NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for December 23

Mashable
A phone displaying the New York Times game 'Connections.'

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

Meta's new Threads, a rival for X, is now Apple's most downloaded app

Tech Insider
Mark Zuckerberg
Many employee perks saw cuts during Mark Zuckerberg's "year of efficiency"

Kevin Dietsch/Getty images

  • Threads, built on the back of Instagram and launched in July, may have staying power.
  • The new Meta platform recently became available in the EU, seeing a surge in downloads.
  • It's a direct rival of X, or Twitter, which continues to see downloads and users fall.

Threads this week became the most popular

Bluesky posts are finally open to the public

The Verge
An image of Bluesky’s new logo.
Image: Bluesky

Bluesky remains an invite-only decentralized Twitter alternative, but now, you don’t need to have an account and log in to be able to see posts on the platform, according to a blog post from Bluesky CEO Jay Graber. Now, anyone can easily see posts from both the web and from the Bluesky app — like this one.

If you want to prevent people who aren’t logged in

Substack's Nazi problem isn't about speech — it's about money

Tech Insider
pitcure of the Substack website on a phone
Substack is facing criticism for not removing or demonetizing Nazi blogs.

Katie Notopoulos / Business Insider

  • Substack's founder says it will not remove white supremacist and Nazi blogs from the platform. 
  • Some of these blogs have paying subscribers, which means Substack likely profits. 
  • The heart of the issue is not the free speech; it's the money.

Earlier this month, The Atlantic published a report

Boozy office holiday parties are going out of fashion as workers sip mocktails, non-alcoholic wine instead

Tech Insider
Getting plastered in front of your colleagues at the office Christmas party isn't a great look.
Getting plastered in front of your colleagues at the office holiday party isn't a great look.

sdominick/Getty Images

  • Companies and workers are cutting back on the alcohol at holiday parties.
  • Instead, they're swapping in booze-free options like mocktails and no-alcohol beers and wines.
  • Wellness concerns and balancing work-life challenges are partially behind the trend.

This year, venture capital firm

Everyone’s getting their podcast lawsuits in before the year is over

The Verge
Ears
The Verge

People are really getting their podcast lawsuits in before the new year. Let’s get to it.

  • The Daily Beast reports that Fox News host Laura Ingraham filed a lawsuit against Quake Media, claiming the podcast startup hasn’t paid her $800,000 contract for 2022.
  • Investment firm VGC Partners is suing Sean Glynn, the former CEO of British podcast studio Novel. The sui

AI companies would be required to disclose copyrighted training data under new bill

The Verge
An image showing a graphic of a brain on a black background
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Two lawmakers filed a bill requiring creators of foundation models to disclose sources of training data so copyright holders know their information was taken. The AI Foundation Model Transparency Act — filed by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Don Beyer (D-VA) — would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to work with the National

The latest Starbucks backlash includes a new app that helps customers find alternative coffee shops and a trade-in program for the company's gift cards

Tech Insider
Red Cup Rebellion from November 2022
Starbucks workers have encouraged coffee lovers to boycott the chain.

Portland Press Herald

  • Starbucks continues to face calls for boycotts. 
  • One of the latest is a map that helps coffee lovers find alternative cafés to patronize. 
  • A New York coffee wholesaler is also offering a trade-in program for Starbucks gift cards. 

The latest backlash against Starbucks includes a new map that helps customers

Apple reportedly wants to use the news to help train its AI models

The Verge
An illustration of the Apple logo.
Illustration: The Verge

Apple is talking with some big news publishers about licensing their news archives and using that information to help train its generative AI systems, The New York Times reports. The company is apparently discussing “multiyear deals worth at least $50 million,” the NYT says, and has been in touch with publications like Condé Nast, NBC News, and IAC.