Looking for the most recentregular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’sConnections: Sports Editionis a toughie. The purple category is a real challenge. If you’re struggling with the puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t pear in the NYT Games p, but it does in The Athletic’s own p. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more:NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Going to the game.

Green group hint: Game often played on the beach.

Blue group hint: It’s coming home!

Purple group hint: Dunk that ball.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Seen at a stadium entrance.

Green group: Volleyball stats.

Blue group: Members of England’s World Cup squad.

Purple group: Starts with part of a basketball hoop.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is seen at a stadium entrance. The four answers are metal detector, ticket scanner, turnstile and will call.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is volleyball stats. The four answers are block, dig, kill and service ace.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is members of England’s World Cup squad. The four answers are (Dan) Burn, (Harry) Kane, (Kobbie) Mainoo and (John) Stones.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is starts with part of a basketball hoop. The four answers are base runner, glass houses, netminder and Rimington.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer?Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’sWordle puzzleis an unusual word, and a real challenge. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Read more: New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’sWordleanswer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels and one sometimes vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with A.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with Y.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a substance produced by melting and mixing two or more elements, where at least one is a metal.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is ALLOY.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, June 3, No. 1810, was NOTCH.

Recent Wordle answers

May 30, No. 1806: SMILE

May 31, No. 1807: ETUDE

June 1, No. 1808: CHILI

June 2, No. 1809: BASIS

A new p arrives this fall months before Meta planned to shut it down.

The European Commission has announced a new European Technological Sovereignty Package, designed to further reduce its reliance on foreign tech. The EU wants to focus on building out Europe’s cacity in areas such as semiconductors, AI, cloud computing and open-source projects.

The package consists of two legislative proposals. The first is the Chips Act 2.0, a refresh of legislation introduced in 2023 that at the time was a response to what the Commission called “critical vulnerabilities in the global semiconductor supply chain.”

With the AI boom driving growth in the market, the Chips Act 2.0 will introduce a new excellence label for Europe’s semiconductor regions, adopting an ecosystem proach for both AI-related and mainstream chips. The EU wants to bring chip manufacturers closer to their customers so they can citalize on growth sectors such as data centres and cloud providers.

Also part of the proposals is the Cloud and AI Development Act, which reinforces Europe’s plan to triple data centre cacity on the continent within the next five to seven years. The legislation is another arm of the EU’s ply AI Strategy, which encourages AI adoption and innovation across its member states.

The Commission says the Act will “support research and innovation in cutting-edge and sustainable technologies, while balancing AI ambitions with climate commitments.” The conditions for deploying data centres across the EU will be streamlined, while a new EU-wide framework built around cloud and AI sovereignty will, it says, protect sensitive data while supporting the rollout of advanced AI and cloud tech.

The new proposals also put a big onus on open-source projects in growth sectors like AI and cybersecurity. The EU says it will support open-source startups and invest in skills, while amplifying initiatives like the Open Internet Stack.

The final component of the package is the Strategic Roadm for Digitalisation and AI in the Energy Sector, which outlines the Commission’s commitment to nurturing cooperation between the energy and digital sectors, and ensuring that any new data centres being added to the grid are done so sustainably and transparently. AI models “trained on European data and developed by European companies” will be key to improving Europe’s electricity infrastructure, and the Commission will encourage a faster rollout of smart meters.

“We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices. Europe has the talent, the research excellence, the industrial base and the Single Market. Together, we must turn these strengths into technological sovereignty.”

The suite of new proposals will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The Commission also intends to consult with member states, the European Investment Bank Group and other stakeholders on how its tech sovereignty package will be financed.

Throughout 2026 we’ve seen a number of EU member states, particularly France, begin to shift away from an overreliance on countries like the US and China for its technology needs. Back in January, the French government announced that it was ditching Zoom and Microsoft teams in favor of a home-grown solution that will be in place across all of its civil service departments by next year. A few months later, the country also outlined plans to switch Windows to the open-source Linux on its workstations.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the European Parliament is also taking steps towards shunning Google on its in-house computers. According to Politico, searches made via the address bar on Firefox and Edge will soon be hosted by French alternative Quant. Workers can still opt to use another search engine’s website or change the default systems on their computer if they prefer.

What constitutes a grill? Most of us think of a grill as an outdoor cooking pliance with grates, such that grill marks are achievable, whether it’s powered by wood pellets, charcoal or gas. Different regions put different spins on the word, however. “Grill” in the UK, for example, refers to the top-down broiler function in an oven. (Consider Burger King’s “flame broiled” terminology, which also confuses matters.) The very existence of a “flat-top grill,” furthermore, would seem to negate the grates theory as well, since the defining characteristic of a flat top is the very absence of grates.

In truth, “grill” most broadly means the direct plication of high heat, in which case all the above methods ply. If you’ve ever struggled with the feeling that you’re supposed to have a grill for outdoor seasonal cooking (the grated kind) but find yourself looking for excuses not to use it — because it’s too hard to clean or because you can’t seem to master it — it’s possible that maybe what you actually need is a flat-top grill.

But is a flat-top grill worth it? I consulted an expert, Erica Blaire, the Food Network’s BBQ Brawl champion, acclaimed pitmaster, and ambassador for Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. Blaire offered insight into the nuances of flat-top cooking and whether it might be right for you.

What is a flat-top grill and how does it work?

While the term may be obvious to some, many people associate flat tops with indoor cooking, such as on a griddle. “A flat-top grill is basically a griddle,” says Blaire. “You’re going to be searing. You’re not smoking, and you’re not grilling in the traditional sense,” she said. With a flat-top grill, “you are searing on a uniformly hot surface with no airflow underneath it.”

Flat-top grills feature a flat, solid metal cooking surface with zones powered by individual burners, depending on the model’s size. While many small griddles are available for indoor use, some of which can sit directly on your kitchen range for heat, outdoor flat-top grills are typically electric or gas-powered.

What can you use a flat-top grill for?

Consider your typical grill fare or outdoor cooking needs, then ask yourself whether a griddle or flat top might be a better fit than a traditional grill.

“For a flat top, you’re thinking burgers — especially smashburgers — you’re thinking fajitas,” Blaire said, as well as other batch preparations that are entirely out of the grill’s league, like fried rice, eggs and anything that you’re worried would too easily slip through the grates or that which otherwise regularly misbehaves on a traditional grill. (Looking at you, salmon.)

“Because you’re getting such high temperatures and such uniformity on a flat-top surface, the sky’s the limit on what you can do,” she said, which of course also includes the ultimate grill expression: steaks.

Many chefs say cast iron the absolute best way to cook certain types of steaks, even during grilling season; an outdoor flat-top grill offers the same functionality, letting you really crank the heat without smoking up your whole kitchen.

“If you’re doing super thin cuts like a flank steak or a skirt steak, on a griddle, you’re able to get the outside perfectly seared but keep the inside super moist and have lots of flavor without worrying about drying it out,” Blaire said.

What’s more, “with a traditional grill, you’re fighting against the open spaces,” said Blaire, “so all the sauces, those butters, and your herbs or other aromatics may end up in the void. With a griddle, you can put everything on there, and it’s going to stay.”

Maintaining and cleaning a flat top grill

The particular challenge with a flat-top grill isn’t so much cleaning it, which can be extremely easy, especially if you’ve seasoned it; the challenge is timing the cleaning of it. “A lot of times after you use a flat top, you might just go eat, and think you’ll get to it later,” said Blaire, “but now you’ve ruined your life because it doesn’t have the holes and the void spaces in it, like a grill does.”

A flat top really needs to be cleaned right away, or at least while it’s still warm, so you’ve got a moment to start enjoying the fruits of your flat top labor, but in the pause you risk forgetting about it until after it has cooled. “When a flat top dries and cools, everything is stuck on there,” Blaire says. “So you’re going to be having to take a screr and use a lot of arm power, but if you clean your griddle as soon as you’re finished cooking, and while it’s still warm, you wipe it down and it’s done.” Most flat tops designed for outdoor cooking also have a small well or catcher for the bits and scrs that collect during the wiping-down process.

Read more:A Step-by-Step Guide to Griddle Cleaning

The cleaning factor is an important consideration for an outdoor cooking host, especially if you have a personality type that makes your life difficult every time you use the flat top. Basically, a flat-top grill can be much easier to clean than a grates grill, but it can also be much harder.

How much does a flat-top grill cost?

Much like charcoal or gas grills, there’s a real range to what you can spend, depending on your size needs and budget. “It really depends on what you’re trying to get, because now every brand is making options in affordable tiers for all levels,” said Blaire.

A quick look at Amazon shows that many standing flat-top grills range in price from about $250 to $700, depending on what accessories you might want included, such as prep shelves and utensil hooks, with a little savings if you’re looking for a tabletop camping model.

Premium models, including complete outdoor flat-top cooking islands, can go from $700 and well beyond. The good news, according to Blaire, is that nearly any flat-top model will get the job done. “As long as all the burners work and the surface level gets hot, you’re good to go,” she said, whereas grated grills that include lids and multiple cooking levels have a lot more factors to consider in terms of value versus functionality.

So you know, for less than $100, you can even get a flat top surface to sit on top of your grated grill — in case you’re reading this and bemoaning the fact that you already own the wrong type for you.