My colleagues and I believed as we speak could be day to remind you of some latest Occasions video games — in addition to an all-time basic — you can play by yourself or with family and friends.
We’ll begin with our recent Faces quiz, during which we requested you to establish 52 individuals who made information in 2023. We’re including a bonus in as we speak’s e-newsletter. On the finish of the Faces quiz, we requested gamers to call anyone who they thought ought to have been included on our listing and was not.
Under are the 12 most regularly talked about folks. We offer a solution key, with their names, on the backside of as we speak’s e-newsletter.
When you can’t get sufficient Faces, the 2022 and 2021 variations are nonetheless obtainable.
We additionally advocate you do this holiday-themed version of Flashback, The Occasions’s historical past quiz. It consists of Stonehenge, holly, Rudolph and Mariah Carey. Each as we speak’s Connections sport and the Mini have vacation themes, too. And when you haven’t but tried the Kiki-Bouba game, it’s fast and enjoyable.
As for that all-time basic: Many individuals are spending as we speak with a geographically numerous mixture of family or mates. Such a gathering could be a great spot to take The Times’s dialect quiz, launched 10 years in the past, and see what it tells you concerning the roots of your personal speech sample. The quiz stays one of the extensively learn items of Occasions journalism in our lengthy historical past. Now we have since developed a dialect quiz for Britain and Ireland, too.
Lastly, I’ve a music suggestion, whether or not you’re spending the day celebrating Christmas, stress-free or working. My private soundtrack throughout this time of 12 months is the re-imagination of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite” by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. It’s a pleasant background music for any exercise as we speak.
You’ll be able to hearken to a efficiency by the Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra on Apple Music, Spotify or YouTube. (The Ellington-Strayhorn Nutcracker begins with the sixth observe, titled “Introduction.”) And right here’s a recent Times article by Hugh Morris on different re-imaginations of “The Nutcracker.”
No matter you’re doing, I hope you benefit from the day.
Programming notice: This week, we will likely be utilizing The Morning to spotlight The Occasions’s finest journalism of 2023, particularly work that we predict is price revisiting. As all the time, The Morning may even offer you a abstract of the day’s information and hyperlinks to full Occasions protection.
THE LATEST NEWS
Israel-Hamas Conflict
Conflict in Ukraine
Circus stars: Mongolia produces among the most coveted circus performers on this planet regardless of a scarcity of coaching services and authorities help.
Pink meat: Lengthy the epitome of vacation luxurious in America, prime rib’s place on the desk has modified with tastes — and the economy.
Ask Vanessa: What does it imply to “dress your age”? Understanding what makes you are feeling good, says The Occasions’s chief style critic.
Out of skinny air: Black holes had been thought to come up from the collapse of lifeless stars. There might be an alternative way.
Metropolitan Diary: The best entry of 2023.
Lives Lived: Mildred Miller was a mezzo-soprano who spent 23 years on the Metropolitan Opera. She died at 98.
SPORTS
Sunday Night time Soccer: The New England Patriots upset the Denver Broncos, 26-23.
Across the N.F.L.: The Detroit Lions clinched their first division title since 1993 with a win in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings. And the Miami Dolphins rallied to defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 22-20. See takeaways from Week 16.
Soccer: The homeowners of Manchester United introduced that they bought a 25 percent stake within the staff to a British petrochemical billionaire.
Past the glitz: Indian cinema is usually equated with the glamour and noise of Bollywood, however in a nation of 1.4 billion, regional movie industries are distinct as their languages. Within the southern state of Kerala, dwelling of Malayalam-language cinema, audiences are more and more turning out for extra nuanced and human-driven stories just like the latest hit “Kaathal,” a few homosexual closeted politician.
