​Buying coffee at the grocery store can become monotonous when there are only so many brands on the shelf. In an effort to explore both new and familiar styles, I tried over 15 coffee options available at national grocery chains and local stores. If you want to pick up a solid coffee option at your local grocery store, read on for my top selections — and the roasts to avoid.. I tested grocery store coffee to find the best budget-friendly beans to brew your morning pot. Katherine Peach/CNET. As a former barista-turned-coffee writer, I’ve sampled a multitude of excellent and disappointing coffee bought from major retailers such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Target. I’ve also tried regional rosters and specialty blends, some of which couldn’t stand up to canned coffee brands.. After previously testing more than 40 K-Cups to find the best pods for those with a Keurig, I’ve turned my attention to more traditional bagged beans and grounds.. Here are five coffee blends I recommend buying straight from the shelf, and five you might want to avoid.. Five best grocery store coffees. Café Bustelo is a mainstay on grocery store shelves for a reason. The ground coffee I tested maintained a robust yet smooth flavor, thanks in part to its “best buy” date, which allowed for another 21 months of shelf life. Its flexibility, dark roast and affordability are hard to beat in a ground coffee straight from the shelf. Seeing that Café Bustelo is a deep espresso roast, I wasn’t surprised to find some bitterness and acidity in a couple of my less precise brews.. The Cuban-inspired coffee, founded in New York City by a Spanish immigrant, has the mystique of an imported product. This branding might explain why it was a couple of dollars more expensive than other canned coffees at my local grocery store. Whatever the reason, the investment paid off compared to the slightly cheaper canned coffees I tried.. … Show more. Stumptown Holler Mountain organic coffee offers a distinct and robust flavor, characterized by a pleasant acidity and a lingering caramel finish. The whole beans I tried maintained strong flavor even seven months past the roast date. Listing a roast date shows the brand stands by its product — bonus points for transparency.. This coffee also has notable body that allows for versatility, claiming it can be used for both drip coffee or espresso preparation. Holler Mountain remains light enough to be appealing to a broad demographic. It possesses a well-balanced mouthfeel, ending with a slight acidic kick. Plus, with widespread availability in grocery stores such as Whole Foods, it should be an easy find. If you see it, I’d say bring it home.. … Show more. The Whole Foods Early Bird Blend’s profile includes notes of cocoa, with a mellow flavor that falls into the medium roast category. Upon opening the bag, I was pleased by the beans’ rich aroma and oily appearance, even though the “best by” date was only three months away. Once or twice, I fo  

​Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.. Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. I was pretty proud that I figured out the purple category right away. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.. The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.. Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time. Hints for today’s Connections groups. Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.. Yellow group hint: You vs. me.. Green group hint: I’m all for that!. Blue group hint: Pick an option.. Purple group hint: Not death, but…. Answers for today’s Connections groups. Yellow group: Competition.. Green group: On board.. Blue group: Words for unspecified choices.. Purple group: ____ life.. Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words. What are today’s Connections answers?. The completed NYT Connections puzzle for April 7, 2026. NYT/Screenshot by CNET. The yellow words in today’s Connections. The theme is competition. The four answers are battle, clash, contest and match.. The green words in today’s Connections. The theme is on board. The four answers are down, game, in and willing.. The blue words in today’s Connections. The theme is words for unspecified choices. The four answers are another, either, neither or one.. The purple words in today’s Connections. The theme is ____ life. The four answers are after, low, night and wild.. Toughest Connections puzzles. We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.. #5: Included “things you can set,” such as mood, record, table and volleyball.. #4: Included “one in a dozen,” such as egg, juror, month and rose.. #3: Included “streets on screen,” such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.. #2: Included “power ___” such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.. #1: Included “things that can run,” such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.  

​Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Here you’ll find 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’s Wordle puzzle wasn’t too tricky, for a change. 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.

Today’s Wordle hints. Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now. Hint 1: Repeats — the answer has one repeated letter. Hint 2: Vowels — the answer has one vowel, but it’s the repeated letter, so you’ll see it twice. Hint 3: First letter — the answer begins with D. Hint 4: Last letter — the answer ends with E. Hint 5: Meaning — it can relate to something that is closely compacted.

Today’s Wordle answer is DENSE. Yesterday’s Wordle answer, April 6, No. 1752, was SWORN. Recent Wordle answers include April 2, No. 1748: SOBER; April 3, No. 1749: SINGE; April 4, No. 1750: SANDY; April 5, No. 1751: ENVOY.

What’s the best Wordle starting word? Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of usage. In short, you want starter words that lean heavily on E, A, and R, and avoid Z, J, and Q. Some solid starter words to try are ADIEU, TRAIN, CLOSE, STARE, NOISE.  

​Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle has some tricky clues to find. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.. I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.. Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far. Hint for today’s Strands puzzle. Today’s Strands theme is: Taking the helm. If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Out on the sea. Clue words to unlock in-game hints. Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:. ROUT, POINT, PAWS, SHUT, GOUT, HOOK, NOOK, MOON, SHIN, RING, THIS, MOOT. Answers for today’s Strands puzzle. These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:. MARK, KNOT, COURSE, FATHOM, BEARING, WAYPOINT. Today’s Strands spangram. The completed Strands puzzle for April 7, 2026. NYT/Screenshot by CNET. Today’s Strands spangram is SMOOTHSAILING. To find it, look for the S that’s three letters to the right, and the second letter down. Then, form a sailboat!. Toughest Strands puzzles. Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest.. #1: Dated slang. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.. #2: Thar she blows! I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.. #3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.  

​Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.. Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword. Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.. The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for April 7, 2026. NYT/Screenshot by CNET. Mini across clues and answers. 1A clue: Informative commercial, for short. Answer: PSA. 4A clue: Something you trace to draw a Thanksgiving turkey. Answer: HAND. 5A clue: ___ Johnson, former Prime Minister of the U.K.. Answer: BORIS. 6A clue: Opposite of include. Answer: OMIT. 7A clue: Crosses (out). Answer: XES. Mini down clues and answers. 1D clue: City with the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Answer: PARIS. 2D clue: Bad mood. Answer: SNIT. 3D clue: About eight minutes of the average half-hour sitcom. Answer: ADS. 4D clue: Remote worker’s office, perhaps. Answer: HOME. 5D clue: Word that can follow each group of circled letters (and hints at its shape). Answer: BOX