Technologies

Want More Jackbox-Like Couch Party Games? Just Open the Netflix App on Any TV

The streaming service just added five party games to its lineup, including competitive Tetris, a Lego mini-game blitz and Pictionary.

At Netflix’s offices in Hollywood, California, I sat on a couch in front of a TV and tried frantically to guess words, build Legos and finish Tetris lines faster than my new rivals seated around me. The streaming service has a new slew of games playable on your TV that just need your smartphone to control, Jackbox-style.

That gives Netflix’s party games a leg up on the competition. While games from the Jackbox Party Pack series along with Mario Party, Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. have dominated the party game genre, they all require consoles or nearby PCs to play on big family room TVs. That’s all fine when you’re at home, but what about at a friend’s apartment or while traveling? It’s a lot easier to access Netflix’s games by logging into its app on whichever TV you’re in front of, scanning a QR code on your phone, and using it as your controller.

Connecting phones to the service takes a little work. iPhone owners will need to download an additional Netflix Game Controller app from Apple’s App Store which will remain connected after scanning a QR code before the first match, while Android phone owners can play through the standard Netflix app but need to scan a QR code each time they start a game.

Netflix has five party games out now with a respectable spread of game types, ensuring one player’s strengths aren’t dominating their friends. In my couch preview time, none of us were roundly beating the others — but there was a good amount of friendly trash talk and squeals of delight or dismay as games went one way or the other.

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My standout favorite was Lego Party, or at least an abridged version of the recently released game of the same name that does away with the Mario Party-esque game board and (smartly) throws players straight into a best-of-five mini-game blitz. Tetris Time Warp is competitive Tetris that you’ve probably played before, but with a fun twist of switching graphics to match different eras of the game — in the middle of a match, mine switched to greenscale like the original Game Boy version.

Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends is the most Jackbox-like game, where a group of players describe an animal with a word — though one is an imposter and tries to fake their way through. Pictionary is just like the classic game I know and love, while Boggle Party gives players a grid of letters in which they try to make as many words as they can in a limited time, which I assumed I’d dominate until stressing about the rapidly dwindling timer shrunk my vocabulary.

There’s another game coming soon, Dead Man’s Party: A Knives Out Game, which will be a murder mystery and social deduction game themed after the third detective film in the Knives Out series that’s due out later this month. While Netflix didn’t specify when the game will be released, Wake Up Dead Man is slated for a Nov. 26 release.

This party package is a departure for Netflix, which had focused on single-player games for kids and adults playable through its app. To be clear, the streaming service is still expanding its library of non-party titles, with a mobile version of Red Dead Redemption coming soon.

Technologies

How to Make and Share Your Very Own Wordle Puzzles

Wordle obsessives, you can now make personal inside joke puzzles to send them to friends.

Wordle’s an immensely popular word game (we post the answers daily) from The New York Times, but it’s not the most personal game in the world. Answers such as GUISE and PERIL are tricky, but generic. Now, Wordle fans who have dreamed of making their own puzzles can test their friends and family by creating their own Wordle creations up to seven letters in length.

Here’s how to do it.

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No surprise, you have to be a New York Times Games or All Access Subscriber to use this feature. If you are, you’ll find the Create a Puzzle option available from the top menu above today’s Wordle.
Enter a word, and the site will tell you if it is available. Real Wordle limits you to five-letter words, but the puzzle-making feature lets you choose words between four and seven letters.
The usual dictionary rules apply, and so curse words, some pet names and obscure inside jokes are essentially out. If your cat is named TANGO, that’s there, but RINGO is not an option. You can drop a proposal with a single word like MARRY, but MARRYME will be rejected, since that’s two separate words.
Word chosen, you can then fill out your name and add an optional hint, and the feature will generate your puzzle with a link you can send around. Unlike standard puzzles, your puzzle doesn’t appear to reset after a day, so whoever you send it to doesn’t need to rush to solve it.

While you must be a subscriber to create your own personalized puzzle, you can share it with anyone — they only need the link, not a subscription, to complete your Wordle.

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.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Nov. 15

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 15.

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? The Saturday puzzle is always the longest of the week, so it’s not quite as easy as the other days. Today’s wasn’t too terrible. Read on for the answers. 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: Theatrical role
Answer: PART

5A clue: Capital of Vietnam
Answer: HANOI

6A clue: Father of a «fur baby»
Answer: CATDAD

7A clue: Words often accompanied by a ring
Answer: MARRYME

8A clue: Whirling currents
Answer: EDDIES

9A clue: Put up, as a statue
Answer: ERECT

10A clue: Race that’s about half the length of a half-marathon
Answer: TENK

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: SpongeBob’s starfish friend
Answer: PATRICK

2D clue: Despite it all …»
Answer: ANDYET

3D clue: Wanders here and there
Answer: ROAMS

4D clue: Company with a «To Go» stain remover
Answer: TIDE

5D clue: Become firm
Answer: HARDEN

6D clue: Small group of soldiers
Answer: CADRE

7D clue: What parallel lines never do
Answer: MEET

Technologies

Touchdown! Disney, ESPN and Other Channels Are Back on YouTube TV

YouTube TV subscribers no longer need another streaming service — or to visit a sports bar — to watch the NFL or college football.

YouTube TV subscribers, your channels — and your football — are back. Disney and YouTube said Friday night that the two companies had reached an agreement. YouTube TV subscribers lost all of Disney’s channels, including ESPN and ESPN2, on Oct. 30. Those who wanted to watch NFL or college football on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 or Disney family-friendly hits such as Bluey, had to find other alternatives.

«We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and future flexibility in our offers,» a YouTube spokesperson said. «Subscribers should see channels including ABC, ESPN and FX returning to their service over the course of the day, as well as any recordings that were previously in their Library. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate our subscribers’ patience as we negotiated on their behalf. «

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The companies said in a statement that they reached a multi-year deal and were already restoring the channels to YouTube TV.

According to YouTube, subscribers should see content and saved recordings restored over the next 24 hours. So if you don’t have them back yet, they should show up soon.

I’m a YouTube TV subscriber myself, and as of 5:30 p.m. PT on Friday, Disney, ESPN and other channels have been restored for me. As a die-hard Minnesota Vikings fan (yes, I know), I added Fubo TV temporarily, but I won’t be keeping that subscription.

According to the statement, the deal will include the restoration of the channels, plus other items. The unlimited version of ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service will now be made available at no additional cost to YouTube TV subscribers. Subscribers will also have access to a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited inside YouTube TV. Also, select networks will be included in various genre-specific packages, and there will be the ability to include the Disney Plus Hulu Bundle as part of select YouTube offerings.

«This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with how audiences choose to watch,» Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in the statement. «It recognizes the tremendous value of Disney’s programming and provides YouTube TV subscribers with more flexibility and choice. We are pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.»

Disney-owned channels were pulled on Oct. 30 when the agreement between the two companies expired.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the resulting 25-day blackout was the longest in recent memory for Disney.

Here’s a full list of the channels that were removed due to the dispute: