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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 Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

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 #531) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• BALL-IN-CUP
• BALANCE SHEET
• LATEX
• LOLLIPOP
• ACCOUNT
• CHECKERS
• COTTON SWAB
• LICORICE
• GUM
• CORN DOG
• STORY
• SAP
• CHRONICLE
• RESIN
• ROULETTE
• DESCRIPTION

NYT Connections today (game #531) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: That's how it went
• Green: Plant juices?
• Blue: Candy apple could be another
• Purple: Two-color things

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 #531) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: TELLING OF EVENTS
• GREEN: SECRETED BY TREES
• BLUE: THINGS ON STICKS
• PURPLE: BLACK OR RED

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

NYT Connections today (game #531) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #531, are…

• YELLOW: TELLING OF EVENTS ACCOUNT, CHRONICLE, DESCRIPTION, STORY
• GREEN: SECRETED BY TREES GUM, LATEX, RESIN, SAP
• BLUE: THINGS ON STICKS BALL-IN-CUP, CORN DOG, COTTON SWAB, LOLLIPOP
• PURPLE: BLACK OR RED BALANCE SHEET, CHECKERS, LICORICE, ROULETTE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 mistake

This was a surprisingly easy Connections game, given that when I first looked at it I was completely nonplussed. None of the words seemed remotely related, although in hindsight I should have spotted yellow – TELLING OF EVENTS – right away, given that it's a simple collection of synonyms. As it was, that was the group I solved by default without even needing to think about it, although frankly I would have got it myself by that stage anyway.

The key here was in getting blue, THINGS ON STICKS, first. Blue is supposedly the second most difficult of the four, and on the days when I get that early I tend to fly through the puzzle without too many issues. And so it was here, with BALL-IN-CUP, CORN DOG, COTTON SWAB and LOLLIPOP relatively obvious examples of stick-based things once I thought about it a little.

I did make one mistake on green, SECRETED BY TREES, because I was tripped up by LICORICE. This is of course a root of some kind (I'm no expert), so sort of tree-related, but not secreted by them. The one I needed was LATEX, which I thought was a human-made thing but which is (I presume) based on rubber. The others were GUM, RESIN and SAP, which were more obvious. LICORICE instead went with the rather fun purple group, BLACK OR RED, although I don't know if it strictly belongs there, given that you can get licorice in all kinds of colors, right? And what about the ones that have a kind of multicolored sandwich with pink and yellow? Anyway, it was obvious enough by that stage, so I notched my streak up to the heady heights of two. Hurrah!

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 22 November, game #530)

• YELLOW: PUBLICITY ATTENTION, COVERAGE, EXPOSURE, PRESS
• GREEN: POINT OF VIEW ANGLE, LENS, PERSPECTIVE, POSITION
• BLUE: WORK COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS MEET, SLACK, TEAMS, ZOOM
• PURPLE: “___ ISLAND” FANTASY, LOVE, SHUTTER, TREASURE

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 Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Did you hear that?

NYT Strands today (game #265) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SHUN
• SOUND
• PALE
• SHARE
• FEED
• ZINC

NYT Strands today (game #265) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Heard but not seen

NYT Strands today (game #265) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 4th row

Last: right, 4th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #265) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #265, are…

• BANG
• HONK
• SIZZLE
• CRASH
• CRUNCH
• JINGLE
• KAPOW
• SPANGRAM: SOUNDEFFECTS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I always thought it would be fun to be a SOUNDEFFECTS engineer. Imagine working on Batman in the 1960s and coming up with all of the noises made during the fight scenes – it would have been hilarious. Or maybe that's just me. And now I'm wondering if on my next call with the TechRadar team I should introduce the odd CRASH or HONK when someone says something particularly interesting/stupid.

Anyway, this was a reasonably good Strands game, as they go, and certainly a lot more worthy of your time (and mine) than yesterday's pointless exercise. It's still pretty simple, though; will there ever be a Strands game that I'll need to use my brain for? Will I ever lose one? Time will tell, but my suspicion is that no, the NYT likes Strands to be the simple counterpart to the far more difficult likes of Connections, Spelling Bee and indeed Wordle.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 22 November, game #264)

• BEND
• MOBILE
• BUFFALO
• RIVERSIDE
• PHOENIX
• BOULDER
• SPANGRAM: CITYNAME

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 Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

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 #1034) - 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 #1034) - 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 0.

Quordle today (game #1034) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1034) - 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 #1034) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• P

• F

• T

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

Quordle today (game #1034) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1034, are…

• AVOID
• PLANT
• FILET
• TWIRL

This was a remarkably straightforward Quordle game, and one that probably took me all of 60 seconds to solve. I was, admittedly, helped out greatly by my three set start words, STARE, DOILY and PUNCH, which between them gave me all five letters for the top-right answer, and four for the other three. I therefore only needed to add in three more letters to complete the set.

None of the words are particularly tricky even if you didn't get lucky with your strategy (or indeed if you don't have one at all). For instance, FILET doesn't have any obvious alternatives that are similarly spelled apart from maybe GILET, but that's a foreign word (or is it?) The TW at the start of TWIRL is relatively uncommon as these things go, but we're hardly in UVULA territory here. Nothing much to see, move along please.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1034) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1034, are…

• VALVE
• GONER
• RESIN
• BEFIT

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1033, Friday 22 November: CUTIE, ALOOF, ETUDE, SILLY
• Quordle #1032, Thursday 21 November: RABBI, EAGER, COUGH, BRASH
• Quordle #1031, Wednesday 20 November: MINTY, TOPAZ, BRUSH, LAPEL
• Quordle #1030, Tuesday 19 November: NINJA, PENCE, PAINT, FOIST
• Quordle #1029, Monday 18 November: ASCOT, BRINK, WEIRD, HOMER
• Quordle #1028, Sunday 17 November: STATE, BRAWN, SWORE, URBAN
• Quordle #1027, Saturday 16 November: NOTCH, BENCH, BUSED, FOUND
• Quordle #1026, Friday 15 November: PURER, TRUSS, TORCH, FORUM
• Quordle #1025, Thursday 14 November: EXALT, TASTE, CRONY, CLOUT
• Quordle #1024, Wednesday 13 November: YEARN, ELBOW, SURGE, PINEY
• Quordle #1023, Tuesday 12 November: CHORD, ATTIC, OLIVE, EIGHT
• Quordle #1022, Monday 11 November: COPSE, REGAL, GRUNT, GOODY
• Quordle #1021, Sunday 10 November: GROIN, FAULT, FERRY, SUITE
• Quordle #1020, Saturday 9 November: FLUME, THERE, ATOLL, SANER
• Quordle #1019, Friday 8 November: DELAY, NAVAL, MOLAR, SWARM
• Quordle #1018, Thursday 7 November: REPAY, SYNOD, LOATH, PITHY
• Quordle #1017, Wednesday 6 November: SASSY, DRUID, THREW, SLOSH
• Quordle #1016, Tuesday 5 November: BEGET, AMUSE, STONY, LOUSY
• Quordle #1015, Monday 4 November: CHILL, TACKY, GRAPH, PLAZA
• Quordle #1014, Sunday 3 November: QUIRK, HEART, ELBOW, KNOWN

• This real-time animated NBA game is set for Christmas Day
• Sony's Beyond Sports tech will animate the players and the action in real-time
• Mickey, Minnie, and more will sit on the side of a court on 'Main Street USA'

Holidays and sports have gone together for ages, and come Christmas Day, you might be more interested than ever before in the annual NBA game. Sure, the matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks will be fun, but the NBA is teaming up with Disney and ESPN for something even more fun.

How does a basketball on Main Street USA in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom with Cinderella's Castle in view and Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, and even Goofy cheering on the sideline sound? Oh, and the players at the NBA game will be animated in real-time to appear as animated players mimicking every move, thanks to Sony’s Beyond Sports technology.

Enter ‘Dunk the Halls.’ It’s the first ever real-time animated NBA game, a feat that the NFL has done a few times, including tossing in some slime-zones for a Spongebob-themed game and a Toy Story-themed one that streamed on Disney Plus and used the Beyond Sports tech. This will be the first time for the NBA and basketball, though.

Disney is clearly very excited about the match and the technology itself – and Sony Beyond Sports is all about the data ingestion and visualization to create the experience of this game without noticeable latency. Beyond Sports will work in conjunction with Sony’s Hawk-eye technology for tacking the players on the courts, something that other sports leagues, including the NFL, use.

Disney fans, specifically fans of the Fab Five, will be treated to a pre-show, in-game commentary, and a special half-time show from the characters, with Mickey and Minnie leading the pack. As far as full, professional game commentary, that honor will go to Drew Carter, ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt, and Daisy Duck. Since it’s Christmas, Santa will be operating ESPN’s Sky-Cam for a unique view of the animated camera, and if the teaser for the “Dunk the Halls” game is to be believed, Disney World might see snow.

The action starts at noon ET on December 25th, 2024, streaming on Disney Plus and ESPN Plus and broadcasting on ESPN 2. It’s certainly a neat collaboration between three major brands – Disney, Sony, and the NBA – with the tech being a critical point here, and it’s clearly a trend that all the sports leagues want to get on. Remember, an upcoming Simpsons NFL game on Disney+ arrives on December 9th, 2024.

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• After many delays, Windows Insiders can now try out Recall
• Windows Recall was pushed back after privacy concerns, which are addressed
• You'll need a Snapdragon Copilot+ PC to give it a go

Windows Recall feature’s long road to actually being rolled out is finally coming to an end – sort of. After several delays, all centered around some major security and privacy concerns around the feature that was poised to take screenshots of whatever was on your PC's screen every few seconds, Microsoft is ready for folks to give it a shot.

As part of the just-released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2415 (KB5046723) for those enrolled in the ‘Dev Channel,’ you’ll be able to give Recall – which is still labeled as (Preview) – a go and try out the long-awaited and delayed, feature. You will need a Copilot+ PC powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip to give it a go. Those with an Intel- or AMD-powered Copilot+ PC chip must wait for a future release that tosses in support.

And, of course, it's not final software, so akin to a beta or any other preview, you'll need to be okay with bugs, slowdowns, and crashes. Suffice it to say, it's advised not to install it on your main computer.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Recall, as you might suspect, is entirely optional, but the gist is that it can help you find items from the past or things related to a specific search term. Since it will be taking screenshots and recording what’s on your screen, it does, as the name suggests, let you recall information … or at least that's the idea.

If you opt into Recall and Click to Do, the models for these tools will be downloaded, and you’ll go through a setup process explaining the features. Microsoft has made some changes based on the security and privacy concerns around Recall. If it detects confidential information such as “​​credit card details, passwords, and personal identification numbers,” then it won’t take a snapshot.

The blog post on Windows Insider detailing this rollout notes that “Recall won’t save or store those snapshots,” and a box to send feedback is built-in. You can also opt to exclude specific applications and websites from being captured in a Recall ‘snapshot.’ Certainly, all of this is a step in the right direction and closer to a full consumer release. Furthermore, if you opt-in and are using Recall, you can go through the library of ‘Snapshots’ and delete them as you choose.

Microsoft can’t see these snapshots either, with the announcement stating, “Insiders and Recall users, we want you to know your snapshots are truly yours. We do not send your snapshots off your PC to Microsoft or third parties and don’t use them for training purposes. Microsoft can’t access the keys to view your encrypted data, so we can’t restore your snapshots if you remove Windows Hello or restore your snapshots if you need to reset your PC or move to a new PC.” And to use Recall, you’ll need to authenticate with Windows Hello or another biometric.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Recall may prove to be a feature that is quite helpful, especially for finding things you remember seeing or writing but can’t precisely place. Click to Do seems like a lighter lift for Microsoft that can identify text and visuals within a snapshot – it will eventually be available outside Recall – to suggest actions that can be accomplished automatically with a click. Clever naming.

It can take text from a snapshot, and push that through to an application or search the web. For photos, it’s a bit more impressive with the promised capability of adding a blur or bokeh effect and even erasing unwanted objects from the image.

If you want to give Recall and Click to Do a go, they are now part of the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build, which is out now for Dev. You can find full instructions on how to install it on the Windows Insider blog.

Still, it seems that Microsoft is right on track with its updated timeline for Recall, as the company said folks would be able to try it in November 2024, and at a quick calendar glance, it’s November 22, 2024 – which, by the way, is not Black Friday.

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• Amazon just invested another $4B in Anthropic
• Most believe Claude will be Alexa AI's brains
• Why isn't Amazon sharing updates about its popular chatbot?

Amazon Alexa's 10-year anniversary passed without fanfare and, in particular, without the major AI update we were promised in 2023. Now, though, as Amazon invests over $4b (on top of a previous $4b+) in Claude AI maker Anthropic, the question becomes more urgent: What is Amazon's AI strategy, and when will consumers and their best Echos get the long-promised AI update? More pertinently, could that change ultimately be Claude in disguise?

Amazon announced the fresh investment on Friday in a blog post and characterized it as a deepening "strategic collaboration." It is a two-way street in that Anthropic is set to use the vast Amazon Web Services server army as its "primary training partner." That's a big deal because one of the key stumbling blocks for these fast-developing generative AI platforms and large language models (LLM) is the processing power needed to train them.

Nvidia, now the world's most valuable company, has made a huge business out of this. Anthropic, still a startup, needs a tech giant like Amazon to back its AI aspirations.

It is, though, the other side of the deal that interests me and likely interests most consumers, and that's Amazon's growing investment in the Anthropic AI platform, specifically Claude models. Currently, they're underpinning much of the cloud-based AI Amazon provides to partners through its Amazon Bedrock platform. The missing connection, or at least not spelled out, is how this might affect Alexa, which doesn't even warrant a mention in Amazon's blog post.

Still waiting on Alexa AI

Launched a decade ago alongside the Echo, Alexa was not the first digital assistant, but most regarded it as better than the first mover, Apple Siri. Echo's instant popularity and pervasiveness in the home meant that millions of people who had never talked to a digital assistant were soon engaged with something that at least sounded like a basic AI chatbot.

Today's Alexa is generations behind leading chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot. This is even though Amazon demonstrated a far more intelligent and conversational Alexa AI in September 2023.

The absence of any Alexa mention in the Anthropic news leads me to believe somewhat counterintuitively recent reports that the next Alexa AI will be powered almost entirely by Claude. This will start, I think, with Amazon finally buying Anthropic. I know, it doesn't have to; Microsoft has gotten away with holding OpenAI firmly at arm's length, pouring in money, and getting first dibs on the best stuff without making it an official Microsoft brand.

Anthropic and Claude do not have the brand cache of OpenAI and ChatGPT. Alexa is the bigger and more interesting brand, so why not make Anthropic part of Amazon and Claude the true brains of one of the best-known and most widely used digital assistants on the planet?

I've asked Amazon to comment on the progress of Alexa AI and how Claude might factor in but have yet to hear back. In the meantime, I asked Claude, "Will you power the next version of Amazon Alexa?"

As is often the case with these generative AI chatbots, the answer arrived swiftly:

I apologize, but I cannot confirm or speculate about future product partnerships between Anthropic and Amazon. While I'm aware of developments in AI technology, I do not have inside information about specific business arrangements. If you're interested in the latest information about Amazon Alexa's technology, I recommend checking Amazon's official announcements or press releases.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

When I asked Alexa the same question, it cited the Reuters report from August:

(Image credit: Future)

At least Alexa knows which way the wind is blowing. Now, we just have to wait for Amazon to confirm and then finally deliver the Alexa AI we all deserve.

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• NoName057 continue DDoS attacks against Taiwanese targets
• Multiple sectors and critical infrastructure were hit by the attacks
• No significant disruption was noted, and many services were restored

In an apparent escalation of recent cyber warfare, Taiwan’s government and major corporations have been targeted by a second wave of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks by the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057.

These attacks, which began in early September 2024 and surged again in early October, have affected a wide range of companies including several high-tech firms and critical infrastructure organizations.

The most recent wave of attacks occurred from October 5 to 6, affecting several major companies such as Formosa Plastics, Wistron, and United Microelectronics, all of whom reported their websites were targeted by DDoS attacks, but were quick to restore services and resume normal operations.

Widespread targets

This second wave of DDoS attacks appears to be a continuation of earlier cyber incidents that occurred in September 2024. NoName057 has aggressively targeted Taiwan, claiming responsibility for multiple cyber-attacks. These attacks have also expanded beyond the corporate sector to include essential public services and government entities.

According to NoName057, targets over the first weekend of October included municipal governments, public offices, judicial units, and airports such as Taoyuan International and Songshan Airports. Furthermore, the group claimed attacks on key government databases, including the National Legal Database, showcasing the hackers’ intent to disrupt critical infrastructure in Taiwan.

Although not all organizations have officially disclosed that they were targeted, there were clear signs of disruption. Companies and organizations such as IC design company Shichi, various judicial units and Shixin-KY were also hit by the attack. However, by the evening of October 7, Shixin-KY announced that its website was functioning normally again.

These attacks are not isolated incidents, as NoName057 has a long history of launching cyber-attacks against governments and enterprises across various countries, including Ukraine, France, Lithuania and Czechia.

Before its October attacks on Taiwan, the group targeted Austria and Israel, emphasizing the widespread nature of their malicious activities. Their attacks are usually aimed at disrupting essential services, including government websites, public utilities, and financial institutions.

In 2022, during the visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, a similar wave of DDoS attacks hit government departments and private companies alike. Likewise, Taiwan’s hosting providers experienced substantial disruption in 2020 due to cyber-attacks, and in 2017, several brokerage websites faced significant downtime due to similar DDoS activities.

Via ITHome

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