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Here are some hints, and the answers, for the Nov. 3 Strands puzzle, No. 245.

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… In my kingdom

NYT Strands today (game #245) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• MAID
• MOAT
• MATH
• LOOSE
• MICE
• SOLO

NYT Strands today (game #245) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Life, organized

NYT Strands today (game #245) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 4th row

Last: right, 3rd row

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

NYT Strands today (game #245) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #245, are…

• CLASS
• PHYLUM
• ORDER
• FAMILY
• SPECIES
• GENUS
• DOMAIN
• SPANGRAM: TAXONOMY

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

You might need to be a bit of a science geek to solve today's Strands, because it features a few words that not everyone will be familiar with. Or at least that many people won't have heard since school biology lessons.

TAXONOMY, as the spangram has it, is the subject of the game – and that word is a tricky one to find in its own right. But harder still are surely PHYLUM and GENUS, with the first of those in particular a word that really doesn't appear in any other context.

My own game went very well, because I am a bit of a science geek, and I got lucky with my early guesses. I found CLASS while searching for hint words to use in this column, and put that together with the theme clue of 'In my kingdom' to establish what the central concept was. I then found the likes of FAMILY, SPECIES and – yes – PHYLUM, and was able to complete the set with no major hiccups.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 2 November, game #244)

• PRINTER
• SCISSORS
• PENCILS
• STAPLER
• RULER
• SPANGRAM: OFFICESUPPLIES

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 #1014) - 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 #1014) - 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 #1014) - 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 #1014) - 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 #1014) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• Q

• H

• E

• K

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

Quordle today (game #1014) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1014, are…

• QUIRK
• HEART
• ELBOW
• KNOWN

The puzzle setters at Merriam-Webster really threw the full gamut of Quordle complications at us today. KNOWN contains a repeated letter and also two uncommon letters in K and W, and also an uncommon spelling in the form of that KN at the start. ELBOW has a W at the end of the word, QUIRK has a very rare Q. On the plus side, none of the four words are obscure, at least.

Still, it was a difficult one, and I didn't make the task easier for myself by stupidly guessing BOWEL when the E had already been ruled out in that place. I nearly followed up with an also-impossible BELOW before taking a pause and spotting ELBOW. Phew!

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1014) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1014, are…

• FORGE
• OTTER
• SCOUR
• MIDGE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1013, Saturday 2 November: SWUNG, FLOOR, PARER, CRUST
• Quordle #1012, Friday 1 November: FIFTY, GULCH, RECUT, TWEET
• Quordle #1011, Thursday 31 October: TWINE, RIGID, BELCH, AMEND
• Quordle #1010, Wednesday 30 October: SLOOP, BRINE, BROOD, FLUID
• Quordle #1009, Tuesday 29 October: CLIFF, BURNT, SNAKY, POLYP
• Quordle #1008, Monday 28 October: MACAW, LIEGE, GOUGE, CARGO
• Quordle #1007, Sunday 27 October: STUNG, CLOUT, SOWER, BASIS
• Quordle #1006, Saturday 26 October: DUCHY, CANNY, BLOCK, SMART
• Quordle #1005, Friday 25 October: PRANK, EXIST, RUDDY, PICKY
• Quordle #1004, Thursday 24 October: DAIRY, RALLY, CURLY, LABEL
• Quordle #1003, Wednesday 23 October: DROSS, ANNEX, GRAVE, BROKE
• Quordle #1002, Tuesday 22 October: ADORE, SMITH, AFOOT, LUCID
• Quordle #1001, Monday 21 October: TREAD, NINTH, GRIEF, UNSET
• Quordle #1000, Sunday 20 October: CORAL, WHOSE, HEIST, SOAPY
• Quordle #999, Saturday 19 October: GUSTY, BROKE, ENJOY, HAZEL
• Quordle #998, Friday 18 October: PUPIL, MOCHA, EGRET, NATAL
• Quordle #997, Thursday 17 October: BUILD, BIRTH, LURCH, SASSY
• Quordle #996, Wednesday 16 October: EERIE, SMIRK, HUNCH, EMBED
• Quordle #995, Tuesday 15 October: UMBRA, BRIEF, GRAVY, TORUS
• Quordle #994, Monday 14 October: ROGUE, STORY, EMCEE, AUNTY

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 #511) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• STREET
• SENSE
• MOVING
• MONEY
• TENDER
• FEELING
• HEARING
• LISTENING
• PROCEEDING
• TOUCHING
• CHAIR
• INQUIRY
• SWEET
• HUNCH
• TRIAL
• IMPRESSION

NYT Connections today (game #511) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Awwww
• Green: I think this might happen
• Blue: All rise
• Purple: [Not hard] blank

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 #511) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: HEARTWARMING
• GREEN: SNEAKING SUSPICION
• BLUE: LEGAL SESSION
• PURPLE: EASY ___

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

NYT Connections today (game #511) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #511, are…

• YELLOW: HEARTWARMING MOVING, SWEET, TENDER, TOUCHING
• GREEN: SNEAKING SUSPICION FEELING, HUNCH, IMPRESSION, SENSE
• BLUE: LEGAL SESSION HEARING, INQUIRY, PROCEEDING, TRIAL
• PURPLE: EASY ___ CHAIR, LISTENING, MONEY, STREET

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Is it just me or are the difficulty levels in Connections all over the place? There are days on which the easiest yellow group is harder than the supposedly hardest purple group today. This really was a simple one: yellow (HEARTWARMING) and green (SNEAKING SUSPICION) are merely synonyms, blue (LEGAL SESSION) is an obvious connection and though purple is a more complex 'Blank something' type, it was not a tricky one particularly. What's more, you won't even have needed to solve it if you got the other three.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 2 November, game #510)

• YELLOW: SEEN IN A KITCHEN COUNTER, FRIDGE, RANGE, SINK
• GREEN: GROUP OF ADVISORS BOARD, CABINET, COUNCIL, PANEL
• BLUE: CORE EXERCISES BOAT, CRUNCH, MOUNTAIN CLIMBER, PLANK
• PURPLE: KINDS OF EARRINGS CHANDELIER, DROP, HOOP, STUD

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.

From a smart garage door opener to smart bulbs, we've found the devices that will automate your home.

Macrium, a leading provider of backup, disaster recovery, and imaging software, has unveiled its latest product, Reflect X, designed to support Copilot+ ARM-based Windows devices with native bare metal recovery and boot menu recovery options.

The company says Reflect X can be a reliable backup and recovery solution, particularly for businesses that rely on ARM-based devices in their critical infrastructure.

Macrium claims Reflect X restores images up to five times faster than its predecessor thanks to changes in compression technique and backup optimization of multithreading processes allowing the system to achieve top performance, thereby reducing the time needed for backups and recovery.

Reflect X promises to tackle downtime challenges

As businesses become increasingly dependent on digital infrastructure, the ability to quickly recover from system failures or cyberattacks is more important than ever. Disruptions caused by hardware issues or data breaches can result in significant financial losses and operational setbacks.

Many businesses, particularly those in the OEM, manufacturing, and energy sectors, face the constant risk of hardware failure which leads to loss of data and finance. For these businesses, fast recovery is essential to avoid prolonged downtime.

Reflect X's rapid recovery times offer a solution, allowing companies to restore operations quickly and meet their Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO).

In addition to performance improvements, Macrium has introduced a new approach to file accessibility by making backup files created with Reflect X open source. Macrium's singular focus on backup, recovery, and image deployment has allowed the company to dedicate all its resources to perfecting these solutions. Unlike companies that offer a one-size-fits-all approach to cyber resilience, Macrium specialises in providing best-in-class tools for each element of an organisation’s security strategy.

"Reflect X has been designed and developed around the needs of businesses, with an increased focus on metrics that matter most, such as Recovery Time Objective, and Recovery Point Objective. As well as enabling businesses to better protect their data, whilst minimising downtime in increasingly complex IT and OT environments,” said Dave Joyce, CEO at Macrium.

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From streamlining operations to automating complex processes, AI has revolutionized how organizations approach tasks - however, as the technology becomes more prevalent, organizations are discovering the rush to embrace AI may come with unintended consequences.

A report by Swimlane reveals while AI offers tremendous benefits, its adoption has outpaced many companies' ability to safeguard sensitive data. As businesses deeply integrate AI into their operations, they must also contend with the associated risks, including data breaches, compliance lapses, and security protocol failures.

AI works with Large Language Models (LLMs) which are trained using vast datasets that often include publicly available information. These datasets can consist of text from sources like Wikipedia, GitHub, and various other online platforms, which provide a rich corpus for training the models. This means that if a company’s data is available online, it will likely be used for training LLMs.

Data handling and public LLMs

The study revealed a gap between protocol and practice when sharing data in large public language models (LLMs). Although 70% of organizations claim to have specific protocols to safeguard the sharing of sensitive data with public LLMs, 74% of respondents are aware that individuals within their organizations still input sensitive information into these platforms.

This discrepancy highlights a critical flaw in enforcement and employee compliance with established security measures. Furthermore, there is a constant barrage of AI-related messaging which is wearing down professionals and 76% of respondents agree that the market is currently saturated with AI-related hype.

This overexposure is causing a form of AI fatigue and over half (55%) of those surveyed reported feeling overwhelmed by the persistent focus on AI, signalling that the industry may need to shift its approach to promoting the technology.

Interestingly, despite this fatigue, experience with AI and machine learning (ML) technologies is becoming a crucial factor in hiring decisions. A striking 86% of organizations reported that familiarity with AI plays a significant role in determining the suitability of candidates. This shows how ingrained AI is becoming, not just in cybersecurity tools but in the workforce needed to manage them.

In the cybersecurity sector, AI and LLMs have had a positive impact, as the report claims 89% of organizations credit AI technologies for boosting the efficiency of their cybersecurity teams.

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A new report from Heimdal has revealed jobseekers across the world are being targeted by scams exploiting individuals looking for work in sectors such as finance, IT, and healthcare.

Based on an analysis of over 2,670 social media posts and comments from victims in 2023 and 2024, the report highlights the common tactics used by scammers, the industries most affected, and the emotional toll these scams take on their victims.

The finance and IT sectors are the most targeted by job scams, with 35.45% and 30.43% of reported cases, respectively, with Healthcare accounting for 15.41% of incidents.

Common tactics and contact methods

These industries, especially those offering remote positions, have become prime targets for fraudsters, the report says, with nearly half (43%) of scam-related posts involved remote jobs, compared to 42% for on-site roles and 15% for hybrid positions.

High-value roles such as managers and entry-level candidates are also heavily targeted as 35% of scams are directed at managers while 34% point towards entry-level job seekers. These roles are particularly attractive to scammers because of the volume of candidates and the appeal of potentially lucrative job offers.

Several tactics are commonly used by scammers to defraud unsuspecting victims, but suspicious contact information is the most frequent red flag, representing 41.1% of cases. Unrealistic salary offers (25.7%) and misleading job descriptions (10.6%) are also used to lure victims.

Email is the most popular method scammers use to reach their targets, responsible for 30.75% of cases, followed by social media (20.19%) and websites (19.79%). The convenience of digital communication platforms has made it easier for scammers to impersonate legitimate companies and deceive job seekers.

The report also outlines several warning signs job seekers should be aware of to avoid falling into scam traps. Requests for upfront payments, cited in 25.08% of cases, are a common tactic used by scammers. Phishing attempts (18.81%) and requests for confidential information (17.49%) also signal potential fraud. Additionally, a lack of an interview process (15.84%) or receiving a job offer without applying (12.21%) are major red flags. Furthermore, poorly written job descriptions, often containing spelling errors or inconsistencies, are another sign of a potential scam. These descriptions, present in 10.56% of the cases, can indicate a lack of professionalism and authenticity.

Beyond the financial damage, job scams leave a lasting emotional toll on victims. The report shows that 35.29% of victims reported distress, 23.53% experienced anxiety, and 9.41% felt anger. Victims often feel ashamed and question their value as candidates, particularly after facing multiple rejections in their job search. Many victims also feel a deep sense of injustice, believing that regulatory bodies and law enforcement are not adequately equipped to protect them. This lack of closure can lead to lingering emotional scars that persist long after the scam.

To avoid falling for job scams, checking the company reviews and verifying company information are crucial steps, with 26.96% and 22.87% of victims citing these as helpful strategies. Also, consulting trusted friends and verifying email domains are recommended to ensure job offers are legitimate.

"It's clear that job platforms are struggling to keep up with the growing number of scammers,” said Valentin Rusu, Lead Machine Learning Engineer at Heimdal Security.

"That's why job seekers must adopt a cybersecurity-first mindset—approach every email and job offer with caution. Verify email domains, check company websites, read reviews, and consult with trusted friends before proceeding. And most importantly, never disclose personal information unless you're absolutely certain of the company's legitimacy.", Rusu added.

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