Entertainment
Why Luther Vandross is trending after the Grammys
OK, so you’re going to see a lot about Luther Vandross, Kendrick Lamar, Cher, and the Grammys on your feed today.
The setting? The 68th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night. The category? Record of the Year. The announcement? Here’s what happened.
Onstage at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, Cher was about to present Lamar with his fifth Grammy of the night — an evening in which the rapper made history. Set to read out the winner for Record of the Year, the Goddess of Pop opened the prized envelope — however, she thought the winner would also be on the event’s teleprompter. After a brief moment, she then read out the winner from the card: Lamar’s ballad with SZA, “luther.”
But what Cher actually said was “Luther Vandross,” naming not Lamar or SZA but the all-time music legend who passed away in 2005, prompting social media to erupt.
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“luther” does have Vandross at its core, with the track sampling his 1982 hit with Cheryl Lynn “If This World Were Mine,” which was a cover of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 duet.
The song, from Lamar’s freshly Grammy-awarded 2024 album, GNX, was written by Lamar and SZA with Ink and Sam Dew, and produced by Sounwave, Kamasi Washington, Jack Antonoff, Scott Bridgeway, M-Tech, and roselilah. “luther” took home two Grammys on Sunday, including Record of the Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance.
During Sunday’s acceptance speech, producer Sounwave paid tribute to Vandross, saying, “First and foremost, let’s give a shout out to the late great Luther Vandross. It was very, very, very important to keep the integrity of this record.”
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Up next was Lamar, who also honoured Vandross, saying, “This is what music is about.” (The artist did take a moment to say the artist’s full name aloud with a smile, which felt like it cleared the Cher air.)
“This is special for me, I gotta take my time,” he said. “Because it’s one of my favorite artists of all time, and they granted us the privilege to do our version of it. When we got that clearance, I promise you, we damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much young miss Cheryl Lynn poured into that record. And being able to put our vocals over it, it proves that we were somewhat worthy to be just as great.”
“When we got that clearance, I promise you, we damn near all dropped a tear.”
Lamar then thanked 68-year-old Lynn — “If you out there, listening, watching, we appreciate you,” — and mentioned that the only proviso on using the sample for “luther” was no cursing.
Now, here’s the part I want you to take away from the whole trending moment: SZA’s speech. The artist thanked Lamar “for lifting me up,” before giving the audience one hell of a moving reality check.
“What I really wanted to say is, please don’t fall into despair,” said SZA. “I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost. There’s been world wars, there’s been plagues, and we have gone on. We can go on. We need each other.”
Later on the red carpet, SZA was asked by Entertainment Tonight about Cher’s “Luther Vandross” moment and she put it straight, saying, “We share the frequency of the song, like, that’s his frequency that allowed us to win and allowed it to be memorable, so she’s not wrong. And she’s from that era, she probably really knew Luther Vandross.
“Of course, her brain and her energy is connecting that energy to the energy that we’re sharing,” she added. “We’re mooching off of what Luther already gave us, so we’re grateful. I wish I could speak to him. Thank you, Luther.”
You can watch Lamar, SZA and Sounwave’s acceptance speech above and check out the full list of winners at the 2026 Grammys.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 5, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you’re proud to be an American.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. 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 today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. 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 of 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 until 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 categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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 #970 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Cultural symbols of the U.S.: AMERICAN FLAG, APPLE PIE, BALD EAGLE, BASEBALL
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Collide with: BUMP, BUTT, KNOCK, RAM
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Blue things: BLUE THINGS
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Lees of Hollywood: ANG, BRUCE, CHRISTOPHER, SPIKE
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new 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? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
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 Connections.
Entertainment
Netflix Has The Wild 1960’s Classic That Changed Hollywood Forever
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
James Bond is a fictional character who needs no introduction: he is the super-sexy, martini-swilling secret agent who always manages to get the last laugh and the girl, usually in that order. Right now, the franchise is at a creative crossroads as we wait to learn who the next Bond will be and whether his adventures will stay confined to the big screen or spread out to the small screen. Fortunately, you can return to the franchise roots with the click of a button by playing Dr. No (1962) on Netflix today.
The premise of Dr. No is that British superspy James Bond is dispatched to investigate the sudden death of a fellow spy. Along the way, he meets up with a few expected enemies (like rival spies) and a few unexpected allies (like a friend at the CIA) before getting caught up in the titular villain’s plan to disrupt an upcoming space launch. Now, whether that launch will be successful or not and whether the good doctor’s evil organization ends up ruling the world may come down to Bond’s ability to save the day when every deck is stacked impossibly against him.
A Cast That Really Leans In
The cast of Dr. No includes Joseph Wiseman (best known outside of this movie for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) as the titular supervillain and Ursula Andress (best known outside of this movie for Clash of the Titans) as the first Bond girl. Unsurprisingly, the best performance comes from Sean Connery, who gives his secret agent a roguish charm that helped to make the actor a household name. Make no mistake: James Bond would never have become such an international phenomenon if not for Connery’s legendary performance, one that holds up remarkably well after all these years.
Relative to its budget, Dr. No is one of the most successful films ever made, especially in the action genre. Against a budget of $1.1 million, the film earned $59.5 million, establishing Bond, James Bond, as one of the most marketable IPs in the entire world. The success of this movie ensured it would have many sequels, leading to a Bond franchise that consists (so far) of 25 official movies, with various actors (including Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig) filling the oversized shoes of Sean Connery once he finally left the franchise that had made him famous.
The Critics Couldn’t Say “No”
Dr. No took over the film world as surely as its titular villain wanted to take over the real world. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie had a stunning score of 95 percent, with critics commending the film for its uniquely intoxicating blend of action and style. They further praised the movie for delivering such a fully formed cinematic hero in the form of James Bond, someone whose humor and sex appeal are just as much a part of his arsenal as the sexy cars and sleek guns.
If you’re a longtime fan of 007, you might find him largely unrecognizable in this first outing: he’s a meaner, colder secret agent, someone more akin to Daniel Craig or Timothy Dalton’s take on this famous super agent. That doesn’t mean you won’t see some of that trademark Bond charm and plenty of eye candy, thanks to the inaugural Bond girl, Honey Ryder. Plus, the plot is relatively scaled down, but this might very well appeal to someone who has gotten bored by the impossibly high stakes of later Bond outings that feel more like generic Marvel movies rather than grounded, realistic adventures in their own right.
The Most Driven Spy In Hollywood
Dr. No isn’t the best James Bond movie, but it’s arguably the most important because it introduced the world to an entirely new breed of action hero. 007’s influence in future films simply can’t be overstated, and he eventually became one of the most recognizable pop culture figures ever created. Understandably, there’s plenty of joy in returning to Bond’s first outing, which is a relentlessly satisfying romp in its own right that just happens to lay all the groundwork for the sexiest, most stylish franchise to ever grace the silver screen.
Will you agree that Dr. No is a sexy classic that changed Hollywood forever, or is this one spy movie you’d rather leave in the past? The only way to find out is to grab the remote (just watch out for that exploding pen!) and stream it for yourself on Netflix. When it comes to this first cinematic outing of the greatest secret agent the world has ever known, I’m confident you’ll be shaken and stirred.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for February 5, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you love groups.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Quint-essential
The words are related to numbers.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe bundles of the same number.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Give Me Five
NYT Strands word list for February 5
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Weekdays
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Vowels
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Toes
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Oceans
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Give Me Five
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Senses
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Boroughs
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and 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 Strands.
Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 22 Maryland scores big road win over No. 12 Michigan State
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 5, 2026
