Technology

• The OnePlus Open 2 could have a huge 5,900mAh battery
• Improved performance and waterproofing are also tipped
• We should see the phone show up in early 2025

Having loved the OnePlus Open, we're ready and waiting for the OnePlus Open 2 to be revealed in the first few months of 2025 – and the latest leak around the foldable has raised the anticipation level up a few more notches.

According to well-known tipster @chunvn8888, the OnePlus Open 2 is going to come with some key hardware upgrades. Those upgrades include a 5,900mAh battery (up from 4,805mAh in the first model), which would be the biggest battery in a foldable to date.

That's not all: the handset is set to come with IPX9 waterproofing – taking this foldable phone from "splash resistant" with the 2023 model to truly waterproof for the 2025 edition – and the top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset from Qualcomm.

The phone will apparently be led by a 50MP camera on the rear, with the same 3x optical zoom as previously. The cameras on the back are said to be arranged in a W shape, so it seems something of a redesign is on the way as well.

The rumors so far

OPPO/OnePlus foldable will have a big comeback sometime during Q1/2025, and ofc global release is guaranteed. It will pack the biggest battery size for a foldable (5900mAh) in one of the slimmist form on market , IPX9 debut, 50MP W shape IMX882 3x tele, 8 Elite SoC.December 19, 2024

This new information lines up pretty well with the OnePlus Open 2 rumors we've heard so far, though a previous leak put the battery size at a mere 5,700mAh. That leak said the new phone would be slimmer than its predecessor too, which is backed up by @chunvn8888.

The latest tip also mentions a launch window of Q1 2025 – so January, February, or March. Again, that's something we've heard before, so it's looking increasingly likely that the foldable will break cover before we're too far through next year.

In our OnePlus Open review, we described it as the first foldable we'd seen that didn't compromise on anything – though since then the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold have arrived to give OnePlus some new competition.

It certainly sounds as though the OnePlus Open 2 is going to be a major upgrade on the first model, and the kind of phone that's going to find a place in our best foldables list. As soon as anything is made official, we'll let you know.

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• Samsung OLED model numbers for 2025 may have leaked
• It reveals sizes as well as names
• Models are moving from D to F and we don't know why

It's quite common for new tech to leak when it's submitted to regulatory bodies for approval: the databases of those bodies are typically open to the public, and that means eagle-eyed tech watchers can often find new model numbers and other details well in advance of any official launch. And it looks like three Samsung smart TVs have just arrived on one of those databases with a surprising change.

According to DisplaySpecifications (via Notebookcheck), there are references to multiple new Samsung OLED TVs in the South Korean regulatory database with a product code ending in F, rather than the D used for 2024 TVs: the S85F, the S90F and the S95F. And that raises an interesting question: what happened to the E TVs?

What the F?

The current crop of Samsung TVs have model designation D, such as the Samsung S90D OLED. But according to the records in the database, Samsung is skipping E altogether. We have no idea why.

The original actually report suggests that the S85F TV may use QD-OLED panels in some cases, but we'd be surprised if that’s the case: the S85 models are usually W-OLED to keep them affordable and we'd be amazed if that changes in 2025

We're expecting the S90F to continue to use a mix of QD-OLED and W-OLED in different sizes in 2025, based on the sizes listed here.

According to the report, you can expect the S85F series to come in 55, 65, 77 and 83 inches in the US and from 55 to 77 inches in Europe.

The S90F will come in sizes from 48 to 83 inches in the US and the same in Europe; and the S95F series will range from 55 to 83 inches in the US and Europe. If you've been following the sizes of the Samsung S95D, you might note that the 83-inch size is new here, and since Samsung doesn't mix QD-OLED and W-OLED panels in this model, it suggests that the leak of an 83-inch QD-OLED last month from Samsung's own parts database is going to result in a new size of elite TV.

There's no information about these TVs beyond the surprise name jump and the sizes, but we're expecting to see the new models unveiled at CES 2025. Samsung's had a great run among the best OLED TVs, so we're excited to see the new models.

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Rates are likely to keep falling after the Fed's latest move, so now's the time to lock in your APY.

Even though more cuts are predicted for 2025, this account is still a must-have for your short-term savings.

Fashion, stan, and other online spaces offer clues to what will dominate next year in politics—for better or, in some cases, much worse.

From poker players to venture capitalists, there’s a mindset to making the most of opportunities, and engineering the odds of success.

• Creature Commandos episode 4 showed off the DCU's Justice League for the first time
• DC Comics' most iconic superteam, though, don't appear in the manner you'd expect
• Showrunner Dean Lorey says fans "shouldn't infer" anything from the brief scene, either

Creature Commandos episode 4 has handed us a first look at the DC Cinematic Universe's (DCU) Justice League, but not in the way many would've predicted

I didn't expect the Max series' fourth episode, titled 'Chasing Squirrels', to mark the supergroup's debut in James Gunn and Peter Safran's rebooted DC Universe, but here we are. Well, I'm using the word 'debut' pretty liberally here, because they only show up in the briefest of scenes that showrunner Dean Lorey says you and I "shouldn't infer" anything from said sequence.

Full spoilers immediately follow for Creature Commandos' fourth chapter, so turn back now if you haven't streamed it yet.

Well, this is an inauspicious debut for the Justice League in the DCU... (Image credit: DC Studios/Max)

As I said, the scene in question isn't a full introduction to the DCU's Justice League. Seven minutes into 'Chasing Squirrels', ARGUS chief Amanda Waller is shown a vision of the future by Circe, the series' apparent villain-in-chief and who's one of three big teases in Creature Commandos that predate Wonder Woman's DCU debut.

But I'm getting off track. Circe, who was captured by the eponymous team in one of the best Max shows' fourth entry, attempts to tell Waller, Rick Flag Sr., and John Economos that Princess Ilana and Pokolistan, the nation she rules over, aren't what they seem. In a bid to convince them further, Circe says she can use her clairvoyant abilities on Waller to show her a vision of a potential future where Ilana and Pokolistan tyranically rule over the world.

Let's hope David Corenswet's Man of Steel fares far better in today's (December 19) Superman movie trailer reveal... (Image credit: DC Studios/Max)

It's here where the Justice League appear – kind of, anyway. You see, as part of Waller's vision, we see the Justice League, plus numerous other DC heroes and antiheroes, crucified, impaled on spears, or lying dead on a skull-littered ground. Among those depicted in this sequence are DC's iconic trifecta of superheroes, aka Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

They aren't the only ones, though. I also spotted Robin, Peacemaker, Supergirl, one of the Green Lantern Corps, Hawkgirl, Vigilante, and what appears to be a comics-accurate Aquaman (complete with blonder hair) among the dead. Let me know if you picked out anyone else, such as The Flash, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter.

What did you do, Ilana!? (Image credit: DC Studios/Max)

There are plenty of questions raised by Circe's premonition. How powerful is the country of Pokolistan if it's able to not only conquer the world, but also defeat so many metahumans? Is this a future that will happen or may only do so if Task Force M doesn't stop Ilana? And is there anything we should read into the Justice League and their fellow heroes' deaths in this DCU Chapter One project? Unfortunately, if you came here looking for answers to the above and any other queries you have, Lorey can only provide one answer, but it's a pretty categorical one all the same.

"That scene is specific to the story [of Creature Commandos]," Lorey replied when I asked him if it sets up future scenarios in the DCU. "It's not really meant to infer anything but, you know, it was meant to do what it does, which is show a very dark vision of the world if something isn't done to prevent it. But, no, I would say fans shouldn't infer anything about the Justice League [from that]."

Consider that case closed, then! For more of my Creature Commandos and wider DCU coverage, check out the section below.

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If you're in the market for a home equity loan or a HELOC, listen up.

With the news that several large corporations such as Amazon are insisting their employees return to the office full time, it could be thought that the hybrid working revolution was merely a blip caused by lockdown necessity.

It remains to be seen whether this reversion will be successful or whether it will cause another wider adjustment as employees seek the employment that best reflects their needs.

Certainly, it should be seen as part of the continuum of an accelerating process of realignments as issues including trust, technology, productivity, creativity, family, finance and mental health shape the future of work.

Why hybrid working is still a necessity

Whether hybrid working remains a part of an organization's primary working strategy or not, it is critical that they retain the capability to do so to ensure business resiliency. The disruptions that impact physical office attendance will continue to exist and may well increase as the world becomes more unpredictable. From severe weather events to social unrest and global political shifts, there are a plethora of problems which will undermine attempts to confidently forecast mid to long-term plans.

The ability to flex as challenges and opportunities arise must be a fundamental consideration for all businesses. Developing an effective capability for remote and hybrid work enables employees to work from home or other locations if the office becomes inaccessible. Disregarding any other outcomes from recent years, this is a lesson that should not be forgotten.

Why technology is a key enabler for business resilience

Adopting technologies will be key for businesses to achieve the level of business resiliency required to support all working policies. For example, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) supports remote and hybrid working and can also be leveraged to improve other aspects of business resiliency, security, scalability and efficiency.

VDI situates PC or workstation resources on a server, rather than a laptop or desk-based device. This enables resources to sit alongside other server-based services in a central location, whether that be an office server room, a data center or the cloud. The virtual desktops are accessed with a low-spec device, often an inexpensive laptop or ‘thin client’, through an application or browser, over the network or internet. The experience for the end user remains the same so long as the service has been appropriately specified and configured, meaning employees can work from almost anywhere with an internet connection.

The key benefits of VDI

To ensure greater business protection, VDI (and its related infrastructure) should be located in a high-end data center to guarantee additional levels of resiliency. These would generally include dual and diverse power and connectivity, backup power generators, high levels of environmental management and physical and network security (such as DDOS protection). Such measures are important to reduce the risk of downtime, whether your employees are working from home or the office. Public and private cloud vendors will offer this level of service as a rule.

Centralizing all business resources also improves security. Data stays within a centrally managed network, rather than being located or replicated across multiple external devices, which exponentially increases vulnerability to attack. Employees only have inexpensive, dumb devices in hand, which are harder to hack and less problematic if stolen or damaged. Reducing the use of VPNs, replication and edge device data reduces the attack surface considerably.

Many VDI providers also offer scalability for organizations to flex their resources in line with their current needs. This type of dynamic resourcing is one of the big promises of cloud computing and is extremely attractive, especially when long-term forecasting is a challenge. There is a cost associated with such dynamism, but balancing this with less expensive, dedicated core resources allows for both reliability and agility.

Perhaps the most under-appreciated aspect of VDI is the efficiency that it can introduce to computer estate management. Administering through web-based control panels enables IT administrators to manage everything remotely, regardless of where the end user is based. Virtual desktops can be spun up or disabled in minutes, creating huge savings in the time that would otherwise be spent on physical device deployments and decommissioning. Resources can be reallocated across machines, users quickly reassigned and fresh images deployed rapidly, simplifying office moves and reorganizations.

Embracing the VDI opportunity for all working policies

There exists some understandable nervousness about hybrid working and VDI. For many organizations, this still seems a step too far from their long embedded and comfortable working practices and technologies. Alongside the recent push for a return to office working by some organizations, there has also been a parallel shift with other early adopters moving away from public cloud services; the latter primarily due to its expense and lack of ROI. Thankfully there are growing private cloud services that offer better and more accessible offerings, which ensure that the promise of cloud and VDI can still be realized. This will be important in the coming years which are sure to be full of new challenges and opportunities.

We've listed the best free remote desktop software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 19.

• Tensions between WP Engine and Mullenweg drive user curiosity
• Users worldwide show rising interest in website builder alternatives
• Ongoing conflict highlights the risks of relying solely on WordPress

Global search interest for WordPress alternatives has surged dramatically as the conflict between WP Engine and Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, intensifies

Data from Google Trends noted search requests around the website builder boomed in October 2024, especially on October 8, where it reached a peak score of 100.

The spike in interest signals a shift in user behavior, indicating an active search for options which align more closely with user expectations around performance, control, and transparency.

Possible triggering events behind the surge

Before October 8, Google Trends data shows the search interest for WordPress alternatives was essentially dormant, with no recorded searches from October 4 to October 7.

Observers attribute this surge to the escalating legal and public disputes between WP Engine and Mullenweg, who accused WP Engine of trademark infringement and compromising WordPress’s open-source ethos.

The contention centers on WP Engine’s handling of WordPress features, including limiting revision history for posts and its allegedly confusing use of the “WP” branding, which Mullenweg argues misleads users into believing WP Engine is directly affiliated with WordPress.

The tension reached new heights with Mullenweg calling WP Engine a “cancer to WordPress”. Both WP Engine and Automattic have since exchanged cease-and-desist letters, with WP Engine contesting Automattic’s claims, asserting its use of WordPress trademarks falls under fair use.

This back-and-forth intensified when Mullenweg blocked WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org resources, including updates for plugins and themes, which severely impacted WP Engine-hosted websites, leaving some vulnerable to security risks. While this ban was briefly lifted, the damage to WP Engine’s reputation and the broader WordPress community was significant, leaving developers and users frustrated.

WP Engine has also sued Automattic's CEO for attempted extortion. The company told TechRadar Pro:

“...Matt Mullenweg’s conduct over the last ten days has exposed significant conflicts of interests and governance issues that, if left unchecked, threaten to destroy that trust. WP Engine has no choice but to pursue these claims to protect its people, agency partners, customers, and the broader WordPress community.”

More recently however, a US district court has ordered Automattic to stop blocking WP Engine access to the WordPress servers.

The data from October 4 to November 4, 2024 highlights a notable shift in user behaviour globally, with countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Brazil showing an increased interest in exploring WordPress alternatives.

Following the October 8 peak, search interest for WordPress alternatives continued, though at a lower intensity. Between October 21 and October 30, scores ranged from 20 to 36, indicating a steady but less urgent curiosity among users for alternative CMS options.

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Here are some hints -- and the answers -- for the Dec. 19 Strands puzzle, No. 291.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 557 for Thursday, Dec. 19.

Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1,279 for Dec. 19.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 87 for Dec. 19.

• A company called Life's Echo is using AI and in-depth interviews to create interactive simulations of people when they pass away.
• They clone your voice to make effective 'digital ghosts' full of information about your life.
• Post-death AI mimics are slowly becoming more prevalent, but Life's Echo is more comprehensive than most.

Imagine going to a family reunion and reminiscing about a loved one who has passed away, only for someone to open an app to reveal an AI-fueled replica of the departed you can have a conversation with.

You ask about their childhood, first job, or their emotions on their wedding day, and they answer correctly, in their own voice and words. That's the vision of a new company called Life’s Echo, which offers a suite of AI tools to enable you to produce a digital ghost of yourself capable of conversing with your loved ones after you’ve died.

Life’s Echo is designed to capture the essence of who you are before you shuffle off this mortal coil. The idea is that your stories, voice, and personality don’t have to vanish. Instead, they can be preserved in a digital format with which your friends and family can interact, even when you’re long gone. It’s a way to keep a version of you alive – in the most uncanny valley way possible.

Here’s how it works: you sit down with an AI interviewer named Sarah, who conducts five 45-minute interviews. Sarah asks about your childhood, family, career, love life – all the big stuff. She digs deep with over 1,000 questions in her database, encouraging you to share your most personal stories and details. These interviews are casual and conversational, almost like therapy, but with a digital afterlife twist.

Once the sessions are complete, the conversations are transcribed, and the AI builds a unique model of you. It’s not just a recording; it’s a digital clone of your voice, stories, and personality. This is your “AI Echo.” Your family members can then ask this AI version of you questions, and it will respond with answers drawn from the life stories you provided. Imagine your daughter, decades from now, asking, “How did you feel when I was born?” and your AI Echo delivering a heartfelt answer as if you were right there.

AI tools like Character.AI have enticed users by offering to simulate the personalities of current and historical celebrities. Then, there are AI voice cloning tools like ElevenLabs and Respeecher that have demonstrated that AI can mimic people's voices incredibly well. At the same time, MyHeritage turns old still photos into moving videos. But Life's Echo is going for something deeper.

"Like most people, I am familiar with the lives of my parents and grandparents but I know nothing about my great grandparents. After three generations, knowledge of our existence almost completely vanishes," CEO Ruth Endacott said. “Life’s Echo will help to preserve a lasting record that allows future generations to engage with and learn intimate and very important details about our lives, key experiences, and perspectives."

AI Eternity

Ruth co-founded Life's Echo with her husband, Steve Endacott. Appropriately, Steve Endacott is already known for his efforts to bring AI into the public sphere thanks to creating "AI Steve," the UK’s first AI candidate for Parliament.

The sentiment behind Life's Echo is touching and could be very heartwarming for the right people. But, it's undeniably an eerie concept too. Picture your virtual self relying on those interviews to convey who you were and what you were like to people who won't be born for a long time. It's uncomfortable to envision your voice, your memories, and your personality all distilled into an algorithm available for a posthumous chat at any time.

But, if you're really into the idea, you can use the same AI tools and interviews to produce a personalized autobiography for your funeral, record your own eulogy to be delivered by the AI version of yourself, and even a whole script for the person running the funeral based on your stories and preferences. It’s like having a ghostwriter who knows precisely what you’d want said at your send-off.

Of course, this isn’t the first time tech has tried to offer a digital afterlife. Other services, like Eternos and Project Lazarus, have explored similar ideas, where AI models of deceased loved ones can answer questions and share memories. But Life’s Echo goes beyond them with the voice mimicry and depth of its interviews.

There are other questions, of course. Even if you like the idea, will talking to a digital version of a loved one help people grieve, or will it keep them stuck in the past? How do you explain it to kids? And if your AI Echo exists in the cloud, who controls it after you’re gone? Regardless of whether you're curious or queasy imagining it, you may be having conversations with deceased loved ones before you know it.

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Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #556) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• TAP
• TUG
• KEG
• BARREL
• TABLE
• SUB
• BARGE
• HAMMER
• COUNTER
• LADDER
• GORILLA
• SHELVE
• JUNK
• DELAY
• STOOL
• POSTPONE

NYT Connections today (game #557) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Raincheck
• GREEN: Saloon staples
• BLUE: Vessels
• PURPLE: Nintendo classic

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #557) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: DEFER
• GREEN: BAR FIXTURES 
• BLUE: WATERCRAFT 
• PURPLE: SEEN IN "DONKEY KONG" 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #557) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #557, are…

• YELLOW: DEFER DELAY, POSTPONE, SHELVE, TABLE
• GREEN: BAR FIXTURES COUNTER, KEG, STOOL, TAP
• BLUE: WATERCRAFT BARGE, JUNK, SUB, TUG
• PURPLE: SEEN IN "DONKEY KONG" BARREL, GORILLA, HAMMER, LADDER

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 2 mistakes

In the mental Venn diagrams I was drawing today, two or three words could have gone in several categories – TABLE (Yellow and Green), JUNK (Yellow and Blue), BARREL (Green and Purple) and I fell for them all…

First I put JUNK instead of TABLE into what would become the Yellow group, then, thinking I was onto a sure thing, put BARREL in the Blue group – Barrel Boats are a thing right? Er… maybe not.

Having never played Donkey Kong (I’m more of a board game person) I was thankful that this group was the leftovers and done for me.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 18 December, game #556)

• YELLOW: DEAL WITH FIELD, HANDLE, MANAGE, TACKLE
• GREEN: STYLES OF BEER BITTER, BOCK, SOUR, STOUT
• BLUE: INVESTMENT VERBS HEDGE, HOLD, SHORT, TRADE
• PURPLE: _DOME CAPITOL, CHROME, ONION, TEAPOT

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #291) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Roll with it

NYT Strands today (game #291) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• ROCK
• PRESS
• SKIN
• TILT
• RAGE
• VITAL

NYT Strands today (game #291) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Swaying

NYT Strands today (game #291) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: right, 4th row

Last side: left, 5th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #291) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #291, are…

• GLAM
• METAL
• PROGRESSIVE
• GRUNGE
• PUNK
• ALTERNATIVE
• SPANGRAM: ROCKING

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 hint

After yesterday’s SPINNERS, today we had rolling, although it wasn’t the kind that comes from moving along a surface and was instead the one that goes with ROCKING.

There are hundreds of rock genres from Acid Rock to Yacht Rock but Strands took it easy on us and went with the A-listers – although I did go with Prog before seeing the full-length PROGRESSIVE.

I used to have a friend whose brother was massively into Prog Rock and as children we’d marvel at their album collection and the gatefold sleeves, which would invariably involve pyramids and some form of nudity. We’d attempt to make sense of the music, with its 12-minute-long jams and songs about mice called Gerald, but mainly it was looking at the album covers. Who doesn’t love a pyramid?

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 18 December, game #290)

• DRYER
• EARTH
• TIRES
• FOOTBALL
• PINWHEEL
• BALLERINA
• SPANGRAM: SPINNERS

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1060) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1060) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1060) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• Yes. One of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1060) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1060) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• J

• G

• T

• I

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1060) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1060, are…

• JEWEL
• GNOME
• TRAMP
• IDLER

Today’s experiment was to see if loading the board with Es would give me a head start.

It sort of worked, but I had to use the next two attempts with the other vowels – and getting very lucky with ANNOY, which gave me no other option than GNOME.

Despite this good start I was still sweating by the end. With my current run I’m beginning to wonder if it is ever possible to complete Quordle with a couple of spaces to spare.

Meanwhile, I’m hitting it out of the park with the Daily Sequence, so maybe I’m overthinking my tactics on the Classic version.

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Daily Sequence today (game #1060) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1060, are…

• EMCEE
• STINK
• EATER
• AGAIN

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1059, Wednesday 18 December: LITHE, BIRTH, HUMID, ROBOT
• Quordle #1058, Tuesday 17 December: DOING, ENJOY, SNAKY, AMPLE
• Quordle #1057, Monday 16 December: HYDRO, CREAM, CHIDE, SLIME
• Quordle #1056, Sunday 15 December: DROVE, STILT, LINEN, GIANT
• Quordle #1055, Saturday 14 December: SPIEL, ONSET, TIGER, DITTO
• Quordle #1054, Friday 13 December: ERECT, REBAR, MOIST, IDIOM
• Quordle #1053, Thursday 12 December: MILKY, CRIER, STORK, DRIER
• Quordle #1052, Wednesday 11 December: BRIAR, NASAL, SHARD, FLUFF
• Quordle #1051, Tuesday 10 December: BEGAN, TRIAL, IDEAL, GUIDE
• Quordle #1050, Monday 9 December: TITAN, FORTE, SPEED, BRIAR
• Quordle #1049, Sunday 8 December: BUNCH, SHINY, MOULT, INTRO
• Quordle #1048, Saturday 7 December: SHAKY, CROOK, GHOUL, VERSE
• Quordle #1047, Friday 6 December: BRAWL, UNTIL, DOWRY, STING
• Quordle #1046, Thursday 5 December: AGING, BICEP, CLOVE, SPILL
• Quordle #1045, Wednesday 4 December: JUDGE, GIVER, GNASH, CLOAK
• Quordle #1044, Tuesday 3 December: FUDGE, THICK, CRANK, STASH
• Quordle #1043, Monday 2 December: TROPE, HOVER, SAUNA, SHAPE
• Quordle #1042, Sunday 1 December: NAIVE, CIRCA, STEAD, MICRO
• Quordle #1041, Saturday 30 November: MAMMA, SNUCK, CRYPT, TAROT
• Quordle #1040, Friday 29 November: JOIST, DROOL, DUSKY, GLIDE

Based on a popular Chinese comic and TV show, this could give Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero a run for its money.