Technologies

Last Christmas Stresses Your Pets, and So Do These Other Holiday Tunes

Talk about pet peeves. Science says these turbo-charged holiday jams drive your pets up the tree.

Do you think Spotify releases Wrapped for listeners in early December so that Christmas music doesn’t inadvertently make its way into your annual roundup? At this point, Christmas tunes are in full swing and practically inescapable, no matter where you go. And they don’t just get annoying to you — your pets are sick of them, too. According to a report from music event ticket sales platform Fanatix, popular, high-tempo music bops are stressing your pets out.

Fanatix asked music experts to analyze 90 popular Christmas songs to discover which tunes are putting your pets on edge and offer up some less stressful alternatives. Fanatix used information from both the BBC and Natural Library of Medicine, which concluded that slow-tempo songs with little to no percussive elements are best for your pets. With this in mind, Fanatix dug into Spotify’s Christmas Hits playlist and went to work.

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The most popular Christmas tune on the music streaming list is Wham’s Last Christmas, which takes the cake as the most nerve-racking song for pets, with a beats per minute (BPM) of 206. High-tempo songs are more likely to cause irritation to your critters.

Here’s the full list of popular, yet distressing, Christmas songs for your pets. And don’t worry, Mariah Carey is nowhere to be found on it, so carry on.

The Most Stressful Christmas Songs for Pets

	Title	Artist	Tempo / BPM
1	Last Christmas	Wham!	206
2	Merry Christmas Everyone	Shakin’ Stevens	203
2	Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas)	The Andrews Sisters	203
3	It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year	Andy Williams	202
4	Santa Tell Me	Ariana Grande	192
5	Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24 — Instrumental	Trans-Siberian Orchestra	186
6	Please Come Home for Christmas — 2013 Remaster	Eagles	183
7	Driving Home for Christmas	Chris Rea	180
8	What Christmas Means to Me (feat. Stevie Wonder)	John Legend, Stevie Wonder	170
8	Holiday Road — Spotify Singles Holiday	Kesha	170
9	We Wish You the Merriest	Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Fred Waring	169
10	Where Are You Christmas?	Faith Hill	168

If your rotating holiday playlist has more than a couple of the songs from the list above on it, Fanatix also provided another list of lower-tempo songs to add into your mix that will be more tolerable to your animals — though annoyance through repetitiveness isn’t factored in here.

Fanatix found that songs within the 50-60 BPM range are generally well tolerated by pets and offered up these alternatives:

The Most Pet-Friendly Christmas Songs

	Title	Artist	Tempo / BPM
1	Carol of the Bells (From «Home Alone» Soundtrack)	John Williams	47
2	Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree	Brenda Lee	67
3	Do You Hear What I Hear?	Bing Crosby	73
4	The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)	Nat King Cole	73
5	Christmas Time Is Here — Vocal	Vince Guaraldi	75
6	Frosty the Snowman	The Ronettes	77
7	Sleigh Ride	The Ronettes	77
8	Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)	Gene Autry	80
9	The Prayer	Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli	82
10	O Holy Night — Spotify Singles Holiday	Ravyn Lenae	84

I don’t know about you, but there are some bangers on the more pet-friendly list, even if Frosty the Snowman and Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree have been played to death already. Consider adding some of these songs to your playlist — your pets will be thankful.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Dec. 11, #444

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Dec. 11, No. 444.

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 a tough one. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle 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 appear in the NYT Games app, but it does 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: Put on your skates.

Green group hint: Get your racket.

Blue group hint: Dribble the ball.

Purple group hint: Kids love to do this.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Found at a hockey rink.

Green group: Last four men to win a tennis Grand Slam.

Blue group: Current women’s college basketball stars.

Purple group: ____ play.

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 found at a hockey rink. The four answers are bench, boards, glass and penalty box.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is the last four men to win a tennis Grand Slam. The four answers are Alcaraz, Djokovic, Nadal and Sinner.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is current women’s college basketball stars. The four answers are Betts, Booker, Crooks and Strong.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ play. The four answers are bang-bang, power, trick and triple.

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Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.

That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing recently.

#1: Series A Clubs, Jan. 11. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.

#2: WNBA MVPs, Jan. 21. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.

#3: Premier League team nicknames, Jan. 17. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.

#4: Homophones of NBA player names, Jan. 26. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Dec. 11, #1636

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Dec. 11, No. 1,636.

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 is a little tricky, with a double letter, to boot. 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 two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with G.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with S.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can mean to estimate or to suppose something.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is GUESS.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Dec. 10, No. 1635 was ERASE.

Recent Wordle answers

Dec. 6, No. 1631: WAIST

Dec. 7, No. 1632: FLUTE

Dec. 8, No. 1633: GRAVY

Dec. 9, No. 1634: SNIDE

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Dec. 11

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 11.

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 wasn’t too bad, though 7-Across threw me until I solved some of the Down clues. 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.