Entertainment
Sexy Sci-Fi Blockbuster On Netflix Reveals Which Of Your Friends Are Psychos
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When Passengers came out in 2016, it caused a relatively minor blip on the pop culture radar. The movie starred two different Marvel icons, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, so there was plenty of hype before the movie premiered. While it made okay money at the box office, it was a critical bomb (a freaking 30 percent on Rotten Tomatoes!) that almost everybody hated. That’s because it was a sci-fi movie without any real action, adventure, or exploration. Of course, the studio couldn’t market Passengers for what it really is: a horror movie where Chris Pratt’s penis is the monster trying to kill you.
Well, not you, personally, but Jennifer Lawrence. You see, this is a film where Pratt’s character wakes up 90 years early on a sleeper ship. As his loneliness mounts, he eventually awakens Lawrence’s character early. He’s just hoping for companionship, but he doesn’t seem to realize the moral ickiness of dooming someone else to crippling, soul-crushing isolation. Because of this, Passengers (now streaming on Netflix) makes for a pretty terrible sci-fi movie. However, it’s weirdly perfect to show other people for exactly one reason: how they react to Pratt’s decision to wake up Lawrence early reveals whether or not you can actually trust your friends and family!
Creepers Gonna Creep
The idea of using Passengers as a Rorschach test for friends is important to me because I did it completely by accident. Years ago, I was discussing this film with a younger friend who had previously made the bold choice to move in with an older woman and become a father figure to her three children (I promise, this factoid will be important later). My buddy claimed that the decision made by Pratt’s character was understandable; after all, the character was so lonely and depressed that he contemplated suicide. However, I maintained that waking Lawrence’s character up early was both manipulative and cruel, effectively dooming someone else to a life of depression and isolation.
Our debate over Passengers effectively became a debate over empathy. My friend empathized with Pratt’s character and imagined how he would feel about going the rest of his life without human interaction. To my buddy, waking up a woman for companionship was an understandable act of desperation. Meanwhile, I empathized with Lawrence’s character, arguing that I’d hate to be the one forced into a life of isolation because someone couldn’t keep it in their pants. Months after our debate, my friend got a new job far away, and his girlfriend drove him hundreds of miles, where they actively planned to buy a house together. A happy ending, right?
A Movie That Rewards Bad Choices
Nah. He fell for a girl at his new gig less than a week after moving and dumped the woman (the one with three kids who saw him as a father figure) he had been dating for years. When it happened, my first thought was our argument over Passengers. As it turns out, he really was like Pratt’s character at the end of the day: someone who would screw over anyone if he simply got lonely and horny enough.
Now, the internet is filled with countless different ideas for testing those in your life with weird scenarios. This includes everything from nonsensical stuff (“would you still love me if I was a worm?”) to weirdly controversial stuff (“do you choose the bear or the man?”). However, most of these hypotheticals are a very stupid way of learning anything useful about my friends and family. But the scenario in Passengers is so meaty and compelling that it’s like an ethics word problem brought to life. For Pratt’s character, the question is whether he’s justified in waking up Jennifer Lawrence’s character because he is on the verge of suicide.
An Argument That Makes You Wanna Scream
To me, Pratt is not justified. Sure, I felt bad for the guy, but he’s making a deliberate choice to inflict his own misery on someone else. That’d be bad enough if he had just woken up another man so he’d have someone to bro out with, making himself the only human contact the other guy would ever have. However, he deliberately wakes up somebody that he found attractive in hopes of them having sex. It’s textbook manipulation and, spoilers, they do end up hooking up. The movie presents this as a happy ending, but this is the It’s Always Sunny “because of the implication” thing played out to its darkest extreme.
Anyway, my buddy who so passionately defended Pratt’s character? Soon afterward, he ended up making his own selfish decision in the name of getting some strange, destroying an existing relationship he had spent the better part of a decade developing. Basically, Passengers revealed something dark about this dude’s personality, and it didn’t take him long to prove his character. Want to figure out which of your own friends and family you can actually trust? Then grab the remote and brace yourself because Passengers is currently streaming on Netflix.
Entertainment
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for June 20, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you know collegiate sports.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight, and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Baseball nicknames
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Green: Cyclist clothing
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Blue: Geographically specific
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Purple: Same word, different meanings
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: New York Yankees, informally
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Green: Tour de France jerseys
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Blue: Locations of Big 12 Schools
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Purple: What “boot” might mean
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #635 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
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New York Yankees, informally: BRONX BOMBERS, EVIL EMPIRE, PINSTRIPES, YANKS
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Tour de France jerseys: GREEN, POLKA DOT, WHITE, YELLOW
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Locations of Big 12 schools: BOULDER, FORT WORTH, MANHATTAN, WACO
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What “boot” might mean: CLEAT, EJECT, KICK, MISHANDLE
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections 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.
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 the latest Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Mini crossword answers, hints for June 20, 2026
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times‘ revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player’s flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
Here are the clues and answers to NYT’s The Mini for Saturday, June 20, 2026:
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Across
The “I” of TGIF
Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today
“Psych!”
Batman villain played by Aaron Eckhart in “The Dark Knight”
Repressive governments
Folding art
Opposite direction of NNW
Streaming issue caused by slow wi-fi
Raggedy ___ (doll)
Down
Icebreakers, e.g.
“The Two ___” (second installment of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy)
Cigar, informally
Presidential candidate Harris
2026 #1 album for Drake
Word after “interior” or “intelligent”
Kind of tree that the Buddha is said to have meditated under
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to the latest Mini Crossword.
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Entertainment
NYT Pips hints, answers for June 20, 2026
Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.
Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.
Currently, if you’re stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.
How to play Pips
If you’ve ever played dominoes, you’ll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we’ve shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don’t necessarily have to match.
The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.
Here are common examples you’ll run into across the difficulty levels:
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Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.
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Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.
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Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.
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Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.
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Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.
If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.
Easy difficulty hints, answers for June 20 Pips
Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed horizontally.
Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-5, placed vertically; 0-3, placed horizontally.
Less Than (5): Everything in this space must be less than 5. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally.
Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally; 1-1, placed vertically.
Medium difficulty hints, answers for June 20 Pips
Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically; 3-3, placed vertically.
Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally.
Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally.
Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically.
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Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed horizontally; 1-0, placed vertically.
Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally; 6-0, placed horizontally.
Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 6-0, placed horizontally; 1-0, placed vertically.
Hard difficulty hints, answers for June 20 Pips
Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-1, placed vertically; 3-2, placed horizontally.
Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 3-2, placed horizontally.
Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 3-1, placed vertically; 0-6, placed horizontally.
Number (11): Everything in this space must add up to 11. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally; 5-4, placed vertically.
Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-4, placed vertically; 1-4, placed vertically.
Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally.
Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 1-4, placed vertically.
Less Than (7): Everything in this space must be less than 7. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally.
Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically.
Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically; 1-2, placed vertically.
Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 1-2, placed vertically.
Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally.
Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally.
Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally.
Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically.
Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically; 3-6, placed vertically.
Greater Than (10): Everything in this space must be greater than 10. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 6-1, placed horizontally.
Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 6-1, placed horizontally.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
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