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.

Today’s Mini Crossword was a bit tricky. I was thrown off by 1-Down, as it turns out there are multiple slow-moving creatures whose names would fit in a five-letter space. 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: Poli ___ (college major)
Answer: SCI

4A clue: Person with a superior attitude
Answer: SNOB

5A clue: Word whose letters are appropriately found from left to right in … CHARISMA
Answer: CHARM

6A clue: … PRECIPITATION
Answer: RAIN

7A clue: … UNSIGHTLY
Answer: UGLY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Slow-moving creature
Answer: SNAIL

2D clue: Like a groan-inducing joke
Answer: CORNY

3D clue: Co. that created the first floppy disk
Answer: IBM

4D clue: Furry variety of carpet
Answer: SHAG

5D clue: World Class Wreckin’ ___, music group in which Dr. Dre got his start
Answer: CRU

Smartphone design is pretty much the same in 2026. You get a slab of metal and glass with a big, bulky camera module on the back, and there’s only so much you can do with it. Infinix seems to have looked at that trend and said, “Screw it.” That’s because, to design its new flagship phone, the Hong Kong-based smartphone maker called in the legendary Italian design firm Pininfarina. For the uninitiated, these guys were a coachbuilder responsible for designing some of the most iconic cars, including the Ferrari 250 GT and the Testarossa.

Pininfarina has employed some of that expertise to design the Infinix Note 60 Ultra. So, how is it different? Instead of a large camera bump, Infinix has opted for an aluminum unibody design with what it calls the world’s first Uni-Chassis camera module. The entire rear panel is formed from a single sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, creating a smooth, uninterrupted surface. The display is a 1.5K Ultra HDR panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and up to 4500 nits of peak brightness.

The design includes a “Floating Taillight” element on the back that lights up when the phone powers on. Like the new Xiaomi 17 series, there’s also a hidden Active Matrix display embedded in the rear panel that can display notifications, icons, or a pixel-style virtual companion. As expected, colors on the Note 60 Ultra are inspired by Italian racecars, including Torino Black, Monza Red, Amalfi Blue, and Roma Silver.

Pretty Outside, Powerful Inside

Infinix isn’t leaving any stone unturned with the Note 60 Ultra. It’s powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8400 Ultimate chipset built on a 4nm process. For context, the processor houses one Cortex-A725 core running at 3250 MHz, three Cortex-A725 cores running at 3000 MHz, and four Cortex-A725 cores running at 2100 MHz. Coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the performance should be good enough for an AnTuTu score of over 1.6 million.

XOS 16, based on Android 16, will run the show, and it introduces a redesigned interface called GlowSpace. The software also integrates several AI-driven tools, including an Advanced Health Monitor for tracking vitals, AI-powered file organization, and an adaptive knowledge base that evolves based on user behavior. The company has promised three years of major Android updates and five years of security patches.

Another neat feature of the Note 60 Ultra is support for two-way satellite calling and messaging. It allows users to stay connected even when they’re outside traditional cellular coverage. This could be particularly useful in remote locations or during network outages.

Battery life is handled by a massive 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, which Infinix says has self-healing capabilities that can restore up to 1% of battery health every 200 charging cycles. It’ll be very interesting to test that feature long-term. Charging is fast, too. The device supports 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.

Cameras

Despite the not-so-huge camera bump, the Note 60 Ultra packs a triple-camera setup headlined by a 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HPE sensor. It’s paired with a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN5 periscope telephoto camera and a 112-degree ultra-wide camera.

The telephoto system supports multiple zoom levels, including a 2x optical crop, 3.5x optical zoom, and up to 7x lossless digital zoom. Infinix says the system can reach up to 100x zoom for long-distance shots. The phone also supports Ultra HDR capture using Infinix’s XDR Image Engine, which should improve dynamic range and preserve details, though I’m yet to test its capabilities myself.

from the lane-violation dept

It was plainly obvious when RFK Jr. decided to fully remake ACIP, the CDC committee that advises the nation on immunization schedules and practices, that it was done so to place Kennedy sycophants that would enact his batshit theories on vaccinations. ACIP, now chockablock with anti-vaxxer, anti-science grift-gremlins, has been slowly chipping away at decades of good medical practice around immunization. The administration has already altered the recommended vaccine schedules for COVID and Hep B, while appearing to potentially question polio vaccines as well. It has been, to be pointed, an unmitigated shitshow thus far.

But at least ACIP has managed to color inside the lines of its own mandate to date. That appears to be about to change, as reporting indicates that ACIP’s meeting next month will put COVID vaccine injuries on the agenda.

Dorit Reiss, a vaccine policy expert at the University of California Law San Francisco, said the panel does not typically focus on vaccine injuries.

“Vaccine injuries are not a direct part of the committee’s mandates,” Reiss said in an email. “When they make vaccine recommendations, they should consider vaccines risks, and new risks may lead to changed recommendations; but that’s not directly about vaccine injuries.”

This isn’t to suggest that ACIP completely disregards risks associated with vaccinations, as Reiss mentions. ACIP does make changes to vaccination schedules and recommendations based on macro-data it is provided for specific vaccines. But discussions about the prevalence and validity of claims of vaccine injury are well outside ACIP’s purview. To use but one facile piece of evidence of that, you can review the CDC’s own webpage about what ACIP’s purpose and program does. You will notice that there is not a single reference to vaccine injury within it. Nor does the ACIP page that outlines its own charter. There you will see vague references to ACIP’s duties include the “consideration” of “vaccine safety”, but that is the macro-data I referenced earlier, not a deep dive into the specific topic of vaccine injury.

Vaccine injury is a serious topic, for which the Vaccine Injury Compensation System (VICP) was created in the 1980s. Consulting in lawsuits and writing about vaccine injuries is how Kennedy made millions of dollars. Expanding VICP, a stated goal of his, and using ACIP to add validity to those expansions, is a great way for Kennedy and his allies to make more and more money from these types of lawsuits immediately, or once he’s out of government.

It’s just another grift, powered by hand-picked muppets willing to do his bidding in ACIP.

“Some committee members have made repeated claims about Covid vaccine harms that were either unsupported by verifiable data or reflected clear mischaracterizations of the existing scientific literature,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Last year, Osterholm launched the Vaccine Integrity Project, which serves as an alternative source of vaccine information to the CDC.

“If the committee intends to revisit vaccine safety questions, it has an obligation to do so transparently and rigorously,” he said. “Given past misstatements, members do not deserve the benefit of the doubt.”

No, they most certainly do not. You may not think that questions about COVID vaccines are all that important any longer. We’ve moved on, you may think, from this novel virus being a major issue in our lives. And for some of us, that is true. I am very pro-vaccination, but I’m not getting every booster out there.

But that’s not really what this is about. Kennedy wants ACIP to spotlight supposed COVID vaccine injuries in a way that will certainly come with questionable evidence at best. Not out of concern for public health, mind you. But almost certainly for money.

Filed Under: acip, anti-vaxxers, cdc, covid, immunization, rfk jr., vaccines

The Samsung Galaxy S26, OnePlus 15, and Google Pixel 10 all land within shouting distance of each other on price, run the same operating system, and target roughly the same buyer. But spend any real time with them and it becomes clear that each one is making a completely different argument for why you should hand over your money.

This piece breaks down where each phone genuinely earns its price tag — hardware, software, cameras, battery, and everything in between — so you don’t have to figure it out the hard way.

Price and availability

The Galaxy S26 and OnePlus 15 both start from $899 for the 256GB variants — OnePlus steps to $999 for the 512GB storage variant, the S26 goes higher to $1,099. Samsung launched February 25, with the phone actually in stores from March 11, 2026.

The Pixel 10 undercuts both at $799 for 128GB — and that’s the launch price. Google released it back in August 2025, which means it’s had months of discounts piled on top.

Galaxy S26 vs. OnePlus 15 vs. Pixel 10: Tech specs

Samsung Galaxy S26: The most complete AI suite on a smartphone

At 7.2mm, the S26 is the slimmest phone in this comparison — noticeably so next to the OnePlus 15’s 8.1mm and the Pixel 10’s 8.6mm. Honestly, I usually prefer function over form, but the fact that S26 maintains the slimmest profile and yet provides flagship performance, is something that makes me want to change by beliefs.

The 6.3-inch 120Hz AMOLED is punchy and bright at 2,600 nits peak (I’ve used the display on the Galaxy S25, with no real-world issues or problems). What makes Samsung’s chip different is the “for Galaxy” customization — Samsung works directly with Qualcomm to tune the CPU, GPU, and NPU specifically for One UI.

Galaxy AI was already the most feature-complete AI suite of any Android phone before the S26 shipped. With One UI 8.5, Samsung widened that gap further — adding Now Nudge (context-aware screen suggestions), Now Brief (personalized daily digest), and text-prompt-based Photo Assist edits, while expanding existing tools like Audio Eraser to work inside third-party apps like Instagram and YouTube, and upgrading Smart Call screening to full live-transcription with text replies.

It goes without saying, but Galaxy AI actually offers more features than one can possibly remember and use on a day-to-day basis. But it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and realize that other brands are doing much better (I wasn’t talking about the iPhone 17 at all).

On top of that, DeX — a full windowed desktop when plugged into a monitor — has no equivalent on either the OnePlus 15 or Pixel 10. Seven years of operating system updates is probably more than you’d need, given that users change their phone every three to five years anyway.

OnePlus 15 clearly wins the hardware battle

The OnePlus 15 doesn’t win on software depth or AI features — it’s here because the hardware it ships with at $899 is genuinely difficult to argue against.

First things first, the phone comes with both IP68 and IP69K ratings — the second one means it can handle high-pressure water jets, something neither the S26 nor the Pixel 10 can claim. Neither I nor any other careful user would want to put that rating to test, but it’s there, just in case.

The OnePlus 15 runs a 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED at 165Hz — the highest refresh rate in this comparison, and the first display above 1080p to hit that number. Back that display up with a dedicated 3200Hz touch sampling chip and, ideal for fast-paced games.

Under the hood, it’s the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 — same silicon as the S26, minus Samsung’s custom prime core overclock. The camera system puts a 50MP sensor behind all three lenses — main at f/1.8, ultrawide, and a 3.5x periscope telephoto — a hardware consistency the other two don’t match.

OxygenOS 16, like the other Chinese skins atop Android 16, reminds me of Apple’s Liquid Glass interface on iOS 26. The standout is Mind Space (with Google Gemini integration) — a personal AI knowledge hub where a three-finger swipe saves anything on screen instantly: articles, photos, voice memos, screenshots. The physical Plus Key gives one-press access to it from anywhere on the phone.

Battery is where this phone just runs away from the other two — 7,300mAh against the S26’s 4,300mAh and the Pixel 10’s 4,970mAh — it’s not a close fight. Use it lightly and two days between charges is genuinely on the table. OnePlus also throws the 120W charger in the box, which neither competitor does.

Google Pixel 10: Cleanest Android and most consistent cameras

At 204g and 8.6mm, the Pixel 10 is the heaviest and thickest phone here — Google clearly isn’t chasing the slim phone crowd, and the 6.3-inch 120Hz OLED, IP68 rating, and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 are quite standard at this point.

The Tensor G5 is where things get interesting. Built on TSMC’s 3nm node — a deliberate departure from Samsung’s fabs that plagued earlier Tensors with heat issues — it still trails the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in raw benchmarks. Google isn’t trying to win that fight. What they built instead is an NPU that’s 60% stronger than the G4’s, runs Gemini Nano 2.6x faster, and keeps 20-plus AI features running locally on the chip itself.

That software is the real argument. Pure Android, no manufacturer skin, updates arrive here first. Quarterly Pixel Feature Drops add new capabilities between OS releases — something Samsung and OnePlus don’t do.

The AI suite includes Magic Cue (cross-app contextual suggestions), Voice Translate (real-time on-device call translation in your own voice), Scam Detection (Gemini Nano-powered call screening), Call Notes (auto transcription with post-call task suggestions), and Pixel Screenshots (searchable, NotebookLM-connected screenshot library).

Speaking of which, the Pixel 10’s camera — 48MP main, 13MP ultrawide, telephoto — doesn’t impress on paper. Never has. But Google has spent three years building a reputation for the most natural, accurate shots of any Android phone without you touching a single setting, and that’s still true here.

It is the stock Android experience and the cameras that I’d buy the Pixel 10 for, not anything else. Battery is 4,970mAh on 30W wired charging — slowest in this comparison. However, it supports Pixelsnap wireless charging (Qi2-compatible).

Apple has officially released the Studio Display XDR, and those who expect the best from their work now have a seriously enticing new alternative right on their desk. A 27-inch screen with 5K resolution (5120 by 2880 pixels) is a powerhouse of detail, providing stunning clarity in every part of the image.

The Mini-LED backlighting separates the image into 2,304 individual ‘zones’ that can be fine-tuned to perfection, resulting in smooth blacks and eye-popping highlights with no glow visible, even near the edges. If you’re a fan of HDR content, you’ll be pleased to know that peak brightness can reach 2,000 nits, while conventional dynamic range remains a decent 1,000 nits, ideal for seeing what’s going on in those bright conference rooms.

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Color and contrast are also on par with the best displays currently available, with a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, so expect to see shadows that reveal hidden details and bright regions that remain as vibrant as the moment they were recorded. Furthermore, the P3 wide gamut is fully covered, with additional Adobe RGB compatibility for all you print and design folk, and a generous 80% or so of the Rec. 2020 region to boot, which is a huge assist if you’re working on difficult HDR projects. Try as you might, you’ll find no shortage of clever little reference modes, including one for HDR photography in P3-D65, as well as some DICOM presets that will come in handy for medical imaging, but you’ll need to go get those specific calibration tools cleared first, as they are still pending.

Motion is silky smooth owing to a 120Hz refresh rate and Adaptive time, which alternates between 47Hz and 120Hz to stay perfectly in time with whatever you’re watching. Scrolling through your photo libraries or previewing video edits should feel as smooth as silk on compatible hardware. However, Apple Silicon chips of the older M1, M2, or M3 variety are stuck at a mere 60Hz, and Intel Macs won’t run it at all, so you’ll need one of those shiny new M4 or later systems to get the full effect.

The connectivity suite is based around a pair of Thunderbolt 5 ports, two of which provide high-speed data and allow you to daisy-chain an extra monitor or two. You’ll also get up to 140w of electricity to charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro with a single cable, as well as two USB-C ports for connecting peripherals as needed. The display’s stand allows for tilt and height adjustment, as well as a beautiful smooth counterweight that makes the whole thing feel like it’s floating in midair; however, you may forgo the stand and use a VESA mount if you prefer.

Speaking of kit, the Studio Display XDR’s six-speaker audio setup at is seriously impressive, with Spatial Audio carefully adjusted to offer crisp sound with some great bass. It also includes a 12MP Center Stage camera to follow you around during calls or to show off your setup to friends and family, as well as an equally compact three-mic array that will easily pick up your voice.

Finally, the Studio Display XDR costs $3,299 for the standard glass version, which is a little less than the previous Pro Display XDR and includes a slew of modern features such as a higher refresh rate and improved dimming, as well as a snazzy new camera and speakers.

The vivo X300 Pro already redefined smartphone photography last year. But it looks like the Chinese smartphone maker isn’t done yet. vivo has confirmed that the vivo X300 Ultra will launch globally after its unveiling at MWC 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. The showcase offered the first look at what could become one of vivo’s most powerful flagship phones of 2026. The smartphone is said to be at the top of the X300 series, with a major emphasis on camera quality and hardware.

Exact details about price and availability are still under wraps, but the global confirmation points to broader availability this time. The device will become part of the X300 series, alongside the X300 and X300 Pro. However, vivo has not yet confirmed whether it will launch in India.

A Strong Focus on Camera Performance

At MWC, vivo presented the X300 Ultra as more than just a regular smartphone. The device was placed inside a SmallRig video cage and connected to a large Zeiss telephoto extender, showing that the company is targeting serious photography users.

According to reports, the Gen 2 extender can achieve up to 17x optical zoom equivalent. With this level of zoom, the X300 Ultra aims to handle long-range photography in a way that feels closer to dedicated camera systems.

Professional-Style Photography Setup

vivo ensured the teleconverter was firmly mounted rather than simply clipped onto the device. The circular mount system built into the SmallRig cage provided a stable and professional attachment mechanism. It also enhanced control and reduced shake during handheld recording. Demo setup included:

• A large detachable 400mm telephoto extender.
• A SmallRig cage for better grip and protection.
• A compact LED panel light mounted on the top cold shoe.
• A stabilised grip or gimbal-style handle for smoother shots.

What to Expect Next

After vivo officially announced that it will release the smartphone globally, it is likely to reveal the smartphone’s specifications and pricing. Moreover, it is now clear that the vivo X300 Ultra smartphone is a camera-centric flagship smartphone meant for photography enthusiasts.

Bitwarden announced support for logging into Windows 11 devices using passkeys stored in the manager’s vault, enabling phishing-resistant authentication.

The new feature is available for all plans, including the free tier, and allows logging into Windows by selecting the security key option and scanning a QR code with a mobile device to confirm access to the passkey stored in the Bitwarden encrypted vault.

Bitwarden is an open-source password and secrets manager that can store account passwords, passkeys, API keys, credit card details, identity data, and private notes.

To use the new feature, there are three required conditions:

1. Have Entra ID–joined devices
2. FIDO2 security key sign-in is enabled
3. Have a registered Entra ID passkey stored in their Bitwarden vault

“Windows now supports industry-standard passkeys secured in the Bitwarden vault, enabling passwordless authentication during sign-in,” Bitwarden says in a press release.

“Users can choose to log in with a passkey stored in the Bitwarden vault, allowing Windows to authenticate using cryptographic credentials rather than passwords, without transmitting shared secrets.”

Bitwarden acts as the passkey provider in the Windows authentication flow, storing the credential in the user’s synced vault rather than binding it to a single device. This also allows recovery using other devices in case of losing the phone.

More importantly, by removing password entry from the login process and using cryptographic challenges signed with private keys stored in the vault, the risk of credential exposure to phishing drops dramatically.

Bitwarden states that Microsoft will roll out passkey login on Windows this month, and it depends on the Microsoft Entra ID configuration.

In November 2025, Microsoft announced the introduction of a passkey provider API on Windows 11, allowing third-party apps like Bitwarden and 1Password to store and manage passkeys for websites and apps on the OS.

The latest announcement extends this further, to a more fundamental authentication layer, that of the OS itself.

Malware is getting smarter. The Red Report 2026 reveals how new threats use math to detect sandboxes and hide in plain sight.

Download our analysis of 1.1 million malicious samples to uncover the top 10 techniques and see if your security stack is blinded.

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• A new study has found that AI models are fine threatening nuclear attacks in 95% of simulated war games
• The models treat nuclear threats as just another strategic tool
• The behavior may reflect the popularity of nuclear strategy in the war game training data

AI generals are big fans of nuclear weapons.

That’s the conclusion of a new study of how AI models handle high-stakes geopolitical crises. GPT-5.2, Claude Sonnet 4, and Gemini 3 Flash turned to nuclear threats in about 95% of the simulated crises.

Researchers at King’s College London wanted to see how AI tools dealt with strategy in war-gaming scenarios. Each AI was assigned the role of a state leader responsible for protecting national interests while navigating a tense international confrontation.