The Morning: A new Games feature

Plus, protests in Israel, elections in East Germany and the great Lego spill.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 2, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning, and happy Labor Day. Today, we tell you about the brand-new Connections Bot. We're also covering protests in Israel, elections in East Germany and the great Lego spill. The New York Times A Connections score WordleBot, introduced in 2022, has become one of the The Times's most popular features. Every month, it receives millions of visits from readers who want feedback on their attempt to solve each day's five-letter word. Now the designers of that bot have created a new one — for the Connections game. I know that The Morning's audience includes many passionate game players, and I want to devote today's holiday newsletter to a quick description of the new Connections Bot. It also has a larger significance: It includes the first English text generated by A.I. that The Times newsroom will regularly publish. The purple bonus I've had access to an internal version of the bot in recent weeks and have had fun playing with it. (If you don't yet play Connections, a very brief description is: You must separate 16 terms into four categories, with four terms in each category, and there is only one solution that works. The trick is that one category — as you can see below with this "STADIUMS" category — often has five or more potential answers.) The New York Times As with Wordle, you first play the game and then visit the bot for feedback. Once you do, you find out how your performance compared with that of other players, and you receive a skill score, up to 99. It's based mostly on how many mistakes you made, but it also awards extra credit if you started by solving what the Times Games team considers to be the hardest categories — starting with the purple category and followed by blue. The New York Times (Related: Connections die-hards may enjoy watching this video by Hank Green, a writer who developed his own "hard mode" for Connections, which requires solving purple first.) After the bot gives you a skill score and some other information, the A.I. feature comes next. It uses artificial intelligence to guess what players were thinking when they made incorrect guesses. I find it delightful: The New York Times I asked Eve Washington — a graphics editor with The Times's Upshot section, who helped create the bot — what surprised her about the process, and she told me that it helped her feel better about the days when she doesn't solve the puzzle. "Connections can be a hard game!" Eve said, pointing out that the solve rate is below 50 percent some days. "But knowing that most people were feeling stuck reminded me I was not alone, and made the game more fun," Eve added. "It took the pressure off of playing a perfect game and instead created joy in discovering all of the unique ways that people tried to reason through the puzzle." When I asked her what she hoped other people would get from the bot, Eve replied, "I hope that people feel seen by the bot." Next steps: You can read a user guide's to the bot, written by my colleagues at The Upshot — or you can simply play Connections and then visit the bot. THE LATEST NEWS Israel-Hamas War Protesters in Israel.  Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times Workers in Israel are calling for Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire deal for the release of hostages in Gaza. Protesters have flooded Israeli streets to demand a deal after the Israeli military announced it recovered the body of six hostages in Gaza. The military said Hamas killed the hostages with short-range gunshots in the days before their bodies were found. Hamas said they died by Israeli bullets, but it didn't give evidence. Americans grieved the killing of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American hostage. Read more about the six hostages. Israeli leaders are divided about how to fight Hamas and get the hostages home. A Hamas handbook, found by the Israeli military and reviewed by The Times, reveals a yearslong effort to build a military operation in tunnels underneath Gaza. War in Ukraine In Kyiv.  Oksana Parafeniuk for The New York Times "These children are crying for help": A schoolteacher describes instructing children in Kyiv. Many of them have fled the frontline or lost family in the fighting. A photographer traveled around 10,000 miles through Ukraine during the first year of the war. He shared his images with CNN. More International News In Germany, the far-right AfD party is surging in the former communist east. It is on course to win one state election and is running a close second in another, projections showed. A man in southern France is accused of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her over almost a decade. Today, 51 men will go on trial. Pope Francis — who is 87 and has been battling health issues — is about to undertake an 11-day tour of Asia, the longest of his tenure. 2024 Election Tim Walz Stephen Maturen/Getty Images Tim Walz, after a whirlwind month, returned to the venue that helped propel his profile: the Minnesota State Fair. JD Vance has gone on the attack for Donald Trump, endearing him to his boss. But polls show that the number of Americans who dislike Vance continues to grow. In speeches, Trump often wanders between topics. He insists there is an art to stitching them together. Other Big Stories Hotel workers in cities including San Francisco and Boston went on strike after their union and hotel companies failed to come to an agreement in contract negotiations. Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite-internet service, told Brazil's telecom agency that it would not comply with orders to block X in the country. Opinions Michael Roth, a college president, hopes his campus will be even more political than last year. Young people are disenchanted with politicians because too much of government spending goes to baby boomers, C. Eugene Steuerle and Glenn Kramon write. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss Harris and Trump. Here is a column by David French on loneliness. Subscribe Today The Morning highlights a small portion of the journalism that The New York Times offers. To access all of it, become a subscriber with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Eden Bowen Montgomery, an interior designer.  Andrea Morales for The New York Times Dorm design: Some parents are paying more for dorm room interior designers than they are for college tuition. The great spill: Nearly five million Lego pieces fell out of a shipping container and into the sea in 1997. The pieces are still showing up on beaches. Maine: A Deaf man killed in a mass shooting didn't get to see the third season of the camp he started. Twenty-two children did, including his own. Tipping: Americans are being asked to tip more often and in more places than ever before. It may soon get worse. Happy birthday, eggs! Women are throwing parties to celebrate taking charge of their fertility futures. Ask Vanessa: "Who can pull off a jean jacket?" A funnel cake macchiato? Coffee makers are in a battle for who can come up with the craziest, calorie-laden, not-really-coffee drink. Metropolitan Diary: One night on top of the world. Lives Lived: Simon Verity was a British stone carver whose works including the statues that adorn the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Upper Manhattan. He died at 79. SPORTS Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro. Jamie Squire/Getty Images U.S. Open: The American Emma Navarro ousted defending champion Coco Gauff in front of a star-studded crowd. Read a recap. W.N.B.A.: Chicago Sky star Angel Reese set the league's single-season rebounding record. College football: U.S.C. outlasted L.S.U. in the holiday weekend's last premier game, 27-20. The Tigers have lost three straight season openers under Brian Kelly. ARTS AND IDEAS The New York Times The Books desk has put together a list of anticipated fiction and poetry works coming this fall. Here are some upcoming releases: "Intermezzo" by Sally Rooney: About two brothers — one a competitive chess player, the other a lawyer — who are forced to confront their strained relationship in the wake of their father's death. "The City and Its Uncertain Walls" by Haruki Murakami: Based on a 44-year-old short story, this novel is about an unnamed male narrator who is still grieving over the childhood disappearance of his first love. "Creation Lake" by Rachel Kushner: A thriller about a disgraced F.B.I. agent turned freelance operative who infiltrates a rural French commune of environmental anarchists. "Playground" by Richard Powers: An expansive novel set on a French Polynesian island that explores the effects of A.I. and climate change on humanity. Read The Times's fall fiction preview. More on culture Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White. Philip Cheung for The New York Times Ryan Seacrest will take over as host of "Wheel of Fortune" from Pat Sajak next week. Take a behind-the-scenes look at the change. "English Teacher," a new FX sitcom that begins today, handles the educational culture wars with a light touch. Read James Poniewozik's review. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times Roast tofu for a tangy and spicy sheet-pan dish. Eat these things for a long and healthy life. Clean crumbs with a good hand-held vacuum. Ski without blisters thanks to these socks. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was handbook. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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