Lifehacker

Here's when to hit (and avoid) the roads during the holiday weekend.

Soaked cashews make up the base for this flavorful and easy vegan cheese sauce.

The best AI in the world can't beat the power of jotting something down in my notebook.

It's time to hang up your rakes, shovels, and shears for the season.

Save room in your fridge, and safeguard the moisture, texture, and flavor of your food.

If you actually needed an excuse to make extra gravy, here it is.

Here are some hints to help you win NYT Connections #158.

Save $300 on the Pixel 6a at Best Buy when you activate with Verizon.

Don't jeopardize your security for a blue bubble.

You can get Amazon security cameras, Echo Buds, Fire TVs, and Fire TV Sticks for up to 54% off.

Meta won't let you get you rid of your Threads account easily-but it's not impossible.

Find Dyson, Shark, and other brands of vacuums up to 50% off from the top retailers.

Here's how to quickly reset your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD back to factory settings.

Use your wood-burning stove to keep your whole house cozy with these simple steps.

Reddit images don't need to look so ugly.

It might be three years old, but the M1 MacBook Air is still a fantastic laptop-especially at this price.

Acid. It's what Thanksgiving is missing, and what it needs-just think of all the people who come to your dinner table with a wider palate than what turkey and potatoes can provide. These dishes aren't exactly known for spice, brightness, and heat. Many cultures solve for this problem with relishes, salsas, or...Read more...

Today's board looks like a stationery store, but the four categories each have their own unique HALLMARKs. If you're looking for the Connections answer for Monday, November 13, 2023, read on-I'll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I'll explain the...Read more...

Many homebuyers rely on inspections to find existing and potential future problems with a house they're serious about purchasing. And while it's important to keep in mind that inspectors probably won't find every single thing that's wrong with the home, it is fair to expect them to identify the major problems....Read more...

Inflation hit Americans hard in 2023, but so did wanderlust. In fact, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), rising prices weren't enough to keep people home, as 2023 saw the busiest summer travel period on record. But they did help make it the year of the travel dupe"-destinations that have...Read more...

Condensation can form on windows when there's a major difference in temperature indoors versus outdoors. When it's on the outside, condensation is essentially dew, and disappears when the sun warms the window. Indoor condensation, however, is a sign of high humidity in a room-or possibly the entire home.Read more...

There's a lot of tricky stuff here today, but don't worry, I'll COACH you through it. If you're looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, November 12, 2023, read on-I'll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I'll explain the meanings of the...Read more...

Bathrooms are among the most daunting-and disruptive-rooms in a home to update. Whether remodeling or renovating, having a bathroom out of service is incredibly inconvenient-especially if it's the only one for the household.Read more...

Taking a life-altering solo trip is a pop culture staple, frequently depicted as a rite of passage and step towards independence heading into adulthood, or out of a relationship. In real life, people travel by themselves for a variety of reasons-including because it's their preferred way of exploring new places and/or...Read more...

Even though appliances have replaced many of the household tasks that were once done manually-like washing dishes and clothing-that doesn't mean they're completely maintenance-free. For example, we recently discussed the fact that washing machine filters exist and need to be cleaned regularly.Read more...

You'll have a BALL solving this one! (Sorry.) If you're looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, November 11, 2023, read on-I'll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I'll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we'll learn how...Read more...

When booking flights with travel rewards, it can be confusing to figure out whether you're actually getting the best deal, especially if you're trying to compare itineraries using points and miles across several airline websites or credit card portals.

People get 4K TVs because they want to enjoy movies and TV shows the best way possible, but most people forget to improve another equally important component: the sound. Generally speaking,TV audio is terrible. What good is it to have a 4K TV if you can't understand the dialogue? If you're in the market for a great...Read more...

Microsoft Surface laptops are a great alternative for those who don't like the flappy cover of the tablet hybrid Surface Pro laptops but love everything else about them. Until Nov. 15, you can get a new Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 for $599.99 (normally $1,199) from Woot, which is $200 cheaper than Best Buy's current...Read more...

Baking a pie or tart is theoretically simple-filling goes in the crust, bake, and eat. But the devil is in the details, as they say, and one part of the fine print is blind baking. In order to prevent a gummy, soggy crust from plaguing your pie's undercarriage, you'll need to master this technique. Luckily, it's...Read more...

The Digi Pen is a lower-cost alternative to the Apple Pencil, and it's on sale for $39.99 right now (reg. $99). The Digi Pen is iPad compatible and has a 1.2mm fine tip that can be used for drawing, writing, sketching, or painting, the it also has palm rejection, so you can touch the screen while drawing on it. It has...Read more...

This week, gamers enjoyed a welcome surprise: The announcement of Valve's new Steam Deck OLED. On top of offering the same great software system as the OG Steam Deck, the new Steam Deck OLED offers some minimal (but also important) upgrades to Valve's handheld. Here are the major takeaways.Read more...

Olive oil has many known benefits, from the subtle taste it imparts to food to its status as a heart-healthy food. In recent months, due to weather-related shortages, the cost of olive oil has more than doubled. Given the rising prices, and the scarcity of it, you might be wondering when it's OK to substitute in a...Read more...

On Thursday, the IRS released its annual adjustments for the 2024 tax year, which include changes to income tax brackets and a higher standard deduction. These shifts happen every year to account for bracket creep," which causes people to pay more in taxes due to inflation without actually earning more income.

Apple's Vision Pro headset, the company's first venture into mixed reality, isn't due to hit shelves until early 2024, but you can already create content for it. So long as you have the right iPhone running the right version of iOS, you can shoot three-dimensional videos only viewable on Apple's forthcoming $3,500...Read more...

It's so annoying when unwanted notifications interrupt your recording of your iPhone's screen. It's a telltale sign that the clip you're watching online was just ripped off someone's iPhone, and isn't actually the video file itself. While the notifications can be innocent, they might be personal, and you'd rather...Read more...

TV audio sucks-especially if you're trying to understand dialogue. This is a known issue in the TV manufacturing and post-production filming industry that has a relatively simple solution (besides turning on subtitles): get a soundbar. If you've never owned a soundbar before, this entry-level number might be your...Read more...

Paper checks are going the way of the dinosaurs-and fast. Only about .05% of payments are made by check these days, and as you might imagine most of those are written by older folks, because habits die hard. Checks are dying so hard that 44% of Generation Z (the oldest of who are about 26 these days) don't even...Read more...

While a basic roux and some decent stock will get you a good enough gravy, it's the drippings that really make it chef's-kiss worthy. Drippings are exactly what they sound like-as your protein is cooking, the fat and juices that cook off are intensely flavored. Unlike stock, they have a complexity and depth that...Read more...

There's comfort viewing, and then there are movies in which the characters are comfortable. They're not always the same thing. Some of these movies are comfy, cozy watches-though tastes vary wildly. For some, a Hallmark holiday movie is the gold standard to relax by. For others, a Scream movie will serve the same...Read more...

Even before I sucked down my first ketchup packet of the workout, I knew I had fallen for a dumb publicity stunt by Heinz. But as a Pittsburgher, I am required to take Heinz ketchup seriously. I can get the stuff to slide easily out of any glass bottle, I won't eat Hunt's, and I refuse to call Heinz Field by whatever...Read more...

The Apple Watch is made to work with your iPhone, but you don't need your iPhone to use your Apple Watch. OK, you do need an iPhone to pair and set up the device, but following that, your Apple Watch can function as a standalone device, at least for a variety of tasks-even if you have the wifi-dependent GPS model. No,...Read more...

A new" dating hack trending on TikTok is for the birds-literally. In a recent TikTok video, content creator Lyss Lyss (@alyssacardib) shares how thebird test" can predict if a couple's relationship will last or not.Read more...

Most people don't use their phone cameras to try to our express artistic visions; we just want cool pics of our vacations and family get-togethers. But most people's casual, candid photographs are pretty bad. Luckily, it's easy to up your snapshot game-it doesn't take a serious study of the art of photography to...Read more...

Pop culture is like a disturbing science fiction movie this week. Young people are intentionally styling themselves as nightmarish quasi-humans, having their eyes burned at weird parties in Hong Kong, and sharing the trailer for a new Mean Girls movie.

Your washing machine cleans your clothes, therefore you should clean your washing machine. It's a simple concept, but not one we think about too often. The washing machine doesn't always strike me as a clean-able object or even one that needs to be spruced up, but in reality, it does get pretty grimy after pulling the...Read more...

Today's is an easy one if you're SHARP enough to notice a few things! If you're looking for the Connections answer for Friday, November 10, read on-I'll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I'll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we'll...Read more...

Tax day 2024 is not until Mon, Apr 15, 2024, and also right around the corner. The luxury of time doesn't mean you should wait until the last minute to figure out how you're going to file your 2023 taxes-especially when you can save some money if you plan ahead.Read more...

xFyro Hybrid ANC wireless Bluetooth earbuds are on sale for $29.97 right now (reg. $59). These earbuds feature three different feedback and feedforward microphones on each earbud, so noise can be captured and canceled at any frequency. These earbuds offer studio-quality audio with 7mm graphene drivers, are equipped...Read more...

Early Black Friday deals are in full swing:Target, Best Buy, and Walmart all have their deals live already, and Amazon just put out their Black Friday plans (with some deals available now). But if you're looking for even better deals on Blink and Ring security cameras-and some other Amazon devices-it's Woot you want...Read more...