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Wordle game on a smartphone

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're always in a good mood.

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 May 30, 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 May 30, 2026

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

To grin.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter S.

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...

SMILE

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.



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AFF on phone

Every major online dating service has been targeted by malicious hackers looking to access private information, but few attacks have been as severe, as pervasive, or as publicly damaging as the data breach attack on AdultFriendFinder in October 2016.

The attack exposed the records of more than 360 million users, and not just from AdultFriendFinder itself but sister sites across the popular FriendFinder network. To this day, it is still one of the largest database breaches ever recorded, leaking the email addresses, usernames, passwords, sexual orientations, and even spoken languages of millions of people across more than two decades of AFF history.

Worse still, it exposed some downright shoddy security practices, which included using SHA-1 cryptographic hashing, already more than a decade out of date by the time of the breach, and storing account passwords in plain text. It was an embarassing moment for the company.

Thankfully, FriendFinder Networks took this breach very seriously indeed, and dramatically stepped up its security practices and protcols. Here are three major changes they made to help protect future users:

AdultFriendFinder logo
Credit: AdultFriendFinder

AFF overhauled their database security

Think of a website's database as a kind of bank vault. It's where all the most valuable stuff is stashed. And thieves would love to get their hands on it all. In 2016, prior to the attack, AdultFriendFinder had the equivalent of a single-lock safe: it looked secure and intimidating, but malicious actors had long ago figured out how to crack the code and get their hands on the loot. 

Now, AFF uses the latest in encryption technology to bolster security, including a technique called "salted hashing" that involves combining each password with a unique, random string of characters (known as the salt) and then passing them through a one-way hash function. It's a sophisticated way of ensuring that even accounts using identical passwords across different sites (looking at you, people who use "password" for your password) aren't all vulnerable during a breach.

AFF hired outside security experts

The ugly truth is that companies can't go it alone in the battle for cybersecurity. In-house security teams, as smart and hardworking as they may be, just don't stand a chance against an army of hackers and malicious actors. These scammers work 24/7 to access your valuable data and are always evolving and finding new ways through. 

SEE ALSO: Adult Friend Finder vs. Tinder: How they compare as hookup apps

The 2016 data breach humbled AFF enough to recognize this fact, and they've been contracting outside cybersecurity help ever since, including help fro Google subsidiary Mandiant. These cybersecurity firms don't just examine the potential vulnerabilities in your coding — they also look at corporate structure and employee practices to evaluate potential vulnerabilities. 

Forced password resets

Not all cybersecurity vulnerabilities are the fault (or exclusive fault) of the website. Sometimes, users' laziness can be a major vulnerability — in other words, using the same passwords year after year and assuming that's OK. Beefing up AFF's security has involved forced password resets, so you can't just use the same password all the time.

SEE ALSO: All your Hinge questions, answered

This is now basically standard operating procedure across the internet: Once every six months or once a year, you'll be asked to choose a new password. AFF has formalized this approach to help secure against password vulnerabilities that it can't control, such as leaks on other dating sites. (Be honest: How many of you use the same password across multiple sites? It doesn't take much for a hacker to apply a leaked password from one site to a whole bunch of other sites). This also protects against hardware malware such as keyloggers. 

Later this year, exactly one decade will have elapsed since AdultFriendFinder's last security breach. Say what you will about their past mistakes — a full decade of cybersecurity success is an achievement, and modern users of the site should be grateful that AFF has stepped up their game in such a big way.



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GoCable 8-in-1 EDC 100W Cable

TL;DR: The GoCable 8-in-1 EDC 100W Cable is on sale for $21.99 (reg. $49.99) and combines fast charging, multiple connectors, cable management, and everyday tools in one compact gadget.

GoCable 8-in-1 EDC 100W Cable
Credit: GoCable
GoCable 8-in-1 EDC 100W Cable
$21.99
$49.99 Save $28.00
 

Is your bag, desk drawer, or carry-on overflowing with charging cables, adapters, and random accessories? The GoCable 8-in-1 EDC Cable is here to turn all of that disarray into convenience, consolidating all that clutter into one clever, pocket-sized tool, and it’s on sale for $21.99 (reg. $49.99).

We’ve seen multi-purpose charging accessories before, but GoCable stands out by packing an impressive range of features into something small enough to clip onto your keychain or backpack.

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The GoCable supports up to 100W charging speeds when paired with a compatible power source. That means it’s ready for everything from smartphones and tablets to laptops and other USB-C devices. Plus, with both USB-C and Apple Lightning compatibility, it’s great for those who always have a mix of devices.

It’s built-in LED display shows charging info in real time. Instead of not knowing whether your device is charging efficiently, you can see the status right on the cable itself.

GoCable also features magnetic cable management, keeping cords neatly wrapped and tangle-free. It’s great for travelers, commuters, photographers, drone users, and content creators alike (basically anyone carrying multiple gadgets).

It also comes loaded with extras: a built-in bottle opener, a safe cutter for opening packages, a carabiner clip for attaching to bags or gear, and support for high-speed data transfers between devices.

Plus, rather than carrying separate charging accessories and small utility tools, users get several everyday functions bundled into one compact gadget that’s less than six inches long.

If you want to travel lighter with your tech, the GoCable 8-in-1 EDC 100W Cable can do that for you for just $21.99 (reg. $49.99).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.



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An Anthropic logo behind an iPhone logging into Claude

Anthropic isn't ready to let regular users look at its supposedly super-powerful Claude Mythos AI model just yet. But the AI company has just released an upgrade to its flagship product, Claude Opus — now in its 4.8 version.

"It builds on Opus 4.7 with improvements across benchmarks, and is a more effective collaborator," Anthropic promised in a press release Thursday. Indeed, the benchmark numbers, below, show very minor improvements across the board.

One major improvement, allegedly, is in the area of hallucinations. Claude Opus 4.8 won't lie to users as much. "Early testers report that Opus 4.8 is more likely to flag uncertainties about its work and less likely to make unsupported claims," Anthropic said, touting the model's "honesty."

Claude Opus 4.8 has 'better judgment'

"Claude Opus 4.8 has noticeably better judgment," an engineer at Shopify, Tom Pritchard, told Anthropic. The coding version of the model "asks the right questions, catches its own mistakes, and pushes back when a plan isn't sound."

Given the increasing number of horror stories about AI agents deleting entire corporate databases, that promise may be music to the ears of vibe coders everywhere.

To please power users, Anthropic is offering a significant discount on "fast mode," where Claude will work at 2.5 times regular speed. Fast mode "is now three times cheaper than it was for previous models," the company said.

Users on Reddit weren't buying it, however. Many feared a loss of access to a more popular model, Claude Opus 4.6. "Nobody trusts the benchmark charts," wrote one redditor in summary, noting that Opus 4.7 also seemed to have some pretty good numbers when it was released.

Whether or not we can trust the benchmarks — and to be clear, Mashable hasn't independently verified these numbers — here's what Anthropic is claiming.

A list of benchmark numbers for Claude Opus 4.8
Credit: Anthropic

How to try Claude Opus 4.8

Claude Opus 4.8 is available now via Anthropic's website, Claude.AI, as well as via the Claude API, plus Anthropic partners like Microsoft Foundry.

The new model is priced exactly the same as its predecessors, which is to say models going all the way back to Claude Opus 4.5. All of them will cost you $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens.

Given that Anthropic is promising Claude Mythos within a matter of weeks, however, you may want to hang back and wait to see whether that model can be even more "honest" about its hallucinations.



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the Waymo Ojai

Autonomous robotaxi company Waymo just announced a fleet of new vehicles — the Ojai — that it describes as roomier and more accessible than its typical Jaguar I-PACE cars.

The self-driving Ojai offers “elevator-like doors,” low steps, flat floors, and a seat-integrated handle, features the Google-owned company says make it easier for riders to get in and out of the vehicle. Waymo describes the space inside the Ojai as a "living room on wheels." The Ojai interior shares some similarities with Waymo competitor Zoox, which operates a fleet of carriage-style autonomous cars.

The Ojai has three large LED screens that display routes, temperature controls, and music options, with embedded braille and screen-reader compatibility (low-vision riders have expressed an affinity for self-driving cars in a recent New York Times report).

The Ojai will feature the 6th-generation Waymo Driver tech, which the company says will enable the cars to operate more effectively in snowy conditions. Don’t look for the cars in New York or Boston, though; they will first roll out as free rides for select riders in the temperate cities of Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco, before moving to Denver, Las Vegas, and San Diego.

SEE ALSO: Robot, take the wheel: What you need to know about autonomous vehicles rolling out across the U.S.

Speaking of weather, Waymo recently suspended rides in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta after some of its cars drove into floods. Still, Waymo proudly touts its safety record, recently releasing data showing that its Waymo Driver tech was involved in 92 percent fewer serious crashes than human drivers under the same conditions. Additionally, Waymo stated that its cars have a 13x lower rate of serious injury or fatal crashes than human drivers.



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Sony Bravia 7 RGB TV mounted on wall with Sony Trio audio system in living room
A quick look at the May 2026 Sony TV releases
Sony Bravia 7 II True RGB 4K TV
starting at $2,099.99 (55 through 98 inches)
Sony Bravia 7 II TV with abstract orange screensaver
Sony Bravia 9 II True RGB TV
starting at $3,599.99 (65 through 85 inches)
Sony Bravia 9 II TV with red abstract screensaver
Sony Bravia Theater Trio
$2,199.99 (9 speakers total)
Sony Bravia Theater Trio speakers

Sony officially unveiled its highly-awaited True RGB TVs on May 27. The Sony Bravia 7 II and Sony Bravia 9 II enter the crowded arena of fresh RGB TV releases from Samsung and Hisense, as well as the LG Micro RGB TV that's currently available to preorder. (Tell me RGB was one of the biggest TV trends at CES 2026 without telling me.)

Though Sony's flagship RGB TV announcement came later than those of the other big brands, the two new models are making up for lost time by skipping the preorder window. The Sony Bravia 7 II and Sony Bravia 9 II are both available for purchase at Sony.com and Best Buy, along with their new home audio sidekick, the Sony Bravia Theater Trio. Let's dive into the differences.

How are the True RGB TVs different than other Bravia models?

Not to be confused with the mini-LED Sony Bravia 7 or Sony Bravia 9 models without "II" on the end, the Bravia 7 II and Sony Bravia 9 II use a new type of backlighting that we've never seen from a Sony TV.

Sony Bravia 7 II TV mounted on wall in living room
The Sony Bravia 7 II comes in six sizes. Credit: Sony
Sony Bravia 7 II TV mounted above sound bar on wall in living room
The Sony Bravia 9 II comes in four sizes. Credit: Sony

The traditional LCD panels behind those mini-LED Bravia models stream blue or white LEDs through quantum dots to create color. Those hues definitely beat what you'd see from a regular LED TV without quantum dots, but mini-LEDs still don't achieve 100 percent coverage of the color gamut (the full possible spectrum of colors visible to humans).

Sony's True RGB TVs, however, draw their light from true red, green, and blue light sources — the best you could ask for in terms of color accuracy and saturation. Each of those red, green, and blue LEDs operates independently of one another, offering unprecedented picture quality across the screen. According to the press release, Sony's new RGB Backlight Master Drive Pro processor should improve brightness, reduce blooming, and produce purer color than conventional mini-LED displays.

Sony OLED TV and Sony RGB TV, which is brighter and more colorful
A Sony OLED TV on the left vs. Sony's new RGB TV on the right. Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable

This means that the screen should appear just as vibrant to the person sitting on the far edge of the couch as the person in the middle, OLED-style. But unlike OLED TVs, these RGB TVs should be much easier to see in a sunny room.

SEE ALSO: Sony celebrates the 10th anniversary of the 1000X series with a new pair of headphones

Both Sony True RGB Bravia TVs also include Ambient Optimization, which will automatically tweak picture and audio to the current environment. From there, the Bravia 7 II and Bravia 9 II have a few key differences.

First, here's how much the Sony Bravia 7 II lineup costs:

  • Sony 50-inch Bravia 7 II — $1,599.99 (coming this summer)

  • Sony 55-inch Bravia 7 II — $2,099.99

  • Sony 65-inch Bravia 7 II — $2,599.99

  • Sony 75-inch Bravia 7 II — $3,099.99

  • Sony 85-inch Bravia 7 II — $3,999.99

  • Sony 98-inch Bravia 7 II — $8,999.99

Compared to the RGB flagships from Samsung, LG, and Hisense, Sony will be the only brand to offer a 50-inch RGB model. Until that size launches, the 55-inch $2,099.99 price point isn't outlandish to kick off the tier — that's less than the new 9-speaker Bravia Theater Trio Dolby Atmos system, which costs $2,199.99.

Sony Bravia 9 II TV on TV stand with Bravia Theater Trio speakers
The Sony Bravia 9 II and Theater Trio. Credit: Sony

The Bravia 9 II takes bright room performance up another notch with a special set of advanced backlight controllers and Sony's new glare-free Immersive Black Screen Pro (we saw it in person, and it genuinely is glare-free). The Bravia 9 II may not be an art TV by name or wall mount, but it certainly checks off the matte screen and ambient mode boxes. And yes, Sony has its own art gallery app.

Here's how much the Sony Bravia 9 II lineup costs:

  • Sony 65-inch Bravia 9 II — $3,599.99

  • Sony 75-inch Bravia 9 II — $4,599.99

  • Sony 85-inch Bravia 9 II — $6,499.99

  • Sony 115-inch Bravia 9 II — $30,999.99 (coming this fall)

Sony is no stranger to being the most expensive TV choice in any given category, but both Bravia models seem pretty reasonably priced compared to the competition. Samsung and Hisense's two RGB tiers are slightly more affordable than Sony's, with LG's Micro RGB evo leading the pack. Though operations under Sony and TCL's partnership aren't expected until April 2027, could we already be seeing a shift toward (slightly) more affordable Sony TVs?



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DuckDuckGo and Google apps on mobile device

Google users are flocking to the alternative search engine DuckDuckGo.

According to data provided to Mashable by DuckDuckGo, U.S. installs of the search engine's mobile app are up 18.1 percent week-over-week on average following Google's big I/O event, where the search giant introduced a slew of new AI features into its search product. DuckDuckGo app installs peaked at 33 percent growth on May 25.

Just looking at DuckDuckGo's iOS installs, the growth following Google I/O is even more astonishing, with 33 percent week-over-week growth and peaking at a whopping 69.9 percent on May 25.

According to DuckDuckGo, traffic also spiked to its AI-free search page, noai.duckduckgo.com. This DuckDuckGo search page has every AI featured turned off by default and saw an average of 22.7 week-over-week growth following Google I/O, with a peak of 27.7 percent on May 24.

DuckDuckGo said it wasn't only the timeframe that was relevant, either. The growth happened mainly in the U.S. following Google's "U.S. centric announcement" and does not indicate a coincidental global trend.

The alternative search engine said this growth held throughout the Memorial Day weekend, when traffic usually tends to drop as well.

Are you an Apple superfan? Enter Mashable’s Big Guessing Game to win prizes.

SEE ALSO: Ask Jeeves Returns, Gets a Facebook Page

"Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out," DuckDuckGo Founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg said in a statement. "As result, their results are getting worse, not better. We want to be the place that puts users in charge and allows them to decide how much or how little AI they want. That's why we're seeing a spike in people coming to DuckDuckGo this week, it's as simple as that.” 

For years, DuckDuckGo has enticed privacy-seeking users to switch from Google to its alternative with a focus on a pro-privacy feature set. Now, it looks like DuckDuckGo has found a market among users tired of AI taking over the internet as well.

“Not only do we respect user choice, but also user privacy: everything you do in DuckDuckGo is private, we don’t collect search histories or chats and nothing is used for AI training," Weinberg said.

DuckDuckGo has previously launched AI features for its search engine. Search Assist, for example, is DuckDuckGo's version of Google's AI Overviews. The search engine also has a Duck.AI product, which is similar to Google's AI Mode.

However, DuckDuckGo has maintained that these AI features are optional and never forced on users. The company has also launched features that actively remove AI as well, such as AI Image Filter, which filters out AI images from DuckDuckGo's search results.

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