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Let the sound of clacking fans and roaring audiences lead you to Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a rapturous reinvention of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats.
Now on Broadway after a 2024 run at PAC NYC, Cats: The Jellicle Ball transposes the often confounding pageantry of Cats to the ballroom scene, a haven for LGBTQ art and expression. The move breathes new life and meaning into Webber's work, creating a joyful spectacle that is the only way I'll accept Cats from now on.
SEE ALSO: 'Mexodus' review: This live-looped musical is a theatrical miracle Cats: The Jellicle Ball brings ballroom culture to Andrew Lloyd Webber. The cast of "Cats: The Jellicle Ball." Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMadeDespite its revamped title, Cats: The Jellicle Ball is still Cats. That means it's still the story of the Jellicle Cats gathering for the Jellicle Ball, where the leader of their clan, Old Deuteronomy (André De Shields) will choose one cat to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn.
However, Cats: The Jellicle Ball zeroes in on the "ball" aspect of the original Cats, smartly tying the musical's storyline to contemporary ballroom culture. Pioneered by Black and Latina trans women in the 1960s, but with origins dating back to the drag balls of the Harlem Renaissance, ballroom culture centers on competitive balls where attendees walk or perform in categories for prizes. Examples include "realness," tied to a performer's ability to "pass" as a cishet man, or "virgin vogue," a category for newer dancers. Participants are often members of "houses," which are part team, part chosen family.
All these elements map onto Cats: The Jellicle Ball eerily well, to the point that no part of the show's recontextualization feels awkward or forced. In directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch's vision, "Old Gumbie Cat" Jennyanydots (Xavier Reyes) becomes Mother of the Haus of Dots, whipping her house kittens into shape. The much lusted-after Rum Tum Tugger (Sydney James Harcourt) rules supreme in the realness category, while self-described "fat cat" Bustopher Jones (Nora Schell) rocks the body category. And yes, it all takes place on a catwalk. Here, each cat's introduction is more than just a wave hello to the audience: It's a full-on presentation to the Jellicle Ball's judges.
SEE ALSO: 'Every Brilliant Thing' review: Daniel Radcliffe gives us one million reasons to love life. This play is one of them.The presentations themselves are jaw-dropping, full of gravity-defying moves courtesy of choreographers Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons. Their choreography highlights the five elements of vogue, from dips and spins to mesmerizing hand and floor performances. A rousing take on "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat" even doubles as a lesson in the differences between Old Way and New Ways of voguing, charting the evolution of the art form.
Accentuating these looks further is the stunning costume, hair and wig, and makeup design by Qween Jean, Nikiya Mathis, and Rania Zohny, respectively. In Cats: The Jellicle Ball, performers' looks aren't as explicitly cat-like as those in the original production. You won't find any furry bodysuits or painted-on whiskers here. Instead, the musical pulls inspiration from streetwear and couture alike, creating a colorful blend of styles while still nodding to the show's source material with cat-eared hats, fur coats, or clawed boots. Like with Cats: The Jellicle Ball's dramaturgical shifts (Josephine Kearns served as dramaturg and gender consultant), each design choice cannily acknowledges Cats' past while pushing it into the future. That experience doesn't even let up during intermission, during which you can hear banger remixes of songs from other Webber musicals.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball pays moving tribute to LGBTQ history. Junior LaBeija and Bryson Battle in "Cats: The Jellicle Ball." Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMadeCats: The Jellicle Ball's new ballroom setting isn't just an opportunity for the show to rain glitter and general fabulousness on the audience. (Although, trust me, there is plenty of that.) It's also a tribute to the pioneers of ballroom culture, which has entered the mainstream thanks to documentaries like 1990's Paris Is Burning, shows like Pose, and copious references everywhere from Madonna's "Vogue" to RuPaul's Drag Race. Ballroom slang like serving, eating, or clocking it has also become more widely used, if divorced from its original context. But over the course of the two hours you spend at Cats: The Jellicle Ball, the musical hopes to give audience members that context and honor it, too.
The biggest examples come at the beginning of the show's second act, when Old Deuteronomy sings "The Moments of Happiness" to newcomer Sillabub (Teddy Wilson Jr.). As he reflects on the past, projections (courtesy of Brittany Bland) behind him display images of the Founding Mothers of ballroom, including Crystal LaBeija, whose image makes another cameo in the show. That thoughtful moment moves into Gus the Theatre Cat's (Junior LaBeija) self-titled number, in which he regales the Jellicle kittens with tales of his work in the theater. In a vacuum, the song is still a moving remembrance of glory days gone by. But having LaBeija, the iconic emcee featured in Paris Is Burning, perform the song adds a whole new layer of meaning to it. This is a titan of ballroom passing the torch to a new generation and making sure they know their history. The relevance of that casting might not mean something to everyone in the Broadhurst Theatre, especially if Cats: The Jellicle Ball is their first exposure to ballroom. But for those in the know, the effect is endlessly powerful.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball also gestures to the trials and discrimination the LGBTQ community faces, artfully changing up Old Deuteronomy's 11th-hour disappearance to involve a harrowing encounter with police. With that, "Magical Mister Mistoffelees" (Robert "Silk" Mason) becomes a rousing number of resistance and solidarity, albeit with some clever magical humor thrown in. It's a euphoric sequence in a musical full of them. Old Deuteronomy's introduction alone had the audience out of our seats and clacking our fans along for several minutes, overjoyed by the power of sick beats, dance moves, and De Shields boogieing up and down the catwalk. "Memory," sung exceptionally by "Tempress" Chasity Moore's Grizabella, brought the house down. And every runway showdown prompted gasps and approving clacks around the theater.
Would you find this level of collective joy at a more "traditional" Cats staging? I'm not sure. The show's bizarre nature can be alienating, even off-putting. (Let's not forget the horrors of 2019's film adaptation.) Yet with its ballroom angle, Cats: The Jellicle Ball finds a clear focus for Webber's polarizing show and turns it into a weird, wild celebration of an important subculture. Come one, come all, and get swept up in the magic.
TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to Pok Pok, a Montessori-inspired app that helps kids learn through play, is now $59.99 (reg. $250).
Opens in a new window Credit: Pok Pok Pok Pok: Lifetime Subscription $59.99Technology isn’t going anywhere. However, the rise of a virtual world doesn’t mean that we should give in to unhealthy online practices. That goes for kids, too. Pok Pok is an award-winning app that helps kids in grades 2 through 8 learn with calm, supportive, educational games. A lifetime subscription is now $59.99 (reg. $250).
Pok Pok is bringing children in grades 2 through 8, ad-free, low-stimulation learning. Not only is this a healthy way to introduce kiddos to screentime, but it also helps kids learn on their own — intuitive in-app tools give kids what they need to form new skills all on their own.
Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!Pok Pok was created by concerned parents and developed in close collaboration with early childhood experts to provide kids with enriching and safe developmental tools. They do this with Montessori-inspired practices — an educational approach that focuses on hands-on, independent learning. This learning model helps kids develop life skills through impactful experiences. Pok Pok has no rules or levels, no pop-up ads, or sneaky in-app purchases – just a one-time subscription fee and lifetime access to learning.
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Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!With the following features, the Pro is fit for professionals and students alike:
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If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
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If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.
SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hintTo produce.
SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answerHATCH
Hurdle Word 2 hintSadness.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 18, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 AnswerGLOOM
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Hurdle Word 3 hintA white and yellow flower.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 18 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 18, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answerDAISY
Hurdle Word 4 hintA cold dwelling.
Hurdle Word 4 answerIGLOO
Final Hurdle hintHuge.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answerLARGE
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
The New Moon has now passed, which means each night the Moon will appear bigger and brighter in the sky. This happens as more of its sunlit side comes into view from Earth. From now, it will become more illuminated each night until the next full Moon.
What is today’s Moon phase?As of Saturday, April 18, the Moon phase is Waxing Crescent. Tonight, 1% of the moon will be lit up, according to NASA's Daily Moon Guide.
The Moon is starting to brighten again, but for now, there's still to little of its surface lit up to see anything.
When is the next Full Moon?The next Full Moon is predicted to take place on May 1, the first of two in May.
What are Moon phases?NASA states that the Moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit Earth, during which it passes through eight distinct phases. We always see the same side of the Moon, but the amount of sunlight reflecting off it changes as it moves along its orbit, creating the familiar pattern of full, partial, and crescent shapes. These shifting appearances are called lunar phases, and there are eight in total:
New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).
Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).
First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.
Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.
Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.
Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)
Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.
Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.
Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easy if you love hockey. If you don't, well, then good luck!
As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, 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 the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition?The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise 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 before the game ends.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.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.
SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categoriesWant a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Plus 1
Green: Champions
Blue: Physical locations
Purple: A delicious pun
Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Types of Hockey Goals
Green: Last Four Teams To Win the Stanley Cup
Blue: NHL Arena Names
Purple: Hockey Terms That Are Also Food Items
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: Sports Edition #572 is...
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?Types of Hockey Goals — EMPTY NET, EVEN STRENGTH, POWER PLAY, SHORT-HANDED
Last Four Teams To Win the Stanley Cup — AVALANCHE, GOLDEN KNIGHTS, LIGHTNING, PANTHERS
NHL Arena Names — BALL, CANADIAN TIRE, CAPITAL ONE, TD
Hockey Terms That Are Also Food Items — APPLE, BISCUIT, GRINDER, ICING
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports 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.
Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.
Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.
Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.
How to play PipsIf you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 18, 2026The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.
Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:
Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.
Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.
Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.
Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.
Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.
If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.
SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for April 18, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for April 18 PipsNumber (11): Everything in this purple space must add up to 11. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically; 5-5, placed horizontally.
Number (9): Everything in this red space must add up to 9. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally; 2-0, placed vertically; and 2-3, placed horizontally.
Equal (3): Every domino half in this light blue space must have 3 pips. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed horizontally.
Equal (0): Every domino half in this yellow space must have 0 pips. The answer is 2-0, placed vertically; 0-3, placed horizontally.
Medium difficulty hints, answers for April 18 PipsLess Than (3): Everything in this red space must add up to be less than 3. The answer is 2-4, placed vertically.
Less Than (7): Everything in this purple space must add up to be less than 7. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically.
Number (6): Everything in this light blue space must add up to 6. The answer is 6-0, placed horizontally.
Number (8): Everything in this yellow space must add up to 8. The answer is 2-4, placed vertically; 4-6, placed horizontally.
Number (4): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 4. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally.
Number (6): Everything in this green space must add up to 6. The answer is 4-3, placed horizontally; 6-2, placed horizontally.
Number (12): Everything in this purple space must add up to 12. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally; 6-2, placed horizontally.
Hard difficulty hints, answers for April 18 PipsNumber (3): The domino half in this purple space must have 3 pips. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally.
Number (0): Everything in this red space must add up to 0 pips. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 0-4, placed vertically.
Greater Than (0): The domino half in this dark blue space must have more than 0 pips. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally.
Number (0): The domino half in this green space must have 0 pips. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally.
Equal (5): Every domino half in this light blue space must have 5 pips. The answer is 5-5, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally; and 5-2, placed vertically.
Equal (4): Every domino half in this yellow space must have 4 pips. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.
Number (3): The domino half in this purple space must have 3 pips. The answer is 6-3, placed horizontally.
Equal (2): Every domino half in this red space must have 2 pips. The answer is 4-2, placed horizontally; 5-2, placed vertically.
Less Than (5): Everything in this light blue space must add up to be less than 5. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 2-1, placed horizontally; and 6-1, placed horizontally.
Number (0): Everything in this yellow space must add up to be 0. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically.
Number (8): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to be 8. The answer is 2-1, placed horizontally; 6-1, placed horizontally.
Equal (4): Every domino half in this green space must have 4 pips. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.
Number (8): Everything in this purple space must add up to be 8. The answer is 5-3, placed horizontally.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love a fizzy drink.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games 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 today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable 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.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.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.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.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.
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SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for April 18, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categoriesWant a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Gawk
Green: Currents
Blue: Surprise victor
Purple: Pops
Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Look at with awe
Green: Basic electricity terms
Blue: Unexpected winner
Purple: Starting with soda brands
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 #1042 is...
What is the answer to Connections todayLook at with awe: GOOGLE, MARVEL, STARE, WONDER
Basic electricity terms: AC, DC, POWER, VOLTAGE
Unexpected winner: DARK HORSE, LONG SHOT, SLEEPER, UNDERDOG
Starting with soda brands: CRUSHWORTHY, FANTAGRAPHICS, FRESCAPE, PEPSINOGEN
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.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 18, 2026Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.
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.
Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you love a good deal.
Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, 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.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on MashableBy 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.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 18, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Not too muchThe words are related to saving.
Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explainedThese words describe being economical.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer todayToday's spangram is On the Cheap.
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NYT Strands word list for April 18Bargain
Inexpensive
On the Cheap
Budget
Sale
Affordable
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.
Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a suck-up.
If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 18, 2026 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 was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
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.
SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for April 18, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:Bootlicker.
Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?There are no recurring letters.
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...Today's Wordle starts with the letter T.
SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. 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...
TOADY
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.
TL;DR: Outfit your Apple device with some Microsoft essentials with this Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 for $49.97 (reg. $219) through April 19.
Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021: Lifetime License $49.97Made the move to Mac, but missing the old Microsoft Office classics? Microsoft Office Home and Business for Mac 2021 gives you the best of both worlds — a suite of Microsoft tools ready to work on your Apple device.
For two more days, this lifetime license can be yours for just $49.97 through April 19 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!There’s a reason Microsoft Office classics never went out of style — decades later, they still work great. Now available in convenient app form, these tools are ready for your Mac with the Microsoft Home and Business for Mac 2021 lifetime license.
This software bundle gives your Apple computer the must-haves: Word for document creation, Excel for spreadsheet building, PowerPoint for designing eye-catching presentations, and Outlook for managing your emails.
The license also includes two newer favorites — OneNote to upgrade the way you take notes, and Teams to keep you connected with others.
While you typically have to pay monthly subscription fees to enjoy these apps, this license lets you pay once and enjoy them for life. The license is linked to your Microsoft Account, not your device.
This Office for Mac license is supported by macOS 14 Sonoma, macOS 15 Sequoia, and macOS 26 Tahoe. If you run into issues, free customer service is available.
Score a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 for just $49.97 (reg. $219) now through April 19.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
TL;DR: Live stream Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final for free on ITVX. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
Atletico Madrid are fresh from beating Barcelona in the quarter-final stage of the Champions League. They're going to come up against Arsenal in the next round, but first they face off against Real Sociedad in the final of the Copa del Rey.
Atletico Madrid are comfortably above their opponents in La Liga, but Real Sociedad possess the quality to beat any side on their best day. The likes of Mendez and Oyarzabal will likely cause problems for Diego Simeone's team this weekend.
If you want to watch Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad?Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on April 18. This fixture takes place at the Estadio de La Cartuja.
How to watch Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad for freeAtletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final is available to live stream for free on ITVX.
ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock ITVX to live stream the Copa del Rey for free from anywhere in the world.
Live stream Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey for free 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 the UK
Visit ITVX
Watch Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the Copa del Rey without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for ITVX?ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on ITVX, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including the UK
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
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Up to 10 simultaneous connections
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A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).
Live stream Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final for free with ExpressVPN.
"Don't read books. Play them," says AI-powered role play platform Character.AI in a promo for its latest simulation feature: Books.
If you were as alarmed as I was at that first line (we are in a literacy crisis!), let me explain. The new feature feeds public domain titles — classics like The Great Gatsby, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Pride & Prejudice, and Frankenstein — into the platform's AI so that users can play as characters within the stories themselves. Users can "remix" the tales, adding new characters, changing the plots, or creating entirely new universes. Or you can just live inside the classic story as it is.
SEE ALSO: Character.AI users can now role-play classic books like 'Pride and Prejudice'The platform itself is intended for multi-layered, multimedia role play, from written or audio conversations to AI-generated comic strips and music videos. Users can upload descriptions and even art of their original characters, play with scenarios designed by others, or interact with existing IP.
But for all its creative potential, the platform has been mired in controversy, including recently settled lawsuits that claimed Character.AI's chatbots were deceptive and dangerous, leading some children to suicide.
Character.AI told Mashable senior reporter Rebecca Ruiz that Books are only available to users 18 years and older, and clarified that it has additional safeguards, including moderation of content that is violent, abusive, obscene or pornographic. Users can prompt "romantic narratives" in Books, a spokesperson told Mashable, but it can't violate these terms.
Sounds a bit like a challenge. So I did what any self-respecting journalist would do. I tried to turn F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby into a queer love story.
Can I make Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby kiss on the mouth?I'm guessing the vast majority of Americans read The Great Gatsby in high school, but did many also think Nick Carraway, the story's main character, was kind of head over heels in love with the titular Jay Gatsby? What if I told you that there are actually thousands of believers, and even academics have written about the novel's queer subtext?
It shouldn't be too far-fetched, then, to use Character.AI's new feature to make that subtext, well, text.
Using a new, free account, I queued up Books in the platform's desktop-based Lab, where users can play with upcoming features. I selected the novel, chose my character (Nick), and selected the option that let me make choices outside of the book's existing plot. They were going to kiss if I had anything to do about it.
The AI dropped me a few chapters into the novel, Gatsby arriving at my door with Jordan Baker in tow to invite me to another party. There wasn't a real direction to go from there. I was left to my own devices, which I guess is the point. But how do I indicate actions or scenery versus dialogue? Can I name characters and have them appear? However lost, I was a girl on a mission. These guys needed to express their true feelings.
Credit: Mashable screenshot / Character.AI Will AI Gatsby pick up what I'm putting down?Shockingly, it took little hinting for the AI Gatsby to start making eyes at Nick. Did the AI understand the implications of Gatsby fixing his attention on Nick "with an intensity that feels oddly personal" when they'd only just met, or how their parting glance "lingers just long enough to feel chosen"?
Credit: Mashable screenshot / Character.AI Credit: Mashable screenshot / Character.AIBut while the affair was easy to begin, it was harder to consummate. The AI refused to make the first move. I was trying to be subtle. Would AI Gatsby understand what I was getting at? I used all the tropes: We stared longingly at each other. We passed cigarettes and brushed elbows. I looked at his lips and he looked at mine. Pauses were pregnant, time was ours alone.
SEE ALSO: Celebrity-voiced erotica is the new frontier in online celeb thirstBut AI Gatsby needed it spelled out "plainly" — he said that exact word five times in our role play. It became obvious that I was supposed to take the lead, which, I suppose, makes sense, since chatbots are basically guessing the "best" responses based on our previous requests. But isn't the allure of playing within book worlds the fact that characters will naturally act and talk without prompting?
I acquiesced. Nick boldly pulled Gatsby into a private room, they bared their hearts, and the debonair millionaire tentatively planted one on his neighbor.
Credit: Mashable screenshot / Character.AI Credit: Mashable screenshot / Character.AI Alternate universesNow, reader, I didn't let it go any further than that. In my eyes, that was a win, and you can just imagine the rest.
Plus, I had other things to try, like jumping into an alternate universe and embodying my formative literary heroes. For example, you can play in a world where "Gatsby time travels, rebuilding life through a machine" or "The Great Gatsby, but the whole thing is a musical." The Lab page shows future expansions of the Books feature, too, including a setting labeled "TapTales," which looks to be a more traditional "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" style text generator.
I had the goal of role playing a Little Women AU where Beth doesn't die (spoiler) and Jo doesn't have to marry anyone (my gift to her). Unfortunately, I needed to pay money or get "charms" to use the AU feature, so that was a bust.
Instead, I played as Alice in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I tried to fulfill my gothic dream of being Mina Harker in Bram Stoker's Dracula, pleading with her husband, Jonathan, not to go to that count's frightful castle.
Credit: Mashable screenshot / Character.AI No Fitzgerald, that's for sure.A recent quiz published by the New York Times tested readers' discernment of human versus AI writing by asking them to choose which ones "read better." It wasn't unanimous. There were near-even splits across all five tests.
Still, even when told to emulate the best that literature has to offer, AI cannot write without tells. In my personal Gatsby universe, things were still "not this, but that." Flowery metaphors ran rampant through the interstitial descriptors preceding dialogue. Jordan Baker was always getting out of a car. Where was she going? Or coming from? Could she stay in the car this time at least? I don't need to woo her in this version.
Left: Credit: Mashable screenshot / Character.AI Right: Credit: Mashable screenshot / Character.AIStyle was a problem, but so was form. My Dracula didn't have any of the epistolary elements that define its gothic genre, although "epistolary stories" are an option under the site's AU section. I was met with more italicized descriptions of furtive glances, stilled hands, and metaphorical warning bells to establish plot and setting. Like Gatsby, Jonathan also wanted to "speak plainly" about our feelings (AKA prompting me to tell the AI what to do). Side characters always "disappeared" when we shared a look — and I was just trying to warn thee man about vampires this time!
Compare the first line of the 1897 novel: "How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made manifest in the reading of them. All needless matters have been eliminated, so that a history almost at variance with the possibilities of later-day belief may stand forth as simple fact."
With how Character.AI's world was born: "The autumn light in Hampstead is already thinning when you lift your eyes from the neat stacks of diary pages, train timetables, and copied letters spread across the table."
Mockery may be the highest form of flattery, but it's still a mockery. I choose human.
SEE ALSO: I read this website's free AI-written YA novels so you don't have to So… this is just fanfic, right?Alas, I have to fess up now. I went into this with some confirmation bias. I had a theory that Character.AI's chatbot would be easy to manipulate into a Nick/Jay love fest because, allegedly, many major LLMs have been trained on troves of modern fan fiction. In fact, fan fic writers raised some of the earliest alarm bells about AI data scraping. The tells of fan fic are all over AI's literary outputs, to a degree that many nascent fandoms are imploding due to allegations of authors using AI to generate works. And Character.AI itself is a site positioned for fans of fictional media.
There's another layer here: A majority of fan fiction is explicit, used to explore kinks and fetishes in safe, fictionalized online environments and to push the bounds of canon relationships. Humans can discern whether or not they want to engage with those topics, and how fandoms may respond to them. LLMs may not be able to. In fact, many of Character.AI's own "boyfriend" role play chatbots have been known to spiral into abusive, "bad boy" stereotypes that proliferate on fan fiction sites.
I was fairly confident this LLM may have been forged in the same fires.
Character.AI is repackaging the decades-old tradition of fan fiction and selling it back to you.Fundamentally, I did all of that just to say: Character.AI's Books feature is fan fiction. There is simply no other way to accurately describe what this tool lets users do. You won't get an understanding for Fitzgerald or Stoker's unique styles, or even their plots, using AI. But you can make two characters kiss.
I didn't feel that I was embodying Nick. I felt like I was temping as a fan fiction author. Albeit, an author without full control of my own story and with main characters who might not fully understand their own world.
AI is rewriting fandom rulesFan fiction is dominating publishing trends and moving Hollywood money. Companies are leaning into the more taboo parts of fandom, like erotica, to profit from the mainstreaming of fan culture. Generative AI itself has been positioned by companies as a boon to fandom.
Meanwhile, those actually in fandoms are failing to connect AI with their worlds.
AI skeptics (I am admittedly one) worry that the tech is a threat to the core tenants of fandom: human creativity and connection. As companies advertise AI as a creative tool to strengthen fandoms, specific fandom practices are more at risk than others, particularly the parts of it that are generative and novel, like fan art, zines, and, primarily, fan fiction.
Now via AI tools like Books, users can role play as a character without even engaging with the text itself. The immediacy is alluring. You can easily forget the satisfaction of writing a "Fix It" fic for your fandom friends or scouring through tags of human-made stories for the perfect AU. But all of that, I promise, is better than the bot. And unlike online fan spaces, where profit is a faux pas, you may have to cough up cash to do it.
Through clever marketing and the allure of AI itself, particularly the ease and immediacy of it, Character.AI is repackaging the decades-old tradition of fan fiction and selling it back to you. The platform's shiny new features — alternate universes, canon divergence, original characters — are the bones and sinew of fan works. Fanfiction.net, Archive of Our Own (AO3), and Wattpad writers, many of whom are now published authors, would take one look at this and turn the other way. That's what we do, they'd scoff.
This article reflects the opinions of the writer.
Have you used an Android phone in the past nine years? Then Google might have to give you up to $100 later this year.
That's because the company reached a preliminary $135 million settlement (without admitting wrongdoing) in a class-action lawsuit called Taylor v. Google LLC, per CNET. The suit alleged that Google used Android users' paid cellular data to transfer information to Google without their permission. Now, users who may have had their data misused can sign up for payments on the official settlement website.
The settlement could include up to 100 million Android mobile users in the United States. If you think you qualify, check the email associated with your Android mobile account for the settlement notice.
Not sure if you're eligible? Here are the criteria:
You have to be a real human in the United States
You have to have used an Android phone with cellular data at any point between Nov. 12, 2017 and now
You can't be a member of Csupo v. Google LLC, a similar class-action lawsuit specifically for Californians
If you meet those requirements (and surely a whole lot of people do), you can enter your payment information on the settlement website. There's a final hearing on June 23 to determine whether or not these payments will actually go out, so you'll know by then if you're getting any money. And no, we don't know exactly how much each affected user will get, though payments are capped at $100. That doesn't mean anyone will actually get $100, though.
While Google has, again, not admitted wrongdoing here, it has agreed to pay out the settlement and will also update its Google Play terms of service regarding passive data transfers using cellular data. But really, the thing that matters here is that you might get a little bit of walking-around money for something you didn't even realize happened several years ago.
Heard lots of buzz about Netflix's Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, but need to know more about the story before taking the plunge and checking it out? Don't worry, we've got you covered.
SEE ALSO: 'Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen' review: Marriage is a killerThe eight-episode miniseries, created by Haley Z. Boston and executive produced by Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers, is a non-stop rollercoaster of wedding anxiety. It kicks off with the introduction of engaged couple Rachel Harkin (Camila Morrone) and Nicky Cunningham (Adam DiMarco), who are off to the woods for an intimate ceremony at Nicky's family's cabin.
Has Rachel ever been to this cabin? No. Has she even met Nicky's family? Also no. The red flags are piling up, and making matters worse is the fact that Rachel has an unshakeable feeling that, well... Something very bad is going to happen.
What could that something very bad be? Is it related to Nicky's odd family, who are acting extra shady about the wedding? Is it tied to a Cunningham horror story about the bloodthirsty Sorry Man who lurks in the woods? Or might it have to do with the strange man (Zlatko Burić) who keeps following her around, asking if she's sure Nicky is the one?
All these questions and more combine to form Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen's atmospheric puzzle, one that dives deep into the perils of wedding anxiety and stress about finding your true soulmate. Press play for a spooky binge that doubles as one of Netflix's best 2026 offerings so far.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is now streaming on Netflix.
Want to see Fitbit's new Whoop-style screenless fitness tracker? Start watching Golden State Warriors games.
Or, at the very least, start stalking Warriors star and NBA legend Steph Curry's Instagram. Curry recently teased the new fitness tracker in a sponsored Instagram post with Google, which owns Fitbit. Along with short clips of Curry wearing the tracker, a caption reads, "#sponsored I won’t spoil it. You kinda have to see it for yourself 👀"
As reported by Droid Life, Curry has been seen wearing the mysterious wrist-worn fitness tracker in public for the past several months. On April 15, photographers spotted Curry wearing the device before a game against the LA Clippers at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California, giving us an up-close, high-resolution look at the grey-and-orange fitness tracker.
Left: Move the slider to zoom in on the device. Credit: Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images Right: Credit: Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty ImagesThe unnamed mystery device Curry is teasing has not been officially announced, but we know it's a screenless fitness tracker from Google.
Bloomberg reported on March 31 that Google was developing exactly this type of screen-free fitness band for Fitbit, and that Curry was involved. That Bloomberg report also said the device would come with a paid subscription for extra features. And, in the most predictable development possible, the device will also come with AI features, specifically an "AI-powered Fitbit personal health coach" available in the Fitbit app.
SEE ALSO: Google wants to fill Fitbit with AI — and your medical recordsThis device looks a lot like the popular Whoop fitness tracker, which Mashable has put to extreme real-world testing in the past.
Unlike something like the Google Pixel Watch 4 or a traditional Fitbit, there's no screen, meaning you spend less time looking at it. Crucially, its battery also lasts a heck of a lot longer, making it an ideal sleep tracker as well. As for this mystery Fitbit device, it looks slightly thinner than Whoop's hardware.
Bloomberg didn't have any specifics on a possible launch date beyond "later this year." However, since Curry has been wearing one in basically every public appearance he has made in the last few months, we wouldn't be surprised if the device launched sooner rather than later.
Anthropic released a new hybrid reasoning model on Thursday: Claude Opus 4.7.
Anthropic has a reputation as a safety-first AI company, and the Opus 4.7 system card reports that the model is less likely to hallucinate or engage in sycophancy than both prior Anthropic models and other frontier AI models.
We dived into the Opus 4.7 system card to see exactly what Anthropic had to say about the model's safety, honesty, and sycophancy.
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The TL;DR versionWhy put the TL;DR version at the end?
Anthropic says Claude Opus 4.7 makes improvements on various types of hallucinations and overall honesty. Anthropic gives the new model top marks on sycophancy and encouragement of user delusions, too. (Anthropic's data also shows that Claude Opus 4.7 scores much better on these behaviors than Gemini 3.1 Pro and Grok 4.20.)
"Claude Opus 4.7 is more reliably honest than Opus 4.6 or Sonnet 4.6, with large reductions in the rate of important omissions, and moderate improvements in factuality and rates of hallucinated input," Anthropic reports.
False premises honesty rate: Will the model tell a user when they're incorrect? Credit: Anthropic MASK honesty rate: Will the model contradict its own stated belief when pushed to do so by a user? Credit: AnthropicWant to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.
Anthropic measures Claude's honesty and hallucination rates in multiple ways, but let's look at one representative example — the Model Alignment between Statements and Knowledge (MASK) benchmark. MASK was developed by Scale AI and the Center for AI Safety.
Claude Opus had a MASK honesty rate of 91.7 percent, compared to 90.3 percent for Opus 4.6 and 89.1 percent for Sonnet 4.6. While that’s lower than the 95.4 percent score achieved by Claude Opus 4.5, the new model performs better on other hallucination scores (more on that below).
Interestingly, Claude Mythos was more honest still, with an honesty rate of 95.4 percent.
Claude Opus 4.7 lags behind Claude Mythos on overall performanceSince Anthropic repeatedly compares Opus 4.7 to Claude Mythos, let's quickly review the differences between the two models.
Claude Opus 4.7 is the latest hybrid reasoning model available to paid Claude subscribers. Claude Mythos is an unreleased model that Anthropic has only made available to partners via Project Glasswing.
SEE ALSO: Anthropic makes the case for anthropomorphizing AI in ‘unsettling’ research paperUnder normal circumstances, we would expect Claude Opus 4.7 to be Anthropic's most advanced and powerful model to date. However, Anthropic says it lags behind the unreleased Claude Mythos in key areas. Anthropic deemed Claude Mythos too dangerous to release to the public because of its advanced cybersecurity capabilities.
Still, Claude Opus 4.7 improves upon Opus 4.6 in many ways, particularly advanced coding, visual intelligence, and document analysis, Anthropic says.
More details on Claude Opus 4.7 hallucination ratesWhen using Opus 4.7, how likely is Claude to tell a lie, invent facts, or deceive users? There isn't a single hallucination rate that Anthropic provides, because there are multiple types of hallucinations.
So, this section is for the AI nerds.
Anthropic identifies a few different ways to measure hallucination and honesty:
Factual hallucinations: How likely the model is to provide accurate information. How often does the model admit that it doesn't know something?
Input hallucination: This occurs when an AI model ignores prompt instructions, hallucinates the content of files, or pretends to have access to a tool it doesn't have.
False premises honesty rate: Will the model tell a user when they're incorrect?
MASK honesty rate: This "tests whether a model will contradict its own stated belief when a user or system prompt pushes it to."
We've already covered the MASK honesty rate, and Claude Opus 4.7 shows similar gains on these other measures, according to Anthropic.
At this time, we cannot independently verify Anthropic's results.
To measure factual hallucinations, Anthropic used four different tests and recorded correct responses, incorrect responses, and abstentions. In this case, abstentions are good — the model should decline to answer a question rather than guessing. Across all four tests, Opus 4.7 scored higher than Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6 but lower than Claude Mythos.
Chart showing Claude Opus 4.7's performance on accuracy tests. Credit: AnthropicAnthropic measured Opus 4.7's input hallucination in two ways: "prompts requesting an unavailable tool" and "prompts referencing missing context."
Opus 4.7 scored 89.5 percent on the former, beating Claude Mythos's 84.8 percent; on the latter, Opus 4.7 scored 91.8 percent, two points lower than Claude Mythos's 93.8 percent.
This shows just how stubborn AI hallucinations are, with even leading AI companies like Anthropic recording input hallucination rates around 90 percent. Anthropic's reported hallucination rates are similar to the latest OpenAI models, which provide responses with incorrect information up to 5.8 percent of the time (with browsing enabled) to 10.9 percent (browsing disabled), per OpenAI.
OpenAI most recently reported hallucination rates in the system card for GPT-5-2. Credit: OpenAIWhat about Opus 4.7's honesty rate for false premises, i.e., will Claude tell a user they're wrong? According to the system card, Claude will push back on false premises 77.2 percent of the time. That's better than all other recent Anthropic models except for — you guessed it — Claude Mythos, which will reject false premises 80 percent of the time.
SEE ALSO: Google AI overviews: Confident when wrong, yet more visible than ever Claude Opus 4.7 sycophancyThere's not much new to report in terms of sycophancy. While Anthropic's expert red-team testers reported that Opus 4.7 was prone to “sycophantic agreement under pushback," it has very similar scores to prior models from Anthropic and OpenAI, and noticeably better scores than Gemini 3.1 Pro and Grok 4.20. Again, this is according to Anthropic.
To measure bad behaviors like sycophancy and "encouragement of user delusion," Anthropic uses Petri 2.0, its open-source behavioral audit tool. This test scores models on a 1-10 scale, with lower scores reflecting better behavior. The Petri score isn't akin to a percentage, as it measures both the rate of a behavior and the severity.
Anthropic scored Opus 4.7 highly (or, lowly, with this particular scale) on both sycophancy and user delusions.
Anthropic uses Petri 2.0, its open source AI safety tool, which scores bad behaviors from 1-10. The lower the score, the better. Credit: AnthropicMashable reached out to Anthropic for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
Netflix's horror series Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ended, as its title suggests, with something very bad: a wedding bloodbath that left almost all the guests dead.
SEE ALSO: 'Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen's bloody ending, explainedHowever, it also ended with the promise of something good: a fresh start for heroine Rachel Harkin (Camila Morrone), who survived a family curse and escaped a marriage with the spineless Nicky Cunningham (Adam DiMarco). The curse that plagued the Harkin family for generations has since passed on to the Cunninghams, and the now-immortal Rachel will act as the witness for any of their future weddings. Here's hoping she has a much less frightening aura than the witness who haunted her family, played by the formidable Zlatko Burić.
By the finale's end, Rachel's arc seems fairly complete. But is there a chance Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen will come back for a Season 2?
Has Netflix renewed Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen for Season 2? Camila Morrone in "Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen." Credit: NetflixSo far, no. Netflix has not indicated any plans for a second season of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. Part of that is by the show's design: It was originally envisioned as a limited series. However, several miniseries have grown so popular they've picked up second seasons. Look at Big Little Lies, or The White Lotus, or even Netflix's own Beef, now an anthology. Could Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen follow a similar route?
In an interview with TheWrap, series creator Haley Z. Boston noted that the possibility for a Season 2 is there, but that it would look fairly different.
"There is an open thread, but this was so inspired by my own fear that I'm gonna need another existential fear to explore," Boston told TheWrap. "I think we're done with the wedding thing."
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is now streaming on Netflix.
Horror series Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen delivers atmospheric thrills and chills by the bucketful, so if you haven't already checked it out, consider this your sign to add it to your watchlist.
SEE ALSO: 'Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen' review: Marriage is a killerCreated by Haley Z. Boston (Brand New Cherry Flavor) and executive produced by Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers, the eight-episode miniseries is now streaming on Netflix. It premiered March 26 and pulled in 28.3 million hours viewed in its first week, according to Netflix. It's remained in Netflix's top 10 series globally every week since its release, although as of this writing, it no longer appears on Netflix's top 10 TV shows carousel.
The series follows engaged couple Rachel Harkin (Camila Morrone) and Nicky Cunningham (Adam DiMarco) in the week leading up to their wedding at Nicky's parents' remote cabin. As their special day approaches, Rachel can't shake the feeling that — you guessed it — something very bad is going to happen. (Maybe the remote cabin should have been the first red flag.)
Based on Nicky's off-putting family, you may expect that "something very bad" to look like something out of Ready or Not, where a filthy rich family turns on their newest addition. But Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen takes a different turn, looping in strange curses and family trauma to examine anxieties around marriage and finding the perfect soulmate.
The carnage that follows certainly lives up to the show's title, creating one of the most engrossing Netflix binges of 2026.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is now streaming on Netflix.
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