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Review of “Slingshot,” Casey Affleck’s sci-fi comeback, which also stars Tomer Capone, Emily Beecham, and Laurence Fishburne,

Casey Affleck leads a small but impressive cast who end up terribly short-changed.

A psychological thriller with few thrills and a weak grasp of psychology, Mikael Håfström’s Slingshot sees three capable actors monologuing in space about nothing in particular. The sci-fi drama has logical start and end points, but meanders aimlessly along the way, desperately searching for anything resembling plot or thematic meaning.

As a trio of astronauts embarks on an interplanetary mission, they find themselves gripped by paranoia — at least in theory — and are unable to trust each other, or their own faculties. The problem, however, is that little-to-none of this conflict is rooted in discernible human drama.

The appearance of drama certainly exists, both aboard the space vessel and in numerous flashbacks. However, Slingshot‘s images feel entirely disconnected from one another, since the film is less concerned with emotional impact, and more focused on indiscriminately tossing out twists and turns. By the end, the film is unable to sustain the weight of its attempted surprises, yielding a head-scratching experience. 

What is Slingshot about?

Aboard the confines of a pristine spaceship, the Apple Store-like Odyssey One, astronaut John (Casey Affleck) wakes up from his fourth 90-day nap, a drug-induced hibernation that saves on energy and keeps the mission participants young. He’s been gone from Earth for more than a year, and for the few days he’s spent awake tinkering and taking measurements, his only company has been his comrade Nash (Tomer Capone) and their leader, Captain Franks (Laurence Fishburne). The trio only spends a day or two walking around at any given time, but these precious moments of consciousness are spent in a groggy haze, at least at first. 

Their mission, in the short run, is to fly past Jupiter and use the planet’s gravity to slingshot their way to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. They hope to scout the surface and eventually establish a human colony there, but despite the movie laying out these broad strokes, it never really features a sense of a wider objective or wider danger, be it images of a ravaged world left behind or any other existential threats. It’s Interstellar without the blight or the sense of cosmic mystery, but it does feature a red-headed woman back home, who our protagonist constantly thinks of.  

Emily Beecham plays John’s lover, Zoe, a design technician whose work on the space project remains unspecified, but who we meet through the familiar, mawkish framing of a fleeting memory of her under a bedsheet, staring lovingly at John. There’s nothing inherently wrong with doing what dozens of movies have done before — “If it ain’t broke,” and all that — but Zoe seldom exists as a real, complete person outside of her adoration for the protagonist, despite appearing in numerous flashbacks.

What is it that actually threatens the Titan mission? Well, that’s not exactly clear. The camera whirls around the ship’s halls a few times, as if to embody some invisible creature threatening our characters, but those are the only indications of any noticeable aesthetic flourish — one that isn’t just aping 2001: A Space Odyssey, that is. (For instance, the scene in Kubrick’s film in which two astronauts speak in secret to avoid a super-computer’s prying ears is re-created here, but without the certainty that anyone else is listening.) This thread of some kind of lurking presence aboard the ship unfortunately doesn’t last, so it doesn’t really come to represent anything for the characters as they lumber through the movie’s plot (or lack thereof), making observations and relaying those observations back to one another.

John finds parts of the ship damaged, possibly due to external impact, which theoretically endangers their upcoming gravitational slingshot, but the captain disagrees. John sees (or imagines) things going wrong all around him, but the crew can find no evidence of something overtly wrong. This disconnect is a central wedge aimed at creating tension and mystery, but it thrusts the film into a strange narrative limbo where it’s hard to know if there are any stakes at all.

Slingshot‘s stellar performances can’t save the movie.

Upon emerging from his drug-induced sleep, John gradually loses his grip on reality, seeing people on the ship who clearly aren’t there. Zoe is among these hallucinations, though curiously, her phantom appearance is rarely used as fuel for the movie’s flashbacks. When the trio loses communication with Earth, their sense of uncertainty turns toward one another. John suggests there may be a problem with the vessel; Nash is more certain of this, albeit without any evidence; and Captain Franks dismisses their concerns. This leads to the closest thing the movie has to an interesting theme: a dynamic between the three characters that forces John to mediate between two extremes. 

As John, Affleck harbors a weary exhaustion in every scene, selling the fact that he can’t be trusted to make rational decisions, since he has trouble remembering basic details about his life on Earth. His first time trying to recall these details is the only time the movie’s many flashbacks feel motivated. The rest appear at random, presenting a patchwork story of a man driven to pilot a space mission (for unspecified reasons) at the cost of his relationship. 

Amid his delirium, John is shouldered with the burden of being the most calm, logical, and centered character, while his coworkers gradually drift toward opposing extremes. Affleck does his level best to connect the dots between these past and present narratives, putting on a stern front in either case and gradually letting cracks appear in his stoic armor. But the film is fatally flawed: Its structure seldom allows for any causality between these timelines — any ripple effects or regrets, even though John’s decision to join the three-man crew is a sticking point for his relationship with Zoe. Their fate as a couple seems to become clearer as the film goes on, though it’s eventually muddied in service of unearned surprises that, at the end of the day, do little more than obscure its actors’ stellar dramatic work. What they draw on emotionally seems to shift at a moment’s notice, making it hard to latch on to the leading trio. 

Capone, like Affleck, captures his character’s unraveling with aplomb, as Nash steps further toward madness and away from reality. He threatens to turn the film truly intense, though his ravings about what might go wrong are short-lived. The film keeps brushing past any sense of immediate danger the moment it arises, and in the process, doesn’t allow Capone to access the full extent of Nash’s unhinged trajectory, despite the actor hinting toward a mental snap of some kind.

Captain Franks, on the other hand, has a much icier demeanor, and Fishburne is granted the movie’s most complete (and really, only) marriage between story and performance. As John and Nash lose their grip on reality and question their own eyes, Franks is much more certain of what he sees, which makes him all the more terrifying. With dialogue that borders on Shakespearean, Fishburne taps into a sense of misguided human ambition, and gestures toward a thematic layer to the movie that, while ever-present, goes mostly unexplored.

No, really, what is Slingshot actually about?

The three men aboard the ship take wildly different approaches to the scenario at hand, and in the process, they come to represent the three prongs of human personality through a Freudian lens. Nash, with his erratic moments and instinct-driven concerns, embodies the id. Captain Franks, who places constraints on his comrades and claims a rational high ground, is the superego. And John, who’s forced to mediate between them and make moral compromises, is the ego in this scenario.

The problem, however, is that despite the movie employing this particular framework (one it harps on quite overtly by the end), it doesn’t use it to explore the fraught dynamics between the characters in any meaningful way. What they each represent feels set in stone, with little sense of dilemma or evolution. How they behave in any moment is dictated by their respective “types” rather than by the unfolding plot, or even by one another’s words or actions. One could, in theory, map out exactly what each of them might do in practically any scenario, which robs the movie of tension at every turn.

To make matters worse, there aren’t even enough interesting scenarios that arise during the film, which might in theory pose dramatic challenges. As Slingshot goes on, any sense of psychological or dramatic framing is superseded by an insistence on surprise at any cost, though these attempted zigzags are mostly delivered in the form of dialogue, rather than anything visual (and thus, emotionally lasting). The film takes full advantage of the characters’ unreliable perspectives, perhaps to a baffling degree. Each moment of realization, each discovery that things may not be exactly as they seem, is followed by another, and another, and yet another, with no room for any revelations to breathe or sink in, let alone alter the characters’ sense of self.

Beyond a point, shifting reality becomes Slingshot‘s status quo, even though it largely presents these shifts in the form of dialogue. Characters simply explain to each other what may or may not be their version of the truth, until every other line hints at some new twist or surprise with no impact whatsoever, eliciting no more than a shrug.

With little by way of character psychology to latch onto, and even less by way of actual stakes, the movie’s thrills and science-fiction elements are practically null, rendering Slingshot an entirely meaningless sci-fi thriller. Its basic premise would be hard to explain to a friend, because it doesn’t even feel like it has one.

Slingshot opens exclusively in theaters Aug. 30.

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Live stream Popyrin vs. Djokovic in the 2024 US Open online for free from anywhere in the world.

TL;DR: Live stream Popyrin vs. Djokovic in the 2024 US Open for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

After an impressive win at the Olympics, Novak Djokovic will be laser-focused on winning the US Open. He hasn’t won a Grand Slam this year, which is an unfamiliar feeling for the Serbian superstar. But he has made a strong start to this tournament, and Popyrin will have his work cut out for him if he wants to stop the Olympic gold medalist.

If you want to watch Popyrin vs. Djokovic in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Popyrin vs. Djokovic in the 2024 US Open for free

Fans can live stream the 2024 US Open for free on these platforms:

Australia — 9Now

New Zealand — TVNZ+

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but anyone from around the world can access these sites 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 9Now and TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 US Open 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 Australia or New Zealand

Visit 9Now or TVNZ+

Watch Popyrin vs. Djokovic in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. You can leverage these offers to access free live streams of Popyrin vs. Djokovic without actually spending anything. This isn’t a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch every US Open match before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the US Open?

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

Servers in 105 countries including Australia and New Zealand

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 $99.95 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 Popyrin vs. Djokovic in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

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“Pachinko”s latest episode bids a perfect, wrenching farewell to Isak (Steve Sanghyun Noh). Showrunner Soo Hugh breaks it down.

The second episode of Pachinko Season 2, titled “Chapter Ten,” is undoubtedly one of the most moving hours of TV you’ll see all year.

Co-written by Pachinko showrunner Soo Hugh, Christina Yoon, and Melissa Park, “Chapter Ten” marks the return of Sunja’s (Minha Kim) husband Isak (Steve Sanghyun Noh), who’s been in jail since the end of Season 1. Now deathly ill, Isak only has a few hours left to say goodbye to Sunja and his sons Noa (Kang Hoon Kim) and Mozasu (Eunseong Kwon). During that time, he shares some parting wisdom with his family about moving on and forgiving those who have wronged them. In Pachinko‘s 1989 timeline, Sunja and Isak’s grandson Solomon (Jin Ha) is willing to do neither of those things. As he works to destroy the businessmen who ended his career, he visits the Korean land owner (Hye Jin Park) he sought to do business with in Season 1, where he finds some unexpected leverage for his fight moving forward.

To dive deeper into this extraordinary episode, Mashable spoke with Soo Hugh about crafting the perfect goodbye for Isak, how reactions to his death speak to Solomon’s current storyline, and the key parallel to Season 1 that proves how far Sunja and Isak have come.

The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mashable: This episode is full of individual moments between Isak and his family as they’re all saying goodbye in different ways. It feels like he’s teaching them how to go on without him. Which of these conversations resonated most with you?

Soo Hugh, showrunner, writer, and executive producer of Pachinko: My favorite was the scene where Isak is sitting with Noa and Mozasu and he says, “I am your father, and you are my sons.” I would just cry every time I heard that, because it’s obvious he’s speaking on a double level. He know he’s not Noa’s father, and he has no idea if his son will ever discover the truth, but he’s telling Noa in that moment, “I am your father. No matter what you hear or what you learn, I will always be your father.”

We get another interesting scene involving Noa and Isak, when Isak reveals it was Pastor Hu who turned him in. What does that revelation mean to Noa in that moment?

Can you imagine, if you’re that boy and you find out that the person you looked to as a father figure while your father was gone was the person who put your father away, how devastating that must be?

You’ll start to see the beginnings of a new Noa.
– Soo Hugh

After that, you’ll start to see the beginnings of a new Noa, the Noa that’s going to start realizing that he will succeed at all costs. Before episode 2, he said he wanted to stay and be a pastor. But after Isak’s death, he makes the decision that, “No, I’m going to go to Waseda. I’m going to succeed.” That starts to set up Solomon’s arc, too. There’s a lot of mirroring between Solomon and Noa that we intentionally did. You see the same cycles working themselves in these generations.

Tell me about Solomon’s storyline this episode, where he returns to the Korean landowner’s house and learns about the bones under her land, and how it speaks to Isak’s death.

One of the things that we talk about on Pachinko, and Sunja says it later on, is that you can’t ever forget the past. The past is always living with them. In the present day, when Solomon hears about the bones under the landowner’s property, those bones are from the period that we’re watching in the past storylines. So you feel like history itself is the bones of our show.

The stories of what happened amongst our mothers and grandmothers and grandfathers are the bones that we’re excavating in this show.
– Soo Hugh

We have a saying in our show: The stories of what happened amongst our mothers and grandmothers and grandfathers are the bones that we’re excavating in this show.

Speaking of the buried bones, this episode feels like it takes inspiration from some horror elements. I’m thinking about the flashes of the bicycle courier at the very start of the episode.

I love that you picked up on that. We always said that from the opening shot of this episode with the boys playing war, that this should play like a horror film, and we’re watching the boogeyman come back. In some ways, Isak’s the boogeyman when he first bursts in, but then we subvert that.

The stories in both timelines in this episode take place over a day and a night, so they feel really contained. What does a time constraint like that offer this episode in particular?

To me, it really makes it feel so intimate, right? In Pachinko, we span so much time and so many different time periods, and we make time jumps. But to be able to say, for this one episode, we’re going to use a microscope and really get down into it, it just felt like such a pleasure to be able to change rhythms. But also in an episode that has such a profound, emotional scene like Isak’s death, I can’t imagine shortchanging that and not giving it its time.

That final scene between Sunja and Isak is clearly a defining moment for the show. As you and your co-writers Christina Yoon and Melissa Park approached this episode, what were some of the big challenges you anticipated facing?

That scene is deceptively hard. We know it’s going to be a sad scene, right? The question is, “How sad do you want it to be? And when do you want it to be sad?” Because if you start off so heavy in that final goodbye scene, where does the scene go? It was a challenge to write, and then it was a challenge for us to edit in the edit room, because our initial instinct was, “Come on, let’s milk it. Let’s make this as sad as possible.” And it just didn’t feel quite right when you did it that way. It didn’t feel like our show, so we actually pulled back. If you look, there’s actually very few tears that are shed.

Composition-wise, those last moments between Sunja and Isak mirror a key scene from Season 1, episode 5, when they’re first intimate with each other. Why did you choose to echo that scene in particular?

We knew this scene had to mirror the first time Sunja and Isak made love. It establishes a cycle, right? Our beginning is our ending, which is bringing everything back into closing the loop here.

You realize just how much that love has really, really grown between them over the years.
– Soo Hugh

I love that moment in Season 1, when it’s the first time they really connect. They’re married, and they’re strangers. They don’t know one another. You just see the terror as they’re looking into each other’s eyes, and then you see the love, the first glimpse of love start to bloom between them. Then when you cut to this scene in Season 2 with the cameras in the same place and at the same angles, you realize just how much that love has really, really grown between them over the years.

Pachinko Season 2 is now streaming, with a new episode every Friday.

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Watch New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm in the WNBA from anywhere in the world.

TL;DR: Watch New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts and watch the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The WNBA season continues into the home stretch. At this point, all eyes are on the playoffs as Seattle Storm host New York Liberty.

New York sit atop the Eastern Conference and have already punched their ticket to the playoffs. Seattle, however, are playing well in the Western Conference but haven’t quite confirmed a postseason spot. A win against New York, the best performing team in the whole league, could clinch it. All of which means it’s a game not to miss.

The good news is, we have all information you need to watch New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm in the WNBA for free and from anywhere around the world.

When is New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm?

New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm in the WNBA starts at 10 p.m. ET on Aug. 31. This fixture takes place at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.

How to watch New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm

Basketball fans can watch New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm plus the remainder of the WNBA 2024 season from anywhere in the world with a WNBA League Pass.

Remember that WNBA League Pass doesn’t show locally televised games live in the participating teams’ local areas. But you can get around this by using a VPN. VPNs are useful online tools that can hide your real IP address (digital location) and then connect you to secure servers in other locations, allowing you to watch every WNBA League Pass game live, excluding games hosted by Amazon Prime Video.

To access every WNBA League Pass game, follow these easy 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 no broadcast deals for the WNBA

Log in to WNBA League Pass

Stream every WNBA game live (except games hosted by Amazon Prime Video)

What is the best VPN for the WNBA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for hiding your real IP address and streaming more sport, 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 secure

Fast connection speeds free from throttling

Up to eight simultaneous connections

30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is currently on sale for $99.95 but for a limited time only. This deal — which gives you 49% off — includes an extra three months for free plus a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stream New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm in the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

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Watch Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA from anywhere in the world.

TL;DR: Watch Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts and watch the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The 2024 WNBA season has been so much fun, and there’s still a lot to enjoy before the playoffs begin. The next fixture sees Atlanta Dream and Las Vegas Aces go head-to-head in an exciting matchup.

If you want to watch Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA from anywhere in the world, keep reading to find out all the information you need.

When is Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces?

Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA starts at 10 p.m. ET on Aug. 30. This fixture takes place at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

How to watch Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces

Basketball fans can watch the 2024 WNBA season by using a WNBA League Pass.

But you can’t use this alone, as the WNBA League Pass might not allow you to watch locally televised games live in the participating teams’ local areas. However, with the use of a VPN, you’ll be able to get around this. VPNs are tools that work by hiding your real IP address (digital location), so you can connect to secure servers in other locations and watch WNBA League Pass games live from anywhere in the world. This excludes games hosted by Amazon Prime Video.

To access every WNBA League Pass game, follow these easy 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 no broadcast deals for the WNBA

Log in to WNBA League Pass

Stream every Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces plus other WNBA games live (except games hosted by Amazon Prime Video)

What is the best VPN for the WNBA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for hiding your real IP address and streaming more sport, 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 secure

Fast connection speeds free from throttling

Up to eight simultaneous connections

30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 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.

Stream Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

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Watch Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA from anywhere in the world.

TL;DR: Watch Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts and watch the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The regular WNBA 2024 season is coming to an end and the playoffs are set to get underway in September. There are still qualifying spaces up for grabs, and Dallas Wings are hoping to work their way up the standings. After recent successful games, Minnesota Lynx clinched their playoff spot, and will now look to finish off the season strong.

If you want to watch Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA from anywhere in the world, keep reading to find out all the information you need.

When is Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings?

Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA starts at 7:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 30. This fixture takes place at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

How to watch Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings

Basketball fans can watch Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings from anywhere in the world with the use of a WNBA League Pass.

The WNBA League Pass might not allow you to watch locally televised games live in the participating teams’ local areas, but you can get around this by using a VPN. VPNs are tools that work by hiding your real IP address (digital location), so you can connect to secure servers in other locations and watch WNBA League Pass games live from anywhere in the world.

To access every WNBA League Pass game, follow these easy 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 no broadcast deals for the WNBA

Log in to WNBA League Pass

Stream every Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings plus other WNBA games live (except games hosted by Amazon Prime Video)

What is the best VPN for the WNBA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for hiding your real IP address and streaming more sport, 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 secure

Fast connection speeds free from throttling

Up to eight simultaneous connections

30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 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.

Stream Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

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Watch Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky in the WNBA from anywhere in the world.

TL;DR: Watch Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts and watch the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The WNBA 2024 season is nearing its end as the playoffs are set to kick off next month. There are still a few matches to go, however, and next on the court, it’s Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky. Both teams have yet to qualify as we come into the final weeks of the regular season, so it’s not a game you’ll want to miss.

If you want to watch Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky in the WNBA from anywhere in the world, keep reading to find out all the information you need.

When is Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky?

Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky in the WNBA starts at 7:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 30. This fixture takes place at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

How to watch Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky

Basketball fans can watch the WNBA 2024 season from anywhere in the world with the WNBA League Pass.

However, WNBA League Pass might not show locally televised games live in the participating teams’ local areas. But you can get around this by using a VPN. VPNs are tools that work by hiding your real IP address (digital location). With this, you’ll be able to connect to secure servers in other locations and watch every WNBA League Pass game live, excluding games hosted by Amazon Prime Video.

To access every WNBA League Pass game, follow these easy 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 no broadcast deals for the WNBA

Log in to WNBA League Pass

Stream every Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky plus other WNBA games live (except games hosted by Amazon Prime Video)

What is the best VPN for the WNBA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for hiding your real IP address and streaming more sport, 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 secure

Fast connection speeds free from throttling

Up to eight simultaneous connections

30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 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.

Stream Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky in the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

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Answers to each clue for the August 30, 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 Friday, August 30, 2024:

Across

Bicycle part that’s also a past-tense verb

The answer is spoke.

At no time

The answer is never.

“It’s just like riding a bike,” for one

The answer is adage.

They’re typically 2 or 3 on mini golf courses

The answer is pars.

Like a trickster

The answer is sly.

Down

Loses it

The answer is snaps.

Bicycle part that sounds like a flower part

The answer is pedal.

Egg-producing organ

The answer is ovary.

What breweries might creatively repurpose as seats

The answer is kegs.

Poetic “before”

The answer is ere.

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.

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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: Let’s play

These words are fun to control.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

The answers all relate to classic games.

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 videogames.

NYT Strands word list for August 29

Uncharted

Videogames

Fallout

Halo

Minecraft

Overwatch

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.

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Live stream Shelton vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open online for free from anywhere in the world.

TL;DR: Live stream Shelton vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Things are getting serious at the US Open, with some massive third-round matchups ready to go. It’s difficult to pick a favorite match, but Shelton vs. Tiafoe is certainly going to be interesting. We can’t call which way this game will go, but either way, it’s going to be fun to watch.

If you want to watch Shelton vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Shelton vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free

Fans can live stream the 2024 US Open for free on these platforms:

Australia — 9Now

New Zealand — TVNZ+

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but anyone from around the world can access these sites 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 9Now and TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 US Open 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 Australia or New Zealand

Visit 9Now or TVNZ+

Watch Shelton vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. You can leverage these offers to access free live streams of Shelton vs. Tiafoe without actually spending anything. This isn’t a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch every US Open match before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the US Open?

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

Servers in 105 countries including Australia and New Zealand

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 $99.95 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 Shelton vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

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