[This is a sponsored article with Taylor’s University.]

We love the idea of the natural-born leader. The prodigy. The one who just seems to have it all.

But leadership isn’t something you’re born with. It’s something you learn. Something you’re pushed into, tested on, and built through experience. Sometimes under pressure, sometimes over a stove.

This philosophy comes to life through the Camp of Leaders (COL) programme, a structured mentorship platform by Taylor’s University that connects students with industry professionals to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world.

The COL programme is more than just a boot camp. It offers direct exposure to industry realities where mentors guide students through genuine challenges and share insights shaped by actual practice, not just lessons and textbooks. And this year, that experience took a turn into the kitchen.

For its fourth edition, the programme focused on culinary arts, throwing 17 handpicked students from Taylor’s Culinary Institute (TCI), specifically from the Advanced Diploma in Patisserie and Gastronomic Cuisine, into the pan under the theme “The Art of Modern Asian Culinary Expression”.

Their task was to reimagine classic Asian flavours with a contemporary twist. This challenge demanded not just technical skills but composure, collaboration, and the ability to lead from within a team.

The challenge unfolded as a one-day crash course where students had to prepare a five-course, four-hands dinner (a culinary term for a collaborative style where two chefs craft a one-off tasting menu) under the guidance of two Taylor’s alumni who have made their mark in the industry.

One was Chef Yuda Bustara, an internationally recognised Indonesian chef, entrepreneur, and TV personality. He has brought Indonesian cuisine to global audiences through shows like Urban Cook, Home Cooked Indonesia, and Iron Chef Indonesia, as well as represented Indonesia on Netflix’s The Maverick Academy.

Alongside him was Chef Hans Christian, one of Indonesia’s most respected names in modern fine dining. He is the co-founder of August, a restaurant known for its contemporary take on Indonesian cuisine, which has earned regional recognition, including the American Express One To Watch Award at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023 and a spot on the 2024 list.

A Window Into The Real World

While the professional chefs set the tone, the true measure of the programme lies in the hands-on skills of the students on the other side of the pass. Wynn Wyman, a second-semester international student in TCI’s Advanced Diploma in Patisserie and Gastronomic Cuisine, was one of them.

For the Jakarta native, whose interest in cooking began in childhood, the COL programme was more than a day of high-pressure cooking; it served as a window into two very different culinary career paths and a chance to figure out where his own ambitions might eventually land.

His day at the boot camp began in the morning with back-to-back masterclasses from the two chefs, who gave him and the other students personal insights into their career journeys.

For Wynn, the contrast between the two industry leaders was immediately valuable, not because they were naturally gifted, but because they had each carved their own path through relentless effort.

“They told us a lot about their experiences—how they grew up in the industry, how they started. I really learned a lot, both in technique and in life. How to become a better chef, how to be more of a team player, how to improve as a person.” — Wynn

The afternoon was dedicated to preparing for the dinner service. Students handled mise en place (the French culinary term for preparing and organising ingredients), assisted with desserts, and contributed to main courses and appetisers.

Learning From Industry Leaders

While Wynn picked up plenty of technical skills during the experience, the bigger impact came from a shift in how he thought, which helped change both his approach and perspective in the kitchen.

“I grew to realise that Asian cuisine can be elevated, made modern and gastronomic,” Wynn expressed. “Not a lot of restaurants try to do modern gastronomic Asian cuisine. They still focus on European, French, Italian. So it’s great knowing that these chefs want to make Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine more interesting.”

As someone who plans to expand the fine-dining discipline into Indonesian cuisine, this realisation fits neatly into Wynn’s broader aspirations.

“I really hope that I can be someone who can elevate Indonesian dishes, make them more well-known to people outside of Asia. I want to make Indonesian cuisine as prestigious as French cuisine,” Wynn shared ahead of his internship in France.

Wynn’s experience captures exactly the soft-skills development that the programme focuses on by learning to stay steady and work confidently alongside experienced professionals, qualities that no amount of natural talent can replace.

“A lot of techniques are not very common for us to use right now,” Wynn noted. “But as they’re fine dining chefs, they explain to us and slowly guide us.”

Wynn said he walked away from the experience knowing he’ll now pay close attention to every detail, work to master more techniques, and never work half‑heartedly.

Emptying The Cup

For Chef Hans Christian, the chance to return to Taylor’s and mentor this session of the COL programme came from a deep understanding of how critical the university-to-industry transition can be.

“Moving to Taylor’s is the first major life decision for you as a high schooler, and that kind of determines your life path after that.” — Hans

Hans described himself as a driven and curious student who actively sought opportunities beyond the standard curriculum. “You have to be like a sponge,” Hans emphasised, noting the importance of looking for opportunities outside the classroom.

This mentality is the core message he tries to impart to students during the programme, and he stressed that academic prowess alone does not automatically translate to professional success.

“No matter how good you are when you are in school, when it comes to the real kitchen, it takes a certain mentality, character, and attitude to empty your cup and really absorb as much as you can. Whatever you believe here is only a small part of what makes you a great chef,” he explained.

He also addressed the importance of mindset over raw talent, especially when facing the inevitable pressures and criticisms of a professional kitchen. For Hans, true leadership reveals itself in how someone responds to difficulty, not in whether they have innate talents or confidence.

“No matter how good you are, if your chef scolds you like crazy and gives you a hard time, how do you process that?” He continued, “Can you wake up the next day and come back and say, ‘I’m going to do better this time’? That’s what matters.”

At its core, the COL programme gives students something no textbook can provide by offering them the chance to experience real pressure before they step into the workforce.

With three sessions slated for April, September, and November 2026, each themed differently and guided by renowned industry leaders from around the world, the COL programme stands as a platform where students can step up and become leaders in their own right.

• Learn more about Taylor’s Camp of Leaders programme here.
• Find out more about Taylor’s Culinary Institute here.

Apple’s first standalone Siri app, coming in iOS 27, will include an auto-delete function for chat histories that borrows from the Messages app. Users will be able to configure the app to retain conversations for 30 days, one year, or indefinitely. The feature, reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter on Sunday, is designed to position Apple’s approach to AI privacy as structurally different from competitors that offer temporary or incognito chat modes as optional settings users must manually enable.

The Siri app will function as a chatbot akin to ChatGPT or Claude, serving as a repository for past conversations that users can search, continue, or delete. It can be accessed either through the standard Siri activation, via the side button or wake word, or through a new “Search or Ask” mode triggered by swiping down from the top centre of the screen. The app will support both voice and text input, file uploads, and web-sourced answers with images and bullet points. Users will be able to choose whether the app opens to a grid of prior conversations or a new chat each time.

The privacy architecture is Apple’s competitive differentiator, and also its excuse. Competing chatbots rely heavily on conversation histories and memory systems to personalise responses and improve over time. Apple is placing tighter limits on what information can persist and how long it is retained, building the restrictions into the system itself rather than offering them as optional modes. Meta launched a temporary chat feature just last week. Apple’s position is that such protections should not require users to opt in.

The strategic context makes the privacy framing more interesting than it appears on the surface. Apple has quietly replaced much of its own AI infrastructure with Google’s Gemini, paying roughly $1 billion annually for a custom 1.2-trillion-parameter model that will power the next-generation Siri. The company’s existing partnership with OpenAI is fraying, with OpenAI’s lawyers preparing possible legal action over a ChatGPT-Siri deal that failed to deliver the subscription revenue OpenAI expected. iOS 27 will introduce a system called Extensions that allows users to install rival AI chatbots and route Siri queries through whichever model they choose, including Claude and Gemini, effectively downgrading ChatGPT from a privileged partner to one option among several.

Gurman notes that Apple has been less specific about how the new Siri infrastructure will be hosted and operated at scale. The company has said the revamped Siri will use Private Cloud Compute, its extension of the iPhone’s security model into the cloud, but has not confirmed that it will rely on the same Apple-designed chips, data centres, and security architecture as the current system. The implication is that Google’s cloud infrastructure will handle some of the workload, something Apple does not want to emphasise given the tension with its privacy messaging.

The auto-delete feature is clever positioning regardless of whether the privacy argument is fully coherent. By defaulting to structured retention limits rather than permanent storage, Apple can claim its AI assistant is designed to forget, a contrast to systems that are designed to remember everything in order to improve. Whether users will value that distinction depends on whether they notice the trade-off: a Siri that forgets your preferences after 30 days is also a Siri that cannot learn from your history the way ChatGPT or Claude can.

Perhaps the most revealing detail in Gurman’s report is that the new Siri may launch as a beta, even after a two-year delay. The revamped assistant was originally scheduled for 2024. Test versions of iOS 27 within Apple currently use a beta label for the new Siri and include a toggle allowing users to opt out. Apple is simultaneously developing AI smart glasses for 2027 that will use the same Gemini-powered Siri as their primary interface, meaning the assistant needs to work reliably across multiple form factors by next year.

Gurman frames the stakes clearly: Tim Cook does not want his final launch as CEO to be a misstep. Apple got “some slack” with the original Apple Intelligence rollout in 2024, but the competitive and regulatory landscape has shifted. Google’s Gemini has grown its web traffic share from 5.7% to 21.5%. The EU is preparing to force both Apple and Google to open their AI assistants to rivals under the Digital Markets Act. Android 17, announced at Google I/O this week, will ship with a Gemini Intelligence system and a new Googlebook laptop platform. Apple is entering this environment with a Siri that is two years late, powered by a competitor’s model, and potentially still labelled as unfinished.

The Genmoji upgrade is the lightest piece of the iOS 27 picture but speaks to the same pattern. Apple’s AI-generated emoji feature was poorly received at launch: images looked nothing like the advertisements, and the models used so much power that phones would heat up and drain their batteries. iOS 27 will add “Suggested Genmoji,” automatically generated from a user’s photos and commonly typed phrases, in an attempt to increase adoption of a feature that was supposed to demonstrate Apple Intelligence’s consumer appeal.

Apple’s privacy argument arrives at a moment when the concept has never been more salient in consumer hardware. Meta is facing lawsuits and regulatory investigations over how its Ray-Ban smart glasses handle user footage. Google’s Android XR glasses will ship with cameras and Gemini AI. Snap is launching consumer AR specs with built-in AI. In this environment, an AI assistant that auto-deletes your conversations and does not train on your data is a genuine differentiator, provided the assistant itself is good enough that people want to use it. That is the question Apple has been unable to answer for 15 years. Whether Gemini, a beta label, and a privacy toggle change the answer will be clear by September.

If WIRED doesn’t write about Brooks running shoes more often, it’s because they’re so good and so reliable that it simply doesn’t occur to us. We just buy the next edition of the Brooks Ghost and carry on with our day. Several WIRED writers and editors wear Brooks running shoes as their everyday trainers, and these Brooks Running promo codes are some of the best that we’ve seen all season. As the days get shorter and colder, this is also the perfect time of year to upgrade your winter running gear for waterproof, warmer, brighter, or more compressive clothing to tackle the colder winter months. Winter miles bring spring smiles.

Score 20% Off Your First Order With Brooks Promo Code

If you’ve never ordered anything off Brooks’ website before, new customers get 20% off their first order after subscribing to emails. You can apply the one-time Brooks coupon code for top-selling shoes, like the Caldera 7 and Adrenaline shoes, along with other gear and apparel. It’s an easy way to save on some of their top products to take your road and trail running game to the next level.

Brooks Return Policy and 90 Day Wear Test

Brooks knows how important gear is for the athlete. So, you can take your Brooks gear for a 90-day trial run, and if you aren’t satisfied, return them for free. If you’re at all unsatisfied with your Brooks purchase, you can return it for free, with no shipping or re‐stocking fees.

More Brooks Coupons and Offers

Are you already a member of Brooks Run Club? If you sign up, you get member perks, like early access to sales, standard free shipping with no order minimum, and free express shipping on orders from Brooks. Membership also includes more runner-specific perks, like a free birthday gift, an opportunity to earn prizes by syncing your fitness tracker and contributing research to the Brooks team. You can also win a chance to visit the Seattle flagship store and have your gait analyzed by Brooks’ team. To join, visit Brooks Run Club and register for the Brooks promo code.

If you shop and buy a complete outfit in one transaction from one of Brooks’ recommended buying guides—like Warm Weather Running Outfits or Fall Weather Running Outfits—you can get 15% off automatically applied during checkout. This is a fantastic deal if you only just realized in the past 10 days that you’ve been running in hail in your tiny shorts and cropped sports bra.

Does Brooks Running Offer Free Shipping?

For Brooks Run Club members, shipping is free! Free shipping applies to standard shipping and shipping to PO Box and US Territories, which takes about 5 to 8 business days. For members, express and next-day delivery is discounted at $25, or $15, unless the total is over $160, then express is free. Non-members have to pay $5 extra for all shipping options.

Save on Our Favorite Brooks Running Shoes

Brooks makes so many iconic running shoes that it’s hard to list them all. I’m currently running in the Brooks Glycerin Max, which is one of the cushiest shoes that I’ve ever tried. I don’t feel particularly stable on uneven terrain, but the padding is noticeably springy and cushy if you’ve been putting in some serious miles. WIRED director Michael Calore is a fan of the Brooks Ghost line, and if you’re planning on hitting the trails in the cold, wet Pacific Northwest, I would suggest the Brooks Cascadia Gore-Tex. The Adrenaline is the company’s most popular shoe.

Preorder Your Favorite Glycerin Now

One of the most anticipated Brooks drops is the Glycerin line. These shoes are made to be durable, while allowing freedom of movement and flexibility. The cushioned shoes are comfortable for running and movement on many types of terrain. Tons of shoes in the Glycerin line are available to preorder, including the Glycerin Flex, Glycerin 23, and Glycerin GTS 23. Be sure to check out the Glycerin line to see which is best for you.

The Cascadia Elite Available Now

Brooks is constantly dropping new shoe styles, ensuring there’s a type of shoe for every runner. The new Could we get a short paragraph about this new Cascadia Elite Brooks Running shoe is unisex and great for trail running: with PEBA cushioning, a Vibram Megagrip Elite outsole, and a MATRYX engineered woven upper with Kevlar fibers to help secure your feet firmly, no matter what terrain you’re traversing. This shoe has a light, springy cushioning that helps to propel you forward, whether that be from competitive trail racing, to Sub-ultras to VKs to ultras.

Get Limited runDisney Brooks Shoes

When you become a Brooks Run Club member (for free!), you’ll get access to limited-edition collabs, new drops, and limited release sneakers. This includes the much-anticipated Brooks x runDisney Collection, which features a collab fit for Disney-gym adults everywhere, with styles inspired by Mickey Mouse, Moana, Lilo & Stitch, and more. Be sure to sign up to become a Brooks Run Club member for exclusive info on this collab, plus lots of other great perks.

Upcoming Brooks Sale Events to Watch Out For

Do you have a runner in your life? The odds are, they’re taking stock of their winter apparel and shoes and trying to decide if these leggings are going to make it through another winter season. The best time to save is during seasonal sales, with discounts on footwear and apparel, including discounts on popular items like the Ghost 16 running shoes.

Do you have running military, nurses, or first responders in your life? Brooks Running also offers 25% off Brooks promo code full-priced items for verified community heroes. Sign up here.

Shop Pre-Owned Shoes at Brooks

If you’re looking for a new pair of shoes, but don’t have the cash to invest in a brand new, high-end pair, look no further than Brook’s restart page, where gently-used Brooks shoes are on sale for deeply discounted prices. They have both men’s and women’s sections, recently added shoes, and a breakdown of bestselling styles, including the Adrenaline, Ghost, Glycerin, and Hyperion.

Join the Brooks Run Club and Get 20% Off

If you’re looking to shop at Brooks, it’s a great idea to join the Brooks Run Club for additional perks and discounts. Some of the best things Run Club offers are discounts of 20% off apparel when you join and an annual birthday gift. You’ll just need to log in or join the club for the discount code.

The Pwn2Own Berlin 2026 hacking contest has concluded, with security researchers collecting $1,298,250 in rewards after exploiting 47 zero-day flaws.

The competition took place at the OffensiveCon conference from May 14 to May 16 and focused on enterprise technologies and artificial intelligence.

Throughout the contest, the hackers targeted fully patched products across web browsers, enterprise applications, local privilege escalation, servers, local inference, cloud-native/container environments, virtualization, and LLM categories.

Competitors collected $523,000 in cash awards on the first day for 24 unique zero-days, and another $385,750 on the second day for exploiting 15 zero-days. On the third day of Pwn2Own, they earned another $389,500 for eight more zero-days.

DEVCORE won this year’s edition of Pwn2Own Berlin with 50.5 Master of Pwn points and $505,000 in rewards throughout the three-day contest after hacking Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Edge, and Windows 11, followed by STARLabs SG with $242,500 (25 points) and Out Of Bounds with $95,750 (12.75 points).

​The competition’s highest reward was $200,000, awarded to Cheng-Da Tsai (also known as Orange Tsai) of the DEVCORE Research Team after chaining three bugs to gain remote code execution with SYSTEM privileges on Microsoft Exchange.

On the first day, Orange Tsai earned another $175,000 for a Microsoft Edge sandbox escape chaining 4 logic bugs, Windows 11 was hacked 3 times, and Valentina Palmiotti (chompie) of IBM X-Force Offensive Research collected $70,000 for rooting Red Hat Linux for Workstations and an NVIDIA Container Toolkit zero-day.

On the second day, the hackers demonstrated another Windows 11 local privilege escalation vulnerability, a root-privilege escalation vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Workstations, and zero-days in multiple AI coding agents.

On the third and final day of the contest, the competitors hacked Windows 11 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Workstations again, and used a memory corruption bug to exploit VMware ESXi.

After Pwn2Own ends, vendors have 90 days to release security patches before TrendMicro’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) publicly discloses them.

During last year’s Pwn2Own Berlin contest, won by the STAR Labs SG team, ZDI awarded 1,078,750 for 29 zero-day flaws and some bug collisions.

Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.

This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.

Download Now

The Sony Xperia 1 VIII is designed to “support the joy of everyday photography”, and promises healthy upgrades over its predecessor.

While we’ve noted everything that’s new with Sony’s flagship in our Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs Xperia 1 VII guide, we’re also interested to see how it measures up to the five-star Oppo Find X9 Ultra. Considering we hailed Oppo’s camera flagship as a “massive achievement and an absolute powerhouse”, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII has a lot to live up to.

We’ve compared the Xperia 1 VIII to the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and noted the main differences – plus any noteworthy similarities – between the two Android phones below.

Read on to see how the Xperia 1 VIII looks set to compare to the Find X9 Ultra. Once you’re done here, make sure you visit our round-ups of the best Android phones and best camera phones too.

Specs Comparison Table

Price and Availability

The Sony Xperia 1 VIII is currently available for pre-order and will officially launch in mid-June. It comes in two size options, 256GB or 1TB, and has a starting RRP of £1399/€1499.

In comparison, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra is ready to buy now and has a slightly higher starting price of £1449.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra has a much larger battery

With a capacity of 7050mAh, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra boasts one of the largest batteries around, but what does that really mean in real-world terms? We found that on less demanding days without too much scrolling, the Find X9 Ultra ended days with around 60-70% battery remaining. Even on busy days with plenty of photography, playing demanding games and other general use, the phone rarely dipped beneath the 40% mark.

This means the handset can easily see you through a second day without needing a top-up, although this will depend on your personal usage.

In comparison, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII is fitted with a smaller 5000mAh battery – the same size as the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Despite the average size, Sony promises the phone should see two days of battery. We’ll have to wait until we review the handset to verify those claims, however it’s worth noting that Sony promised the same for the Xperia 1 VII and we found that, although it was possible, it wasn’t easy to reach day two.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra has five rear cameras

Both the Xperia 1 VIII and Find X9 Ultra’s headline feature is undoubtedly their camera set-up. As mentioned earlier, Sony promises that the Xperia 1 VIII is designed to help users capture “better photos” and “support the joy of everyday photography”. 

The Xperia 1 VIII is fitted with three rear 48MP lenses, including a main, ultrawide and a new telephoto that’s four times larger than its predecessor’s own. All three lenses, according to Sony, should deliver low-light performance that’s comparable to a full-frame sensor, allowing for clear imaging even in dark environments.

Otherwise, the Find X9 Ultra is fitted with four brilliant rear lenses, alongside a fifth “true colour” camera that keeps the white balance and tones aligned across the line-up. The four lenses include a 200MP main which boasts a massive f/1.5 aperture that takes in plenty of light, a 200MP 3x telephoto, a 50MP 10x periscope and a 50MP ultrawide.

We really didn’t have a bad word to say about the Find X9 Ultra’s cameras, with all lenses performing brilliantly. In fact, the 200MP 3x telephoto was an especially great performer, and one we expect you will use more than you might expect.

Overall, the Find X9 Ultra takes brilliantly detailed images across most lighting conditions, and easily challenges Apple and Google’s own flagships. 

Both run on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Unsurprisingly for flagship Androids, both the Xperia 1 VIII and Find X9 Ultra are fitted with Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. While we’re yet to review the Xperia 1 VIII, we’ve reviewed plenty of phones sporting Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and have rarely been left disappointed. With this in mind, we expect the Xperia 1 VIII to perform well.

Specifically within the Find X9 Ultra, we had very little complaints about the handset’s performance. Everything from scrolling to intensive gaming ran as smoothly as we’d like, with everything feeling slick and responsive. 

Sony Xperia 1 VIII has a headphone jack and a newly designed speaker unit

Unlike the Find X9 Ultra, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII is fitted with a 3.5mm headphone jack which Sony explains enables high-quality audio support using wired headphones, thanks to sound quality inherited from Walkman. 

In addition, the Xperia 1 VIII boasts newly developed left and right speaker units which are promised to deliver “further advances in stereo performance”. Sony promises that the speakers reproduce voices and instruments with greater clarity and richness than before.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra has a larger display and is heavier

With a 6.8-inch display, the Find X9 Ultra isn’t quite as small as the 6.5-inch Xperia 1 VIII but it falls slightly shy of Galaxy S26 Ultra. Size aside, we hailed the Find X9 Ultra’s panel as a “treat”, thanks to its QHD+ resolution, LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate and impressively thin surrounding bezel too.

Sony has more or less kept things the same with this year’s Xperia 1 VIII, with the phone sporting the same FHD+ panel as its predecessor. This certainly is no bad thing, as we concluded the Xperia 1 VII’s screen to be “difficult to fault.”

Early Verdict

It’s difficult to provide a conclusive verdict as we haven’t reviewed the Sony Xperia 1 VIII just yet. However, with Sony promising a larger telephoto lens, better sound quality and two-days of battery, the Xperia 1 VIII is undoubtedly an appealing option.

Even so, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra really impressed us. Not only does it boast one of the most complete camera set-ups around, but its mighty battery easily offers two days of battery while its 6.8-inch panel is a delight to use. Easily one of the best camera phones around, keen photographers and power users will struggle to find a better option than the Find X9 Ultra.

We’ll be sure to update this versus once we review the Xperia 1 VIII.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s a pretty fun and easy one today. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Questionable
Answer: IFFY

5A clue: Country that’s about 25 times longer than it is wide
Answer: CHILE

6A clue: iPhone setting that reduces distractions
Answer: FOCUS

7A clue: Magnum ___ (masterpiece)
Answer: OPUS

8A clue: Get-together, slangily
Answer: SESH

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: “Fingers crossed!”
Answer: IHOPE

2D clue: Indoor plant whose name is one vowel off from 6-Across
Answer: FICUS

3D clue: A❤️ 9❤️ 6❤️ 4❤️ 2❤️, e.g.
Answer: FLUSH

4D clue: What “aye” means
Answer: YES

5D clue: Corp. money managers
Answer: CFOS

Apple is reportedly preparing one of the biggest Siri redesigns in years with iOS 27, but even after multiple delays, the company may still label the upgraded assistant as a beta product. According to reports from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, internal test versions of iOS 27 already refer to the revamped Siri as a beta experience and include an option allowing users to leave the Siri beta entirely.

The move would be unusually familiar for longtime Apple users. When Apple originally introduced Siri in 2011, the assistant itself launched under a beta label before Apple quietly removed the branding in 2013. Despite that, Siri has continued to face criticism for lagging behind competitors in reliability, conversational abilities, and overall intelligence.

Apple’s AI catch-up strategy is taking longer than expected

The revamped Siri was originally expected to arrive in 2024 as part of Apple’s broader AI push. However, multiple reports now suggest the project has faced delays of nearly two years.

According to Gurman’s reporting, Apple is rebuilding Siri into a more advanced chatbot-style assistant capable of handling ongoing conversations, contextual memory, and deeper app integration. The redesign could also introduce a standalone Siri app, chat-style interactions similar to messaging apps, and integration with the Dynamic Island interface on supported iPhones.

The issue for Apple is timing. While Apple continues refining Siri, rivals like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and other Android-based AI systems have already rolled out advanced conversational assistants with broader real-world capabilities.

That gap has increasingly made Siri feel outdated compared to competing AI products, especially as Apple continues marketing Apple Intelligence as a major part of the iPhone experience.

Why the beta label matters

If Apple officially launches the new Siri as a beta feature in iOS 27, it could serve two purposes. First, it gives Apple flexibility to continue refining the assistant publicly after launch while lowering expectations around bugs, hallucinations, or missing features. Second, it allows the company to release AI features sooner rather than waiting for a more polished final version.

The beta branding would also reflect the broader challenge Apple currently faces in AI. Unlike competitors that prioritize rapid deployment, Apple has historically focused more heavily on stability, privacy, and controlled rollouts.

Reports also suggest Apple is introducing stronger privacy controls into Siri’s AI experience, including optional auto-delete settings for conversation history.

What happens next

Apple is expected to reveal more about Siri’s redesign and its AI roadmap during WWDC next month. Developer beta versions of iOS 27 will likely be the first public look at the new Siri experience.

However, the larger question remains whether Apple’s slower, more cautious AI rollout can still compete in a market where rivals have spent the last two years aggressively pushing generative AI into mainstream consumer products.

For now, Siri’s overhaul appears less like a finished comeback and more like Apple finally arriving at the AI race – still mid-development.

Altra Running’s distinctive wide toe box and zero drop heel-toe design don’t facilitate marathon PRs or punchy 5Ks. But there’s a reason why Leonardo DiCaprio chose to wear all-weather Lone Peaks when playing Bob Ferguson in One Battle After Another. They’re comfortable, rugged, and the zero-drop design keeps you from getting tendonitis. Altras are the perfect shoe for surviving in an off-grid dystopian war, even if they’re not at the top of the list when it comes to the best running shoes.

Get Up to 50% Off at the Altra Running Sale

The Lone Peaks are iconic and instantly recognizable. But don’t worry, if you don’t want the exact model that Bob Ferguson has, the hiking version of the Lone Peaks is also on sale for $36 off. In fact, there are tons of different styles of men’s shoes right now, including up to 50% off select styles.

Save 20% on Select Altra Running Shoes

Maybe you’re investigating Altra running shoes because a more widely-known brand, like Brooks or Nike, has a toe box that’s just too small. In that case, Altra doesn’t exclusively make trail running shoes. The Fwd Via is Altra’s version of the Brooks Glycerin—the ultra-cushioned road running shoe. It’s also on sale, along with various running shoes at 20% off.

Unlock 15% Off: SMS Welcome Offer

One of the easiest ways to save at Altra running is to sign up for text messages from them. Once you sign up, you’ll receive an Altra SMS welcome offer that’s good for 15% off your next purchase. Once you receive it and you’re ready to buy, you’ll just need to input the Altra promo code at checkout, and click “Apply A Promo Code.” just know that the Altra promo code is valid for only 30 days after you receive and is valid for a one-time use only. (Plus, it’s not valid at any third party retail store or website.)

Get a 10% Altra Promo Code When You Sign Up

I have run in a model of the Altra Lone Peaks for a decade. Where I live is the unofficial trail running capital of the United States, and everyone sports a pair of these shoes while hiking or at the bar. It’s totally worth it to sign up for the loyalty program and get the Altra Running promo code. (I also do this with my children, who exclusively wear Salomons.) When you sign up for the Altra loyalty program, you’ll get 10% off as a thank you.

10% Off Altra Olympus 275

The Altra Olympus 275 for both men and women just may be the hottest trail running shoe of the season. The Altra Olympus 275 is best for technical trail and all-day trail running, with increased durability, protection, and lightweight construction to face the toughest trails. Plus, it has a custom-designed MATRYX one-piece woven upper that’s both lightweight and protective. A grippyVibram Megagrip outsole helps with traction on wet and dry surfaces to ensure that no matter what type of terrain or weather conditions you encounter on the trail, you’ll be set. Plus, when you sign up to be an Altra member, you’ll get 10% off your Altra Olympus 275 pair.

Score Free Standard Shipping on All Altra Orders

You can get free standard delivery in 5-7 business days (however, there’s no weekend delivery) for free when you order through Altra! If you need your shoes in a rush, there’s 2-day shipping (with no weekend delivery) for $16.95, and next-day delivery (Saturday and Sunday orders ship on Mondays) for $22.