needed.
How to begin
Agent Mode in Copilot for Excel and Word is now available in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed customers and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers.
Agent Mode is available in Excel on the web and will be coming soon to the desktop. To try it, install the Excel Labs add-in and choose Agent Mode. Agent Mode works in Word on the web, with desktop coming soon. Get started here.
Office Agent is available in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers in the US. Office Agent works in Microsoft 365 Copilot on the web in English. Get started here.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Sept. 30, #372
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 372 for Tuesday, Sept. 30.
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 has a category playing off the fact that many athletes have last names that are also words with other meanings. If you recognized a few of those, you probably did well. 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: Pass the Cracker Jack.
Green group hint: Throw it in there.
Blue group hint: Star players.
Purple group hint: Airplanes do this.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Purchases at a baseball game.
Green group: Pitching stats.
Blue group: World Series MVPs.
Purple group: ____ fly.
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 purchases at a baseball game. The four answers are food, program, souvenir and ticket.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is pitching stats. The four answers are hold, save, strikeout and win.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is World Series MVPs. The four answers are Bench, Dent, Dye and Springer.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ____ fly. The four answers are big, infield, pop and sacrifice.
Technologies
A Pricey PlayStation Controller That’s Perfect for Professional-Level Performance
The Nacon Revolution 5 Pro is expensive but offers unmatched performance tuning.
Pros
- Lots of hard customization options
- Solid feel in the hand
- Granular software customizations
Cons
- Expensive
- Non-standard layout
One of the great things about gaming is that there are typically tons of options to choose from, both in the games you play and in the hardware you use to play those games –- that is, unless you’re a PlayStation gamer.
Sadly, Sony is quite sparing in granting licenses for third-party controllers, so your options for upgrading from Sony’s DualSense controller to a pro controller are limited. Aside from Sony’s own DualSense Edge, there aren’t many choices, which is why I jumped at the chance to try the Revolution 5 Pro from Nacon. It’s definitely one of the best, but also one of the most unique PlayStation controllers I’ve used.
Designed different
The first thing I noticed about the Revolution 5 Pro is the asymmetrical joystick layout. It’s the only official PlayStation 5 controller I’m aware of laid out like it, which could be good or bad depending on your preferences. If you’re coming from Xbox or use an Xbox controller with your PC, you’ll feel right at home. But if you’re upgrading from something with the traditional PlayStation layout, like the DualSense or DualSense Edge, it might take some getting used to.
That’s not the only difference from a standard DualSense. The Nacon’s a bit taller, with straighter sides, and the face buttons are much larger and flatter. The grip material also features a more rubberized, distinct texture, which I prefer over most other controllers I’ve used. The triggers are also longer, feeling more like Xbox triggers than DualSense,which might take some getting used to for those who’ve never used one.
It also incorporates Hall Effect joysticks and triggers with two-stage trigger stops — the latter, honestly, is a bit disappointing. The second stage only stops the trigger pull halfway, and I’d much rather it be short or long instead of long and half-short: I couldn’t get the muscle memory down of having to pull the trigger deeper to activate it and kept missing shots. You can customize it in the app, but I’d rather have the hardware option.
To be fair, shorter trigger stops can cause issues in games with draw weapons like bows, such as the Horizon series, but I’d rather have it and turn it off than not have it.
The four remappable buttons on the back are solid and feel great, but I sometimes found myself preferring paddles like on the DualSense Edge. That controller only has two back buttons, though, and I’d much rather have four buttons than two paddles any day.
Weighty grips
The Revolution 5 Pro has one novel feature that I haven’t yet seen on any other controller (it’s available in some gaming mice). Inside the grips is space to add different-size weights, depending on your gaming preference. Nacon provides a pair of 10, 14, and 16 gram weights that you can add to deliver just the right heaviness for your play style.
A platform switch on the back lets you hop between PS5, PS4 and PC, and there’s also a button for quickly switching profiles and a switch to change from Classic to Advanced mode. In Classic mode, the controller performs like a standard controller, with a few options (like remapping the buttons) that you can customize without the app. Advanced mode lets you use the PC app for some really granular customization.
The PC app deserves a callout because it has the most granular customization options I’ve seen in a controller app. In addition to the standard set of settings you’d expect, like button remapping, profile support (up to four active), as well as joystick dead zones and trigger response times. But what sets Nacon apart is that it displays a linear graph for the dead zones and trigger responses so you can fine-tune the performance. It’s great if you want to create the perfect gameplay experience for your favorite games.
Some trade-offs
Battery life on the Revolution 5 Pro has been pretty stellar for me. Nacon promises a very conservative «more than 10 hours,» but I’ve gotten significantly longer. I’ve been able to use it for about five days in a row, with about two to three hours per day, without having to recharge. The lack of haptics and adaptive triggers certainly helps prolong battery life, but I don’t mind the tradeoff.
It comes in a few decent color choices, although the panda is my favorite, and you get some nice accessories with it, including a Bluetooth adapter for wireless headphones.
You might find $200 is a tad expensive for any controller, but I think it’s worth it, especially if you want a pro-level controller with great hardware and fine-tuning options. The asymmetrical joystick layout and lack of haptics and adaptive triggers might, understandably, be a deal breaker for some, but for me, those compromises are well worth it.
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