Technology

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 118 for Jan. 19.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for the Jan. 19 Strands puzzle, No. 322.

It's not easy to pick between the two, especially given the sheer number of collagen options on the market. Here's everything you need to know.

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 #1091) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* 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 #1091) - 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 #1091) - 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 #1091) - 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 #1091) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• W

• R

• S

• C

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

Quordle today (game #1091) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1091, are…

• WREST
• RINSE
• SCOUR
• CANNY

Normal service is resumed. After crashing out yesterday I was pleased just to complete today’s Quordle.

Things were looking good when I got SCOUR after three guesses, but the other three words didn’t come as easily. Fortunately, it was all relatively stress-free as I had all the letters for RINSE.

Meanwhile, I blitzed through the Daily Sequence, getting the words in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th rounds. I don’t know how that happened, but it feels a long way off from occurring in the Classic format, at least on a regular basis.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1091) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1091, are…

• ACTOR
• FETCH
• ELBOW
• SWILL

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1090, Friday 18 January: BLARE, ITCHY, BICEP, PIPER
• Quordle #1089, Friday 17 January: CATCH, WEARY, SWOON, LATHE
• Quordle #1088, Thursday 16 January: PARTY, BLUNT, TWEED, PLANT
• Quordle #1087, Wednesday 15 January: RISEN, PLATE, RURAL, ENVOY
• Quordle #1086, Tuesday 14 January: SWARM, SCRAP, ONION, BELCH
• Quordle #1085, Monday 13 January: EYING, GIDDY, CHEAP, PETAL
• Quordle #1084, Sunday 12 January: BRIEF, PETAL, WOMAN, FELON
• Quordle #1083, Saturday 11 January: ASCOT, FIBER, ROGUE, SMELL
• Quordle #1082, Friday 10 January: BIGOT, INLET, LEECH, TUNIC
• Quordle #1081, Thursday 9 January: RESET, HUMOR, TENOR, IMAGE
• Quordle #1080, Wednesday 8 January: MINCE, SADLY, RISEN, VOUCH
• Quordle #1079, Tuesday 7 January: CREED, FILET, ROUTE, TAPER
• Quordle #1078, Monday 6 January: PIVOT, WOOLY, GRUNT, GROOM
• Quordle #1077, Sunday 5 January: BORAX, JUDGE, CADET, SALON
• Quordle #1076, Saturday 4 January: CORER, CRATE, QUASI, EXIST
• Quordle #1075, Friday 3 January: PERKY, QUARK, NAVEL, SHEEN
• Quordle #1074, Thursday 2 January: UNIFY, SWORE, DEPOT, INTRO
• Quordle #1073, Wednesday 1 January: CLING, SUITE, WORRY, TONIC
• Quordle #1072, Tuesday 31 December: PLUMP, TUBER, IRATE, ICILY
• Quordle #1071, Monday 30 December: TODDY, GROIN, GROWN, VERVE

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 #588) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SUN
• POOL
• ACTION
• AQUARIUM
• CLAIM
• GEOMETRY
• BLUFF
• SUIT
• САРЕ
• PURSE
• TAMPA BAY
• KITTY
• PLAIN
• CASE
• POT
• BASIN

NYT Connections today (game #588) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Finances in one place
• GREEN: You’ve been served
• BLUE: Landscape
• PURPLE: Everybody loves these

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 #588) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: FUND 
• GREEN: COURT FILING 
• BLUE: LANDFORMS 
• PURPLE: THEY HAVE RAYS 

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

NYT Connections today (game #588) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #588, are…

• YELLOW: FUND KITTY, POOL, POT, PURSE
• GREEN: COURT FILING ACTION, CASE, CLAIM, SUIT
• BLUE: LANDFORMS BASIN, BLUFF, CAPE, PLAIN
• PURPLE: THEY HAVE RAYS AQUARIUM, GEOMETRY, SUN, TAMPA BAY

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

For the first time in ages I got today’s groups in order of difficulty. Although when I say “got”, none of us get the last group, do we? That happens by default after we switch off the brain and just click on the remaining four words – occasionally kidding ourselves with an “of course!” as if really we knew what the connection was before we clicked on submit.

Today’s Purple group was a great one – linking four different types of RAYS. Not that all AQUARIUMs have RAYS. A fact I know from my many vacations ruined by European weather, where a rainy day would mean a trip to the local indoor attractions, which usually meant queuing up to look at some crabs in a bucket. Happy days.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 18 January, game #587)

• YELLOW: DESIRE DRIVE, IMPULSE, ITCH, URGE
• GREEN: BARB SPINE, SPUR, STICKER, THORN
• BLUE: INFO ON A RECORD ALBUM, ARTIST, LABEL, TRACK
• PURPLE: TURN THE ___ CORNER, PAGE, TABLES, TIDE

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… I get the message

NYT Strands today (game #322) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• BONE
• RAFT
• DRAFT
• LAZE
• SALE
• ARREST

NYT Strands today (game #322) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Mail organization

NYT Strands today (game #322) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #322) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #322, are…

• SPAM
• SENT
• INBOX
• TRASH
• DRAFTS
• STARRED
• SNOOZED
• SPANGRAM: EMAIL LABEL

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 hint

Sometimes it’s hard to find words to get hints, but today’s puzzle was absolutely loaded with them. Probably due to the ordinariness of the words we were looking for.

The early days of office email were much more fun than the strictly business messaging of today, when our INBOX is forever fighting a battle against SPAM and phishing emails.

Back in the day when there was less traffic and you could actually tame your messages, emails brought us Friday listicles and jokes. Occasionally, the most brilliant thing would happen when someone would accidentally send a personal email to everyone in the entire company. That kind of error could destroy a person’s career, but everyone else would get the buzz of enjoying someone else’s snafu that could all too easily have been theirs.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 18 January, game #321)

• PLANET
• HOOK
• CRUNCH
• OBVIOUS
• KANGAROO
• UNDERPANTS
• SPANGRAM: CAPTAIN

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.

• Corsair Memory and others show off USB 4 portable SSDs at CES 2025
• USB 4 is as fast as Thunderbolt 3/4 and twice as fast as USB 3.2 Gen2x2
• It allows for far more demanding storage requirements like 8K RAW storage

Working with a slow SSD can be highly frustrating - but luckily there are a range of solutions to the problem on the horizon.

A host of manufacturers demoed USB 4 portable drives at CES 2025, giving us a tantalizing glimpse at a future without sluggish USB 3.2 SSDs, and among the most eye-catching of these was a teaser for the new EX400U SSD from Corsair.

This nifty piece of hardware boasts a 40Gbps USB 4 interface and comes in a 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB format. According to Corsair, the new SSD offers 4,000MB/s sequential read speeds, along with 3.600MB/s write speeds.

Why USB 4 is the way forward

Elsewhere, Adata made a big announcement with the launch of the new XPG SE940 portable SSD, marking the first time the storage firm has harnessed USB 4 technology in its product roster.

This powerful piece of kit can reach sequential read and write speeds of up to 4,000 MB/s. Notably, this not only makes the SE940 the fastest portable drive in the company’s lineup, but as TechRadar Pro recently noted, one of the top-performing products on the external storage market.

But in an industry awash with marketing jargon and grandiose claims, does USB 4 really live up to the hype?

First announced in 2019, USB 4 heralded a new standard of connectivity - and it’s certainly lived up to expectations so far. In terms of bandwidth, USB 4 offers up to 4oGbps, making it twice as fast as USB 3.2 (Gen2x2) and on-part with Thunderbolt 3 and 4 connections.

That’s a significant boost in capacity when dealing with transfers. Especially when one considers the increasingly bulky datasets organizations and everyday users now contend with.

USB 3.2’s performance capabilities - or lack thereof- have been particularly evident when dealing with storage and transferal of 8K data files, for example.

There’s been a steady flow of devices, particularly SSDs, released of late that utilize USB 4, but given the focus at CES 2025, hopefully this develops into a torrent in the year ahead.

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Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 588 for Sunday, Jan. 19.

Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1,310 for Sunday, Jan. 19.

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• Bloomberg reports the contact is for Elon Musk's X social media platform
• xAi's Colossus uses 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPU and doesn't seem to be part of the contract
• Supermicro has had troubles, but is still a major player in AI hardware

The rising demand for computing power to support AI workloads has fueled rapid growth in the market for high-powered servers. It is a lucrative business for firms like Dell, Supermicro, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, who have all seen increased demand for their high-performance server products in recent years.

A report from Bloomberg claims HPE has secured a massive deal worth more than $1 billion to supply Elon Musk’s X social network with servers optimized for artificial intelligence work.

The report doesn’t specify exactly how the servers will be used, but since it’s for X, there’s a good chance some of the capacity will be for Grok, the social network’s AI chatbot. At the end of 2024, X announced that it was rolling out Grok-2 to all users for free, and it’s fair to conclude that extra capacity will require more server infrastructure.

Dell and Supermicro outbid

Bloomberg says X’s agreement with HPE was reached in late 2024, according to people familiar with the matter.

Musk’s companies, including xAI and Tesla, are major buyers of AI hardware. The Colossus supercomputer, built by xAI in Memphis, was previously declared by Musk to be the "most powerful AI training system in the world." The billionaire stated it was built "from start to finish" in just 122 days.

Colossus uses 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, but there are plans to massively expand its operations. Supermicro has faced some challenges recently, including the resignation of its auditor and other related matters. However, as MarketWatch reports, it remains a "major player in the AI revolution" and recently established operations in Memphis to support xAI's goal of building a supercomputer facility with 1 million GPUs.

Supermicro and Dell provided the servers for Colossus originally, and Bloomberg says that while both firms did bid to supply the equipment for this new venture they were ultimately unsuccessful.

Bloomberg’s report notes, “HPE’s liquid-cooling technology may have played a role in the win,” wrote Woo Jin Ho, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. While good for sales, larger deals can be a drag on margins, he added.”

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• Survey finds nearly 70% of orgs leave critical vulnerabilities unresolved for 24 hours or more
• Managing vulnerability fog is a major challenge, as AI promises to make it easier for criminals to identify targets
• Zero-day and unpatched legacy vulnerabilities remain a major cause of cybercriminal proliferation

Over two-thirds (68%) of organizations take more than 24 hours to address critical vulnerabilities, new research has found, urging companies to up their game when it comes to dealing with threats.

A survey conducted by Swimlane highlighted how vulnerabilities remain a significant danger to organizations; exposing them to data breaches, regulatory penalties, and operational disruptions.

And the longer these vulnerabilities remain unaddressed, the greater the risk of exploitation, yet many teams struggle with inefficiencies that waste valuable time.

The challenge of vulnerability prioritization

Lack of accurate context was cited by 37% of respondents as a major obstacle to prioritizing threats and 35% considered incomplete information as a major culprit.

While 45% of organizations were found to employ a mix of manual and automated processes, the tools they rely on such as cloud security posture management, endpoint protection, and web application scanners often fall short of addressing the scale and speed of emerging threats.

Manual processes also pose a challenge, consuming up to 50% of workers' time on vulnerability management tasks. Over half of workers surveyed reported spending more than five hours each week consolidating and normalizing data from various sources.

Businesses lose an estimated $47,580 per employee each year due to manual tasks, noted Michael Lyborg, CISO at Swimlane, and this heavy reliance on manual effort not only slows response times but also diverts attention from more strategic cybersecurity initiatives.

Despite these challenges, the report does reveal that many organizations simply lack effective vulnerability management programs, with 73% of respondents expressing concerns about facing penalties for inadequate practices.

“Smarter prioritization and automation are no longer optional — they are essential to reducing vulnerabilities, preventing breaches and ensuring continuous compliance,” said Cody Cornell, Swimlane's Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer.

“By blending intelligent automation with human expertise, vulnerability management teams gain the clarity they need to act decisively," he added.

"Centralizing data and responding in real-time isn’t a luxury — it’s a business imperative that minimizes risk and frees up time to focus on the next challenge.”

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• Liquid Web survey explores how independent pros evaluate web hosting
• Being sustainable comes bottom, yet half of respondents would pay $50 extra per year for sustainability
• Firms spend on average just under $20 per month on web hosting services

Independent professionals are increasingly finding web hosting is a vital investment for business growth, though sustainability is often not their primary focus when picking a provider.

New research by Liquid Web found professionals spend an average of $214 annually on hosting, achieving a remarkable 2,319% ROI, with solopreneurs seeing up to 2,846%.

While more than half of respondents claimed they were open to paying extra for environmentally friendly solutions, they primarily sought services that offer tangible returns on investment.

Value for money in a hosting provider

Over half of respondents (54%) said they would pay an additional $50 annually for environmentally friendly hosting solutions, indicating that sustainable practices are an emerging consideration.

Meanwhile, 23% of respondents claimed to allocate more than $500 annually towards optimal performance and support.

Liquid Web found the provider migration process is both time-consuming and expensive, requiring an average of 6.6 hours or $115 worth of resources.

And yet, independent professionals were still found to be regularly switch hosting providers due to cost, performance or support issues. Nearly 7 in 10 reported switching at least once, with 13% doing so annually.

Hidden charges and unexpected billing are major triggers, with professionals experiencing these being 35% more likely to change providers.

“It’s fascinating to see how solopreneurs, freelancers, and digital nomads prioritize sustainability and customer support. It provides valuable insights to tailor our offerings to their evolving needs," noted David Eblen, Chief Product Officer at Liquid Web.

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