mashable-rss

Here’s the answer for “Wordle” #1172 on September 3, as well as a few hints, tips, and clues to help you solve it yourself.

Oh hey there! If you’re here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.

If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for September 3’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

Close to losing consciousness.

Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no reoccurring letters.

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter F.

The Wordle answer today is…

Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today’s Wordle is…

FAINT.

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.

Read More 

Connections is a New York Times word game that’s all about finding the “common threads between words.” How to solve the puzzle.

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for September 3’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Tweet may have been deleted

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

Tweet may have been deleted

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

Yellow: Clemency

Green: Doing too much

Blue: Money

Purple: Types of heads

Here are today’s Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:

Yellow: Absolve

Green: Excessively

Blue: Global Currencies

Purple: ___Head

Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today’s Connections #450 is…

What is the answer to Connections today

Absolve: EXCUSE, PARDON, SAVE, SPARE

Excessively: BEYOND, EXTRA, OVER, TOO

Global Currencies: POUND, REAL, WON, YEN

___Head: ARROW, BLOCK, FORE, KNUCKLE

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.

Read More 

Brady Corbet crafts a towering achievement about immigrants, architecture, and Jewish identity. Film review.

The Brutalist is a towering paean to the American dream, in all its force and folly. Set over several decades, Brady Corbet’s post-World War II immigrant saga is — like the architectural achievements of its protagonist — constructed with meticulous consideration, resulting in a work of multifaceted technique and piercing humanity.

The film, arresting from its first frames, spends three-and-a-half engrossing hours on the tale of László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a fictitious Jewish Hungarian architect and survivor of the Holocaust, whose arrival in America yields both rigorous struggle and tempting opportunity. It embodies the kind of American epics no longer really made by Hollywood studios. Comparisons to The Godfather have abounded since its Venice International Film Festival premiere (though as a vast immigrant saga, a more fitting analogy might be The Godfather Part II). Time will tell whether these are hyperbole, but while watching The Brutalist, it’s hard not to think of the truly great American stories of the 20th century, like Once Upon a Time In America, and on occasion, even Citizen Kane.

The latter is the loftiest possible invocation, but it’s a comparison of scale and subject matter, not of technical innovation. The Brutalist, for all its splendor, is not a forward-thinking film like Orson Welles’ Kane — but this is, in fact, a key piece of its aesthetic and thematic puzzle. The immediacy with which it conjures past masterpieces is part of its enormous thesis on the purpose of art, which it smuggles beneath a soul-stirring saga of survival, one that exists in conversation with, of all things, Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. The film is both a densely-packed text, filled with rich thought on the world at large, as well as an excitingly rhythmic work of cinema that moves with a fearsome passion. It’s hard not to think of it as a new American masterpiece.

What is The Brutalist about?

Written by Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist begins in 1947, in a time of reconstruction and uncertainty. When László arrives on Ellis Island — an intimate, disorienting scene that begins in his darkened ship bunk and moves above deck — his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy), from whom he was separated during the war, remain stuck in the Soviet Union.

Taken in by his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola) in Philadelphia and working in his furniture shop, László begins proposing unique Modernist designs, until he’s commissioned to build a library for a wealthy family, the Van Burens. Over the years, these aristocratic, old-money magnates — the boastful Harrison Lee (Guy Pearce) and his slimy son Harry (Joe Alwyn) — become a vital part of László’s story. The film is novelistic in its unfurling, occasionally taking the form of an epistolary, via the letters sent between László and Erzsébet, but to borrow a phrase from a fellow critic, it’s also “Great American Novel-istic.” László’s architectural passions, and his desperation to be reunited with his family, become deeply entwined with his personal and artistic ambitions. To put it simply, money is the solution at every turn, even if it corrodes his soul — but The Brutalist isn’t quite so didactic.

While it spends several hours chronicling the way László changes, and is changed by the United States, the temptations of wealth and power are a small subset of the larger forces that mold him into a much angrier and bitter person. A party scene in Harrison’s mansion diverts its focus from conversations to slow-motion shots of champagne and expensive jewelry, just as László is about to sign a long-term contract with the family to construct a community center. However, at no point does Corbet cut to reaction shots of László noticing these trinkets. They represent the fabric of the world he’s about to enter, though as his chat with Harrison proceeds, he continues to speak of architecture with poetic adoration. (“I always find our conversations intellectually stimulating!” Harrison rasps, disguising the knowledge that he’ll never be László’s intellectual equal.) Wealth may not change László’s passions, but it might change how he approaches them.

All the while, the film also explores the fraught corners of post-World War II Jewish identity in the West. From the moment László arrives on America’s shores, he’s presented with questions of assimilation. His cousin Attila has married a Catholic woman, Audrey (Emma Laird), and has converted. The store he runs is called Miller and Sons, even though his last name is (or was) Molnár, the Hungarian equivalent — and as László quips, “You have no sons!” Before long, news of the infant state of Israel reaches him, leading to other Jewish characters in his vicinity wrestling with their rights and obligations.

Filming on The Brutalist was completed in May of last year, before the events of Oct. 7 led to a more widespread discussion on understanding of the colonial aspects of Israel’s founding. The film doesn’t get into granular detail — László himself may not be aware of the U.N.’s plans for the region, or how they might displace local Arabs — but the looming specter of this conversation imbues the movie with a tragic dilemma. László’s options, as a refugee, are to bring other people harm through displacement, or to continue bringing harm to his own soul, through his immersion in American capitalism.

As the film proceeds, it centers a key question that applies to every facet of its construction: “What is strength?”

László’s vision for the Van Burens’ building — a blocky, pyramidic structure few others seem to understand — is uncompromising to a fault, even if it means pushing other people away in the process. But as the film proceeds, it centers a key question that applies to every facet of its construction: “What is strength?” What is its nature? Is it the materials and the deep concrete foundation László builds? If so, must this come at the cost of the shakier foundation of his roots in a new country? He is always seen as an outsider, whether because of his Jewish-ness, his foreign-ness, or both. Does strength involve living with the physical and psychological pain he’s endured, and the strain it puts on his marriage? Or does it involve numbing that pain at any cost?

This thematic exclamation point would mark the end of discussions on most modern American films. But in the case of The Brutalist, it’s merely the beginning, thanks in large part to Corbet’s multifaceted, referential, and at times reverential use of form.

Every aspect of The Brutalist is finely tuned

What stands out first and foremost about The Brutalist is Adrien Brody’s lead performance. It’s funny, and stirring, and risible. However, there’s not a single moment where the Hungarian-American actor isn’t reaching into the depths of his soul, mining some corner of either his previous roles (such as in The Pianist) or of his mother’s experience as a Hungarian woman of Jewish descent forced to flee her country in the 1950s. There’s an awkwardness to László too, given the way he interacts with the world around him — which is to say, the country around him. To the untrained ear, his Hungarian dialogue (and his Hungarian accent while speaking English) seem just fine, but the Queens-born actor also purges himself of any remotely American intonation or idiosyncrasy. Whether or not he nails Hungarian specificities, he plays “foreigner” to a tee, between the way he gesticulates, to the way he enters and leaves both rooms and conversations. He is, first and foremost, an outsider.

While Brody’s work is magnificently pained, let it not go unsaid: Guy Pearce is the movie’s secret weapon, as the actor charged with creating the in-groups and inner circles which tacitly reject László in the first place. As Harrison, the Australian actor channels an air of arrogance that the character often smarmily re-frames as benevolence, leading to moments of shockingly casual cruelty towards László, usually played off as jokes. This dynamic is a key part of the story, and of the America in which László starts to assimilate, taking on Harrison’s traits in turn.

Corbet’s camera helps these performances shine, especially in the moments that The Brutalist takes dark and dour turns. Cinematographer Lol Crawley bathes certain scenes in darkness; his palette’s contrasting warmth and shadow may have led to some of the Godfather comparisons, but the film isn’t interested in mere imitation, even though it conjures old-world styles as though they were forgotten spirits.

The Brutalist was shot on VistaVision, an IMAX-like technique first developed in the 1950s, in which 35-millimeter film stock was run sideways through a camera, increasing the surface area of the frame (the movie was subsequently projected on 70-millimeter at its premiere). This results in a crisper, sharper image than results from most modern digital workflows, but The Brutalist also appears to employ older lenses with numerous flaws, and razor-thin margin for what is or isn’t in focus, revealing new dimensions to spaces and even people. Between its use of era-appropriate techniques and withered tools, The Brutalist ends up existing in a liminal space between past and present; it’s simultaneously of an older era, as well as a window to that era, revealing a complicated relationship to the past.

‘The Brutalist’ ends up existing in a liminal space between past and present; it’s simultaneously of an older era, as well as a window to that era, revealing a complicated relationship to the past.

For László, this relationship manifests as a pull-and-push between art and industry, and a struggle to preserve the forms his buildings take under capitalist constraints. However, the film itself takes intriguing form as well, wielding a litany of techniques owed to numerous different film movements over the years (that they even remotely gel together is something miraculous). The Brutalist is, in large part, shot with the classical composition of old Hollywood, with controlled framing and movement, but it often breaks from this norm.

On occasion, one might find the pronounced jump cuts of the French New Wave (created, ironically, as a response to the classic Hollywood studios), alongside the use of Soviet montage, accompanied — equally ironically — by voiceover and spliced footage from American propaganda newsreels about industrial innovation. The stark and careful shadows of Godfather cinematographer Gordon Willis, of New Hollywood, find themselves alongside techniques from contemporary independent movements in New York, like the freewheeling, improvisational, up-close-and-personal style of John Cassavetes. You might even find some Hungarian influence if you look closely enough (certain shots are owed to Béla Tarr, while others to László Nemes), and as the film moves forward through time, it even pulls from Lynchian surrealism, and techniques developed during the early video revolution.

Corbet’s use of these contrasting techniques isn’t just pronounced, but powerful and purposeful. He employs them to create jolting moments of narrative impact, but he also seems to pay homage to the history of the cinematic medium (and its development) as a means to embody the very story he’s telling, about the complicated ways in which people hold on to the past. And, as a film that’s as much about László’s painful history as it is about America’s past, it makes for an aesthetic refutation of one of its biggest influences: Ayn Rand.

The Brutalist remixes and transforms The Fountainhead

The Brutalist owes much of its story and structure to Rand’s The Fountainhead, from its basic premise of an uncompromising architect, to plot developments like László being plucked from toil and obscurity to create something lasting; he shovels coal for a period, the same way Rand’s hero Howard Roark worked in a granite quarry. But as visualized in King Vidor’s much-maligned 1949 film version of the book — which stars Gary Cooper, and for which Rand herself wrote the screenplay — Modernist and Brutalist architecture take on a fascistic tone in The Fountainhead. They become about leaving the past behind, and shaking off the influences of Graeco-Roman styles, in favor of a “form flows from function” approach. This function-first belief, though it has older origins, was notably espoused by Adolf Hitler, who abhorred “stupid imitations of the past.”

Brutalism, though it has more egalitarian origins like low-income social housing, does have a stylistic and philosophical overlap with totalitarian architecture. Both come to similar aesthetic conclusions — the angular, the monochrome, the display of materials — albeit for very different reasons. Vidor’s The Fountainhead, in which Roark creates in a Modernist style verging on Brutalist, arguably does a disservice to form, both as an architectural concept, and a filmic one. In Vidor’s story, the influence of the past is framed as a cloying, constraining force intent on snuffing out individuality, and the way that story is told is similarly functional (the film has its charms, but it’s straightforward in its presentation, and rote in its delivery of dialogue).

Vidor’s film is hardly a defining pillar of modern American politics, but Rand’s Objectivist philosophies certainly are. Her rejection of collectivism both tapped into and subsequently clarified the heart of American capitalism — the very same heart Corbet puts on display, and presents as a magnetic force for László, pulling him toward more autocratic ideals. The Brutalist never expands on László’s political outlook, or that of his wife, because the movie’s immigrant characters tend to tiptoe around these questions, from poor and wealthy Americans alike, at a time when foreigners (and communists) were looked upon with suspicion. However, Corbet leaves plenty by way of breadcrumbs to figure out what their beliefs might be, and how those beliefs come into immediate conflict with the ideals of their adopted home.

‘The Brutalist’ is, deep in its bones, a collectivist film that not only places immense emotional value on people and their history, but creates and embodies that value too.

Though he puts on an uncompromising front when it comes to his designs, László is always found compromising when it comes to belief, and the way he conducts himself. These are tensions The Brutalist works into every scene, making its gargantuan runtime seem like a piece of cake. It’s a film from which you cannot look away, and wouldn’t want to — even when it takes dark and dour turns, whose presentation verges on the phantasmagorical.

As much as The Brutalist is a film of steel and concrete, it’s a film of the spirit too, and the way the soul is built and constructed from local materials. It’s about all the things that make America, and make American stories. Ultimately, when the movie reveals a previously obscured detail about László’s work, it makes for a devastating cinematic mic drop that reclaims even the Randian notion that Modernism, Brutalism, and progress at large are ideals that must be cut off from the past, and from connections to other human beings.The Brutalist is, deep in its bones, a collectivist film that not only places immense emotional value on people and their history, but creates and embodies that value too.

The Brutalist was reviewed out of its world premiere at the Venice International film Festival. 

Read More 

After “Aggro Dr1ft”, Harmony Korine has again made the most galaxy-brained film of the Venice International Film Festival. Review.

After Aggro Dr1ft last year, Harmony Korine has once again made the most galaxy-brained movie of the Venice International Film Festival, Baby Invasion. A work that takes the form of a messed up livestream, the filmmaker’s new video game-inspired nightmare is wildly, oppressively hypnotic, even though it eventually runs out of places to go.

The edgelords at Korine’s vowel-less EDGLRD production house feel less like traditional filmmakers, more like a collective of media enthusiasts running wackadoodle experiments. Observe them from afar and you might find pretentious faux-intellectualism on the future of cinema; Korine claims that this is what movies will soon be like. It’s a hard notion to take seriously.

But should you choose to submit to the work regardless, you’ll be treated to a stunning example of what movies can be right now, with a strong dose of eerie premonition about where the world at large might be headed — if it isn’t already there.

What is Baby Invasion about?

Baby Invasion opens with a brief interview clip with a fictitious Filipina game developer — who, for some strange reason, doesn’t remove her VR headset. She explains the concept for a game she created that was unfortunately leaked on the internet: a first-person-shooter (FPS) in which assailants disguise their faces with those of babies. Furthermore, its popularity on some corners of the web inspired people to go out and re-create its core concept in real life, and broadcast their crimes via livestream.

This deeply fucked-up idea is, in its entirety, the movie’s premise. It takes the form of screenlife cinema, from the point of view of someone watching and interacting with one such online stream, though given that the eponymous baby invaders wear helmet-mounted cameras, the film itself may as well be a first-person shooter movie, like Hardcore Henry. Using AI facial filters (à la TikTok and Snapchat), a cult-like group dressed in horned black hoodies obscure their appearance with the trend-requisite images of baby faces, as they collect ammunition and travel between various Florida mansions in a covert van.

The screen is filled with a Twitch-like scrolling community chat on the left-hand side (in various languages, and with its own memes and internal lingo), alongside graphics and other statistical displays. However, at very few points is the actual audio of this stream ever heard. Instead, it’s overlaid with an extremely lengthy, constantly morphing rave track by producer Burial, accompanied by whispers about a rabbit-like creature. As the film’s parameters become clear, so too does that of the streamers, who point their guns at wealthy hostages for fun and — it would seem — commit grisly murders just off-screen.

“Crimson towel!” numerous viewers type into the chat, referring to the blood-soaked face coverings over filmed bodies strewn about, as though this were some familiar trope or community reaction. The assailants’ baby disguises may be strange, but they’re hardly the most perverse part of the whole affair: that would be the casual cruelty and dehumanization on display in the stream, towards women in particular, which becomes part of the movie’s self-reflexive point.

Baby Invasion taps into distinctly modern forms of violence

As with the video game influences in Aggro Dr1ft, Korine appears fixated with the collision of gaming and real-world violence. Of course, the idea that video games are some root cause of violent outbursts has long been exaggerated, but the movie, like video games themselves, exists in a violent world that adopts the language of mass media. More tame real-world examples include video creators impersonating Grand Theft Auto, and streamers pretending to be video game characters (specifically NPCs or “non-playable characters”) and accepting input via emojis.

Unfortunately, this adoption of gaming language has a darker side. For instance, NPC has become an epithet meant to imply someone is devoid of personality or humanity, which is the next logical step in an online culture intent on dehumanizing its targets. In Baby Invasion, distressed hostages immediately have their reactions screencapped and turned into memes, reducing their plight to content meant for easy consumption. The closer they are to being killed, the more filters are applied to their person, obscuring their humanity.

The more the movie lingers in this first-person perspective, the more it disturbingly places viewers in the mindset of such terrorists, and in doing so, Baby Invasion calls to mind real mass shootings and violent crimes which have been livestreamed — the Christchurch mosque shooting that was streamed live on YouTube and Facebook, and a Michigan murder that was broadcast on Facebook are just two examples.

If there’s something missing from Baby Invasion, it’s the actual, sickening outcomes of the crimes themselves. The victims are living, breathing people in one moment, gone the next, with the actual act of execution having been obscured. Perhaps it’s a violation of the guidelines of the fictional streaming platforms of the film themselves, but this missing piece is thematically vital too. Should we, as viewers, want to see the complete picture? Without realizing it, we might be complicit in Korine’s portrait of a world gone mad as soon as we realize there’s more to the story, and something we’re prevented from seeing.  

Baby Invasion is an arresting experience — up to a point

The film is also self-reflexive about who its audience is, and who the participants in the stream might be. A small window pops up on occasion, with teens in colorful skull masks watching the stream, as though it were from their vantage (or on their screens) that the film was playing out. Not only does the movie dictate who its audience is — in terms of their macabre desires, and how they mold themselves — but it speculates on who the shooters might be in the strangest fashion. The stream boots up with an EDGLRD logo. The shooters wear EDGLRD insignia, and the horns they wear resemble the masks worn in Aggro Dr1ft. Are they fans who might’ve misinterpreted that movie as a call to violence, or simply adopted its aesthetics?

Korine is just as culpable as the rest of the culture, it would seem. But this is, in a way, freeing for him as a filmmaker. It verges on offering Korine carte blanche to do, essentially, whatever he wants in the realm of cinematic debauchery. As much as the screen may be cluttered by graphics and text, there’s a distinct realism to the online world we see, and how the people within it interact and operate. We don’t see much of the bloodshed in the moment, though the movie does feature disturbing flashes of what appears to be separate stabbing attacks shot with a more rudimentary camera — as though this were some flashback or memory, or ghost in the machine.

However, there are times when the very reality of the film is called into question, rendering the aforementioned stabbing a potential peek into the real world from, perhaps, an unreal one. The game designer in the prologue talks about her intent to blur the virtual and real worlds, and the entrancing effect of Baby Invasion often does just that, lulling its more willing viewers into a state of arrest, to the point that even its most realistic images become mere stimuli. But then the stream takes odd turns, and the shooters find themselves in a metaverse of sorts, peeking out at the real events they perpetrate. Perhaps this is some quirk of the stream or real life “game” — we are, at the end of the day, witnessing what other viewers might see on a screen — but there are also moments where digital recreations of real environments so closely resemble the real thing that it’s genuinely hard to tell the difference.

Figuring out the distinction (or even wanting to) is sort of irrelevant. Baby Invasion doesn’t exactly have a plot beyond the shooters’ violent depravity, and so there’s only so long one can be swept up in its techno madness, despite its mere 80-minute runtime. However, that it takes these detours at all is terrifying enough, and provides just enough room for speculation. In a movie where desensitization lies at the root of everything, the notion of whether something feels real (regardless of whether it is) becomes the most pressing question. If fiction can be made to feel like reality, then so too can reality become fiction, giving way to everything from conspiracy theories to bullets and bloodshed.

Baby Invasion was reviewed out of its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.

Read More 

George R.R. Martin has shared hinted at his thoughts on “House of the Dragon” in a new blog post.

The House of the Dragon Season 2 finale didn’t go down particularly well with fans, but the show may be about to get its biggest critic yet: George R.R. Martin, the author of the book the series is based on, Fire and Blood.

On Friday, Martin posted a new “Not a Blog” entry in which he talked about Siesta in Sante Fe, during which a giant marionette called Zozobra is burned as a way of “devouring the darkness.”

“Believe me we need that, more than ever before,” wrote the author. “The world, the country, and yes, certainly me. This has not been a good year for anyone, with war everywhere and fascism on the rise… and on a more personal level, I have had a pretty wretched year as well, one full of stress, anger, conflict, and defeat.”

Martin went on to say that he plans to talk more about this in future blog entries — and that he’ll also be sharing his thoughts on House of the Dragon.

“I do not look forward to other posts I need to write, about everything that’s gone wrong with HOUSE OF THE DRAGON… but I need to do that too, and I will,” Martin wrote. “Not today, though.”

Yikes. This is particularly notable because the language Martin uses is fairly blunt. When speaking about Game of Thrones‘ ending in the past he’s explained that he wished it could have gone on for longer, but he’s typically avoided giving his own personal opinion about the show.

If we had to guess, we’d say Martin’s most likely to have some things to say about what’s gone on behind the scenes of House of the Dragon — maybe some of the logistics that caused a key battle to be pushed into Season 3, leaving Season 2 on a cliffhanger, for instance.

Read More 

The NYT Strands hints and answers you need to make the most of your puzzling experience.

If you’re reading this, you’re looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Order in the court!

These words are more commonly heard across the pond.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

The answers all relate to noble titles.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today’s NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today’s spangram is Titles.

NYT Strands word list for September 2

Viscount

Queen

Knight

Duchess

Esquire

Titles

Baron

Earl

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.

Read More 

Here are the 15 films you should know about from TIFF 2024. Including “The Substance,” “Piece by Piece,” and “The Mountain.”

Film Festival Season is upon us! From Venice to Toronto to New York City to Fantastic Fest, Mashable will be hitting each one to bring you the best and brightest highlights from slates that include hundreds of contenders.

Whether you’re wondering what powerful film might hook Oscar gold this winter, looking for a totally bonkers movie to thrill over with friends, or seeking a hidden gem of cinema splendor, we’re here on the ground at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival to help. Last year, we reviewed such awe-inspiring offerings as Hayao Miyazaki’s poetic opus The Boy and the Heron, the gonzo comedy Dicks: The Musical, and Alexander Payne’s winsome holiday dramedy The Holdovers, which featured our favorite one-line wonder of the year.

This year, TIFF has us looking forward to new films from Pedro Almodóvar, Will Ferrell, Mike Flanagan, Luca Guadagnino, Marielle Heller, and Pharrell Williams. And there’s even more in store we can’t wait to discover.

Here are the 15 films you should know about from TIFF 2024.

Will & Harper

The titular duo of this road trip documentary is responsible for such big-swing comedies as Casa de mi Padre, A Deadly Adoption, and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. But long before all of those, they were friends building a bond, working at Saturday Night Live.

Will Ferrell and Harper Steele have known each other for decades. But when, at 61, Harper came out as trans and transitioned into living openly as a woman, the time came for the two to reconnect. A 16-day road trip across America was not only a way for Will to better understand Harper, but also a chance for Harper to revisit dive bars, sports arenas, and other once-treasured spaces that might not be as welcoming now. Together, they explore friendship, privilege, and what it means to be trans in the U.S. And while the content can be heavy, under the director of Josh Greenbaum, who helmed the supremely hilarious Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, the tone is light, accessible, and ultimately resoundingly heartwarming.

Starring: Will Ferrell and Harper Steele

How to watch: Will & Harper debuts on Netflix Oct. 4.

The Substance

Out of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, The Substance scored rave reviews and much buzz about its revolting spectacle. But we’d expect nothing less from Coralie Fargeat, the viciously brilliant writer/director behind the stylish and shattering Revenge.

Tackling Hollywood’s dangerous obsession with looks, The Substance stars Demi Moore as a star forced out of the industry due to her age. When a shady scientific breakthrough promises a younger, “better” version of herself, she’s quick to push the plunger. But these two halves must take turns, living one week at a time. And the beguiling go-getter Sue (Margaret Qualley) isn’t much for waiting her turn.

Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Hugo Diego Garcia, Joseph Balderrama, Oscar Lesage

How to watch: The Substance hits theaters Sept. 20.

Piece by Piece

American music mogul Pharrell Williams has given audiences a barrage of hit songs, collaborated with some of the biggest artists in rap, and won 13 Grammys (so far). It’s about time someone told his story. But a bog-standard bio-doc of talking heads and concert footage was never going to fully grasp the creativity of this icon. So, Academy Award–winning documentarian Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom) brings a bold new angle by re-enacting this story with Lego-inspired animation.

Williams not only lends his voice, but also produces, welcoming a flood of famous friends and collaborators all re-imagined as mini-figs. It looks bonkers, and we’re absolutely stoked to see it.* 

Starring: Pharrell Williams, Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, N.O.R.E., Pusha T., Daft Punk, and Kendrick Lamar

How to watch: Piece by Piece opens in theaters Oct. 11. 

The Mountain

If you loved Hunt for the Wilderpeople, you won’t want to overlook The Mountain. Rachel House, who played the Terminator-like social worker in Wilderpeople, makes her directorial debut with a charming coming-of-age adventure that also features misfit teens trekking into the New Zealand wild.

When 11-year-old Māori girl Sam (Elizabeth Atkinson) learns her cancer has returned, she escapes the children’s hospital to climb Taranaki Maunga, hoping that proving herself to the mountain will cure her. Along the way, she befriends the fearful but caring new kid in town Mallory (Reuben Francis) and the passionate environmentalist Bronco (Terrence Daniel), both of whom reluctantly agree to be her sherpas. Together, they set forth on a quest that is at times silly, at times suspenseful, but always heartfelt.

Starring: Elizabeth Atkinson, Terence Daniel, and Reuben Francis

Daniella Forever

Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo has a unique skill for blending genre with mind-bending storytelling. He broke through stateside in 2007 with the deeply gnarly horror-thriller Timecrimes. And though he’s contributed to scary anthologies like The ABCs of Death and V/H/S Viral, you might know him best as the writer/helmer of Colossal, the superbly surreal comedy that starred Anne Hathaway as a woman who’s accidentally manifesting a rampaging kaiju over Seoul.

Now, Vigalondo has teamed up with Henry Golding for a tale about grief and lucid dreaming. To move on after the death of his girlfriend, Nicolas (Golding) joins a sleep trial that reunites him with some version of his beloved Daniela (Beatrice Grannò). We have no idea where this could go, and that’s part the appeal of Vigalondo’s work. The other part is humor that is dark, blistering, and unapologetic. 

Starring: Henry Golding, Beatrice Grannò, Aura Garrido, and Nathalie Poza

The Life of Chuck

Horror auteur Mike Flanagan has made his name with harrowing movies like Doctor Sleep, Hush, and Gerald’s Game, along with absolutely haunting miniseries for Netflix, including The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

For his latest, he’s adapting a Stephen King novella that’s not a horror story. Tom Hiddleston stars as Chuck Krantz, a seemingly ordinary accountant who has an unusual impact on those who see his smiling face. One of the more curious world premieres at TIFF, The Life of Chuck has us very intrigued. 

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Jacob Tremblay

Queer

Director Luca Guadagnino has awed critics and audiences with his distinctive romances, from the gay drama Call Me By Your Name to the coming-of-age cannibal tale Bones and All and the love-triangle thriller Challengers. Now, he re-teams with Challengers scribe Justin Kuritzkes to adapt American author William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel.

Queer stars Daniel Craig as an American expat who wanders around the gay bars of postwar Mexico City seeking thrills and maybe himself. Guadagnino’s past work alone is reason to line up for Queer, but the collaboration with Kuritzkes and Craig has us absolutely giddy. 

Starring: Daniel Craig, Lesley Manville, and Jason Schwartzman

Heretic

A24 teams with A Quiet Place scribes Scott Beck and Bryan Woods for a new horror movie that’s already got tongues wagging thanks to a tantalizing teaser.

When two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) go door-to-door to preach the values of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they seek to save souls. But can they save themselves when a welcoming home proves to be a deadly snare? If Paddington 2 taught us anything, it’s not to trust a smiling Hugh Grant! 

Starring: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East

How to watch: Heretic opens in theaters Nov. 15.

The Room Next Door

Boundary-pushing Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has bestowed upon us such wonder as All About My Mother, The Skin I Live in, Talk to Her, and — most recently, the queer Western short Strange Way of Life. Now, he’s tackling his first English-language feature with a cast that has us absolutely screaming in excitement.

Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore co-star as two writers who were close friends in their youth. As the decades have led them down different paths, Ingrid (Julianne Moore) drew from her life to write novels, while Martha (Tilda Swinton) became a journalist who focused on war. But when a strange situation leads them to reconnect, how will their relationship bloom or wither? We can’t wait to find out. You had our attention at Pedro. At Tilda + Julianne, you have us seated.

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, and Alessandro Nivola

Mistress Dispeller

Documentarian Elizabeth Lo (Stray) takes a thorough and judgment-free look at a curious vocation in China. As the title suggests, Mistress Dispeller focuses on Wang Zhenxi, a woman whose job is to break up affairs between married men and their mistresses. What that looks like might well spark fascination. But in practice, this titular negotiator’s job is far more complex than we might imagine. A mix of therapy, manipulation, and third-wheeling makes for a journey that is joltingly intimate yet humane.

You might never look a love triangle the same way again.

Starring: Wang Zhenxi

Conclave

The crackling cast alone is reason to look forward to this Edward Berger-directed psychological thriller, set amid one of the Catholic church’s most sacred and secretive traditions.

When the pope dies, the college of cardinals convenes in private to elect who among them will ascend to lead the church and be God’s voice on Earth. Ralph Fiennes stars as the dean, responsible for overseeing the process. But as whispers mount and politicking ignites, the secrets of these men of the cloth come to light in shocking ways. Based on Robert Harris’s 2016 novel of the same name, Conclave brings tension along with nuanced performances that are as electrifying as they are divine. 

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Carlos Diehz, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini.

How to watch: Conclave opens in theaters Nov. 1. 

Space Cowboy

Have you ever watched a skydiving sequence in a movie, TV show, or commercial and wondered, how did they do that?

Space Cowboy, directed by Marah Strauch and Bryce Leavitt, explores exactly that through the incredible life story of skydiving cinematographer Joe Jennings. From Jennings’ humble origins as an oddball kid who relished running around outside to his rise to become the most sought-after specialty cinematographer for sky-high stunts, this documentary tenderly charts a course of risk and reward. It’s not just about the specifics and safety protocols that led to the creation of award-winning ads and blockbuster spectacle. Space Cowboy also delves into the mental health struggles that even professional thrill-seeking can’t ignore. 

Starring: Joe Jennings

The Order

From director Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders) comes a crime thriller unearthed from a dark corner of the United States’ not-so-distant history.

Based on Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s nonfiction book The Silent Brotherhood, The Order takes audiences into the 1983 FBI investigation of a band of white supremacists in the Pacific Northwest. Jude Law stars as a hardened agent who suspects that a spate of bank robberies and bombings are tied to a sinister conspiracy, dreamed up by a dangerously charismatic domestic terrorist named Robert Jay Mathews (Nicholas Hoult). Between the disturbing true story and sharp turns from Law and Hoult, this showdown is sure to leave audiences rattled.*

Starring: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, and Marc Maron

How to watch: The Order opens in theaters Dec. 6. 

Nightbitch

Director Marielle Heller has earned her critically heralded career by masterfully helming a string of poignant adaptations, including the coming-of-age dramedy The Diary of a Teenage Girl, the Mr. Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and the Academy Award-nominated biographical comedy Can You Ever Forgive Me? Next, she teams with six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams for Nightbitch, the movie adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel about a stay-at-home mom who occasionally transforms into a dog. With that premise and this pairing of talent in front of and behind the screen, Nightbitch is one of our most anticipated of the fest. 

Starring: Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Arleigh Patrick Snowdon, Emmett James Snowdon, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Archana Rajan, and Jessica Harper

How to watch: Nightbitch opens in theaters Dec. 6. 

Shell

Following his moving 2018 coming-of-age drama Teen Spirit, actor-turned-director Max Minghella returns with a twisted dark comedy about Hollywood’s obsession with looking young and fit. Elisabeth Moss stars as an actress whose age (middle though it might be) is proving an obstacle to booking jobs. So, she turns to Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson), a beauty and wellness CEO whose Shell brand promises renewed youth. But at what cost?

A midnight movie with a big star cast and a totally bonkers climax, Shell is sure to thrill a crowd who appreciates a bit of camp with their social commentary. 

Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson, Kaia Gerber, and Lionel Boyce

Read More 

Brian Jordan Alvarez’s “English Teacher,” about a teacher at an Austin high school, is an immediate 2024 standout.

If you’ve ever quoted comedian Brian Jordan Alvarez’s web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo or sung along to his viral hit “Sitting,” rejoice! Alvarez has brought his comedic sensibilities to FX, where he created and stars in the new show English Teacher.

Alvarez (who also wrote and directed several episodes) plays Evan Marquez, an English teacher at Austin’s Morrison-Hensley high school. He’s prone to taking stands for what he believes in, and even more prone to screwing up his moral crusades. These gaffes, combined with A-plus casting and a richly developed high school setting, make English Teacher the freshest, funniest sitcom of the year so far.

What’s English Teacher about?

English Teacher gets off to a foreboding start: Evan is under investigation after a homophobic parent complained about him kissing his boyfriend Malcolm (Jordan Firstman) — now ex — in front of students. That an external force is trying to govern Evan’s teaching becomes a common thread throughout English Teacher, as the show addresses several serious real-world issues over the course of its season, including gun safety in schools and LGBTQ rights.

Don’t let the heaviness of these topics fool you, though. English Teacher is no after-school special. Instead, the series highlights not only the ridiculousness of the problems Evan faces, but also the ridiculousness of Evan’s own reactions, each of which lead to some comedically misguided escalations. An attempt to cancel a performance where football players dress up as cheerleaders leads Evan to hold a drag seminar taught by local drag queen Shazam (played by drag superstar Trixie Mattel). The rise of a school gun safety club prompts Evan to assign the world’s most misguided essay on Crime and Punishment.

Nothing here goes according to plan, nor does English Teacher ever take the predictable route. Look no further than a possible romance with substitute teacher Harry (Langston Kerman), which does not play out the way audiences (or Evan himself) might think. While that storyline fades away rather abruptly in the latter half of the six English Teacher episodes sent to critics for screening, it’s just one example of how the series prefers to chart its own path.

English Teacher has a perfect cast.

English Teacher, like The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, sets a particular tone and pace right off the bat. There’s a shorthand intimacy between these characters who have known each other for years. They talk super quickly, even over each other, enveloping us in their world with just a few lines. Quick asides, such as an “Oh, I love this song!” delivered mid-principled tirade, often tell us all we need to know about someone.

As the show’s creator, Alvarez naturally excels at mastering this tone, delivering an assured lead performance that makes Evan’s frustrations with and passion for teaching both believable and hilarious. His fellow castmates match him every step of the way. Stephanie Koenig shines as Evan’s best friend and fellow teacher Gwen; you can tell she and Alvarez are longtime collaborators from the sheer ease and specificity of their comedic chemistry. Other standouts include Sean Patton as often inappropriate (yet surprisingly insightful) gym teacher Markie, and Enrico Colantoni as frazzled Principal Grant, who all but runs the other way when he sees Evan coming.

The charm of English Teacher‘s cast and characters extend to Morrison-Hensley’s students, played by a large ensemble of young actors including Aliyah Bah (aka Aliyah’s Interlude), Romy Mars, Ben Bondurant, and Ivy Wolk. While Morrison-Hensley’s faculty may not always understand their students — “They’re not into being woke anymore,” Evan laments — English Teacher takes great pains to do so, building out the students beyond simple high school archetypes. Their screen time may be limited, but these students still feel like they have rich inner lives. In some cases, they could even be smarter and more well-adjusted than the adults they’re meant to be learning from.

Having such a detailed ensemble grounds English Teacher in the reality of high school, even if its plotlines are mostly heightened for comedy’s sake. And just like its school-set compatriot Abbott Elementary, English Teacher still has quite a bit to say about the good public school teachers do, in spite several encroaching problems that may hinder them. That messaging, and the show’s breakneck pacing and killer dialogue, send English Teacher and Alvarez rocketing to the top of the sitcom class.

English Teacher premieres Sept. 2 at 10 p.m. ET on FX, with new episodes every Monday. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu.

Read More 

Answers to each clue for the September 2, 2024 edition of NYT’s The Mini crossword puzzle.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times‘ revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player’s flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

Here are the clues and answers to NYT’s The Mini for Monday, September 2, 2024:

Across

Professional in a toque

The answer is chef.

“I’m not a ___” (online affirmation next to a checkbox)

The answer is robot.

Love, in Italian

The answer is amore.

Wards (off)

The answer is fends.

Secret rendezvous

The answer is tryst.

Down

Woodcarving or metalsmithing, e.g.

The answer is craft.

It’s going … going … gone!

The answer is homer.

Dark wood once used for drinking cups, as it was thought to neutralize poison

The answer is ebony.

Focuses on the road?

The answer is fords.

One might be multiple-choice

The answer is test.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Mini Crossword.

Read More 

Live stream the NFL for free from anywhere in the world.

TL;DR: Live stream the NFL for free on 7plus, 6play, RTL, TVNZ, My5. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The popularity of the NFL has been steadily growing in the UK, and now that select games actually take place in London every season, this interest will surely continue to climb.

The problem with this situation is that a lot of new followers will be disappointed with the streaming options on offer, especially if you’re aiming to save some cash this season. It’s not easy to follow the NFL for free, but there is always a way.

If you want to watch the NFL for free in the UK, we have all the information you need.

What is the NFL?

The NFL is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).

Each side plays 17 games in the regular season, with seven teams from each conference advancing to the playoffs. Everything culminates with the Super Bowl, a final game played between the winners of the AFC and NFC championship games.

When is the NFL?

The NFL regular season runs from September to January. The Super Bowl takes place in February.

How to watch the NFL for free in the UK

It is possible to live stream the NFL for free on these platforms:

Australia — 7plus (select regular season games and every NFL playoff game)

France — 6play (one game per week)

Germany — RTL (select regular season and postseason games)

New Zealand — TVNZ (up to three games per week)

UK — My5 (Monday Night Football games)

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but fans in the UK can access everything with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock free streaming services from around the world to watch the NFL without spending anything. The process is actually really straightforward.

Access free live streams of the NFL by following these simple steps:

Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

Open up the app and connect to a server in a location with free coverage of the NFL

Visit 7plus, 6play, RTL, TVNZ, or My5

Watch the NFL for free in the UK

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading services do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By taking advantage of these deals, you can gain access to free live streams of the NFL without actually spending anything. This is clearly not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch select NFL fixtures before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming services from around the world, you’ll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for the NFL?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the NFL, for a number of reasons:

Servers in 105 countries

Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

Fast connection speeds

Up to eight simultaneous connections

30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £76.70 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream the NFL for free in the UK with ExpressVPN.

Read More