Beth Skwarecki

Today is another cute little puzzle, and not too hard—I’d even say it’s NIFTY. If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Thursday, October 26, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 26, NYT Connections #137! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today…

My introduction to crossword puzzles was through cheating. My grandfather would sit in his recliner with a pen and a folded-up newspaper, and from time to time, he’d throw out a question to another person in the room—including, when I was old enough, occasionally me. Soon I was sitting on the arm of the chair, helping him with some of the clues. I didn’t learn until much later in life that some people consider googling for factual information—or asking another person for such information—to be…

Today is another tricky one, with all those dishes! If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, October 21, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 21, NYT Connections #132! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. If you wan…

You’ve probably heard that strong, small magnets are dangerous for children. You would not give a toddler a neodymium magnet for any reason; you know that two of them, if swallowed, can connect inside their body, potentially causing severe injury. And yet, according to a recent survey presented to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids are still managing to swallow them—at alarming rates. “Parents almost never think their kid will ‘be so dumb as to swallow’ magnets,” pediatrician Minna Wieck…

Loading a bar is easy, right? You just put the plates on; and at the end of the workout, you take the plates off. But if you’ve ever stood befuddled in the middle of the weight room, you might wonder why nobody ever told you how, exactly, to do this. There are little tricks and movements that experienced gym-goers know, and simple facts and tools we take for granted. Today, I’ll let you in on all the secrets. And chances are, even if you’ve been lifting a while, you’ll learn at least one new thi…

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, October 15, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 15, NYT Connections #126! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know w…

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Monday, October 9, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 9, NYT Connections #120! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know wha…

You’ve heard of “long COVID,” but COVID isn’t the only illness that can cause lasting symptoms. Other respiratory infections, including colds, flu, and pneumonia, seem to sometimes trigger a “long” version as well. This may not be shocking news if you’ve ever noticed a cough or body aches sticking around for some times after you otherwise feel recovered from a cold or flu. But the phenomenon hasn’t been a well-studied until recently. As scientists try to understand long COVID, they’re beginning…

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, October 7, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 7, NYT Connections #118! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know w…

When I got my latest COVID booster—the new one with the updated spike proteins, which we should all make sure to get—the pharmacist asked, as I rolled my sleeve back down, if I wanted her to update my vaccine card. To tell the truth, I’d forgotten I even had one. Not only are vaccine cards no longer necessary to track your shots or to prove your vaccination status, the CDC has stopped issuing them. So if you can’t find yours, no worries. And if you do still have it handy, tuck it away to pass…

Fat Bear Week is upon us. On Oct. 4, 2023 (Fat Bear Tuesday), one of Katmai National Park’s over 2,000 Alaskan brown bears will be crowned the fattest of them all based on internet votes. So, in celebration of these ursine kings and queens, let’s enjoy some facts about bears large and small. Fat bears are healthy bears The bears need to get fat to have their best chance of surviving the winter. (Did you think these bears are just getting fat for our entertainment?) Their fatness is important t…

Now that you know the local high school’s running track is (probably) available for you to use, you might want a few tips on how, exactly, to coexist with other runners when you use it. Here are the rules of running track etiquette that thou shalt not break. Stay in your lane This is the very first thing I taught my kids when they were old enough to run on the track with me: Tracks have marked lanes, and in running, as in life, it’s important to stay in yours. You can change lanes as needed…

One of Fitbit’s most popular models, the Charge, has a new version out: the Charge 6. It has Google Maps, Google Wallet, and YouTube Music controls built in, along with heart rate sensing that the company says is its most accurate to date. You can preorder it now for $159.95, only about $10 more than the Charge 5’s current price. Here’s what’s new: Google says the heart rate tracking is now more accurate The sensors on this device appear to be the same as on the Charge 5, but Google says the C…

There’s a new COVID booster at pharmacies, and the simple thing to say about it is this: It’s good, it’s free, and you should get it. Unfortunately, the process of getting one of these shots isn’t going smoothly for everyone, with some people being told they’ll need to pay for it, and some having appointments canceled at the last minute. Let’s talk about what’s going on, and what you can do about it. The underlying reason for the confusion, by the way, is that we are no longer in the national…

I recently shared the best cheap purchases for your gym bag. Now it’s time to cover the best home workout gear that costs under $100. These are things you can use to fill out your garage gym or start a workout corner in your apartment bedroom. (Speaking of which: Lifehacker also has a whole guide to building a minimal home gym here). Buy good resistance bands instead of cheap ones You can find resistance bands at any big-box store, but they’re often thin and wear out quickly. I’d skip those a…

Some TikTok myths I find in the wild (like the tales of supposed tick attacks), while other times I’m tipped off by a news article claiming there’s a trend. The latest flurry of TikTok coverage claims that people on the platform are pushing laxatives as “budget Ozempic” (no relation to “nature’s Ozempic”), a fact I was unable to verify. I encountered some other interesting claims, though. In fact, the woman whose video the media used to illustrate the “budget Ozempic” trend made a TikTok in res…

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, September 16, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 16, NYT Connections #97! Scroll to the end if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. By the way, if you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well,…

I consider myself pretty conversant in metric units. I know that 20 kilograms is 44 pounds (double it and add 10%) and that five kilometers is three miles (I’ve, uh, run a lot of 5Ks). But Celsius temperatures have always been a bit of a mystery to me—until now. Why it’s so annoying to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius Not only are Celsius and Fahrenheit degrees different sizes (each Celsius degree covers more of the scale) they have different baselines. Zero degrees Fahrenheit is a bit…

If you want to become a faster runner, you’ll probably end up doing a lot of speedwork on a track. Or if you live in a hilly place, you might wish you had a nice flat track to run on. But how do you find one that’s open to the public? Turns out it’s easier than you might think. Many public high school tracks are available for the community to use. How do I find a local track to run on? I run on a local school track, and the way I found it was pretty straightforward. I phoned up the nearest hi…

A typical strength- or muscle-building workout happens in sets. You lift the weight a certain number of times (“reps”), then you put it down for a quick rest before going again. But how long should that rest be? The answer will depend on a few factors, including the purpose of the workout. There are legitimate reasons for powerlifters to wait five minutes between sets of squats, or for calisthenics devotees to set a 30-second timer before jumping back up for another set of pullups. There’s als…