Technology

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 104 for Jan. 5.

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Cold snap

NYT Strands today (game #308) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• WIND
• ZEST
• FURY
• SWEAT
• THESE
• SOFT

NYT Strands today (game #308) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Seasonal climate

NYT Strands today (game #308) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 1st 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 #308) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #308, are…

• SNOW
• SLEET
• FROST
• BLIZZARD
• DRIZZLE
• FLURRY
• SPANGRAM: WINTER WEATHER

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

The two pairs of Zs in today’s puzzle (there’s another) made things a lot easier – although I had to stop myself thinking Freeze would be one of the words.

Mizzle is a particularly British type of WINTER WEATHER that could have joined the double-Z gang – it’s like drizzle with added mist and it’s very, erm, mizz-erable. In some parts of the UK they call it Scotch Mist, which sounds a lot more romantic.

I wondered if BLIZZARD could also have a misty variant – Mizzard? – but it doesn’t seem to have caught on. However, I did notice that on YouTube a nine-second video of a lizard wizard in a blizzard has 40,000 views.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 4 January, game #307)

• FURY
• SOUND
• CRIME
• PUNISHMENT
• PRIDE
• PREJUDICE
• SPANGRAM: BOOK TITLES

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 #1077) - 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 #1077) - 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 #1077) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

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

Quordle today (game #1077) - 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 #1077) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• B

• J

• C

• S

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

Quordle today (game #1077) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1077, are…

• BORAX
• JUDGE
• CADET
• SALON

I surprised myself today by getting two words with tricky letters – BORAX and JUDGE – before the drawbridge went up. Although, having said that, if the drawbridge was on any kind of a timer I would definitely be on the wrong side of the moat.

In my defence I took my time to avoid my repeated mistake of forgetting letters and wasting lines and guesses that could never be right. Progress.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1077) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1077, are…

• TIMER
• MOOSE
• SWORD
• ETHOS

Quordle answers: The past 20

• 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
• Quordle #1070, Sunday 29 December: PURER, SPLAT, RABID, EMCEE
• Quordle #1069, Saturday 28 December: BUNCH, LABOR, TRIPE, BUNNY
• Quordle #1068, Friday 27 December: BRAWL, LYING, ORGAN, CRONY
• Quordle #1067, Thursday 26 December: TATTY, OVERT, FLOUR, SWEPT
• Quordle #1066, Wednesday 25 December: LIVER, CRIER, SHORE, MURKY
• Quordle #1065, Tuesday 24 December: TIPSY, SCALE, FLYER, VALVE
• Quordle #1064, Monday 23 December: SNAKE, SAVVY, ELBOW, TWEED
• Quordle #1063, Sunday 22 December: DOUBT, SLURP, PAPER, CIVIL
• Quordle #1062, Saturday 21 December: STRIP, BUDGE, SAPPY, SHELF
• Quordle #1061, Friday 20 December: PENAL, EAGLE, DILLY, QUITE
• Quordle #1060, Thursday 19 December: JEWEL, GNOME, TRAMP, IDLER
• 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

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 #574) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• STOP
• GROSS
• MAKE
• HOME
• YIELD
• VOLUME
• SLOW
• SNARE
• QUIET
• KETTLE
• NET
• MUTE
• EAR
• SLEEPY
• OIL
• CALM

NYT Connections today (game #574) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Totally chill
• GREEN: Get paid 
• BLUE: TV buttons
• PURPLE: Bang the ….

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 #574) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: HARDLY BUSTLING
• GREEN: EARN 
• BLUE: REMOTE CONTROL FUNCTIONS 
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "DRUM" 

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

NYT Connections today (game #574) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #574, are…

• YELLOW: HARDLY BUSTLING CALM, QUIET, SLEEPY, SLOW
• GREEN: EARN GROSS, MAKE, NET, YIELD
• BLUE: REMOTE CONTROL FUNCTIONS HOME, MUTE, STOP, VOLUME
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "DRUM" EAR, KETTLE, OIL, SNARE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 mistake

A very rare Connections for me today, as the first group I got was the purple collection of WORDS BEFORE “DRUM”. I got there after one mistake; I did initially think EAR was linked with VOLUME and MUTE, which both turned out to be REMOTE CONTROL FUNCTIONS instead.

“Mute” is the kind of remote control function I only discover when I press it accidentally – usually by sitting on it and usually at some vital moment of the final episode of a tense drama – and have to scan the buttons to turn it off. I suffer similar issues with Netflix, which I think I’m watching with subtitles on because I’m thoughtful and don’t want to disturb anyone, but actually I’m watching with subtitles on because I can’t remember how to turn the subtitles off.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 4 January, game #573)

• YELLOW: CRUSH INTO A COMPACT SHAPE BALL, CRUMPLE, SCRUNCH, WAD
• GREEN: FASTENERS BUCKLE, CLIP, HOOK, SNAP
• BLUE: MARK AS COMPLETED CHECK, CROSS, STRIKE, TICK
• PURPLE: DEPICTED IN DALÍ'S "THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY" ANT, BRANCH, CLOCK, MELTING

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.

• US semiconductor giant discloses HBM4 product launch in 2026, followed by HBM4E
• These are likely to be used by Nvidia's Rubin R100 GPU and AMD's successor to the Instinct MI400x
• Micron is a latecomer to a very crowded market that has SK Hynix at its helm

Micron has revealed further steps in its plan to capture a significant chunk of the rapidly expanding high-bandwidth memory market.

The US semiconductor giant revealed during its fiscal Q1 2025 earnings call it plans to introduce HBM4 memory products in 2026, followed by HBM4E in 2027/2028 with 64GB, 2TBps parts designed for advanced AI and data center applications.

Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron's President and CEO, stressed the growing importance of HBM in the company's plans, saying, "The HBM market will exhibit robust growth over the next few years. In 2028, we expect the HBM total addressable market (TAM) to grow four times from the $16 billion level in 2024 and to exceed $100 billion by 2030. Our TAM forecast for HBM in 2030 would be bigger than the size of the entire DRAM industry, including HBM, in calendar 2024."

(Image credit: Micron) Coming to a flagship GPU

Expressing excitement about its next generation HBM, Mehrotra added, "Leveraging the strong foundation and continued investments in proven 1β process technology, we expect Micron’s HBM4 will maintain time to market and power efficiency leadership while boosting performance by over 50% over HBM3E."

The HBM4E version, expected to arrive towards the end of 2027, will include a customizable logic base die using advanced manufacturing technology from TSMC. This design feature will allow certain customers to modify the logic layer to better suit their needs, with the goal of enhancing performance and efficiency.

The upcoming memory solutions are expected to be used in flagship GPUs such as Nvidia's Rubin R100 and AMD’s successor to the Instinct MI400x. Micron has already demonstrated traction in the market with its HBM3E technology. "We are proud to share that Micron's HBM3E 8H is designed into Nvidia’s Blackwell B200 and GB200 platforms," Mehrotra said, during the call.

While Micron is a relative newcomer to the HBM space, which is currently dominated by South Korean memory giant SK Hynix, and its neighbor and chief rival Samsung, the company remains optimistic about its competitive positioning.

"Based on our customer design wins and success in establishing deep partnerships with customers, industry enablers, and key technology partners like TSMC, we expect to be a leading supplier of HBM, with the most robust, trusted, and industry-leading technology roadmap and execution record," Mehrotra said.

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• SK Hynix has begun production of HBM3E for Blackwell Ultra GPUs
• Micron's DRAMless SSD could end low performance SATA drives
• A glimpse at what the future of memory and storage could look like

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Here are some highly rated series to check out, plus a look at what's new in January.

Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1,296 for Sunday, Jan. 5.

Commentary: Apple's current, ubiquitous phone design is rooted in the iPhone X and leaves some fans clamoring for a major upgrade. Meanwhile, other iPhone owners are switching to the Motorola Razr.

• Broadcom reportedly secures large HBM order from SK Hynix
• These chips will likely be used in AI hardware for at least one major CSP
• This is part of a broader trend to reduce reliance on Nvidia

Hyperscalers such as Google, Meta, and TikTok owner ByteDance are increasingly seeking to diversify their AI hardware supply chains, reducing their reliance on Nvidia, which has long dominated the sector.

Broadcom is playing a growing role in this shift, and in its recent earnings conference call, CEO Hock Tan told investors the company has three hyperscale customers who are each planning to deploy one million XPU clusters by 2027, and that it has been approached by two additional hyperscalers who are also in advanced development for their own AI XPUs.

Although Broadcom hasn’t named names, it is widely believed to be working with Google, Meta, ByteDance, and OpenAI on custom AI chips. The firm is also thought to be collaborating with Apple to develop the iPhone maker’s first artificial intelligence server chip, codenamed “Baltra,” providing the advanced networking technologies essential for AI processing.

Bad news for Nvidia

According to TheElec, Broadcom has now approached South Korean memory giant SK Hynix to provide the HBM it plans to use in custom AI chips for a "major" (but predictably unnamed) tech company.

TheElec’s sources say that Broadcom actively pursued SK Hynix to supply its verified HBM solutions and has secured a large order of the in-demand memory, with shipments expected to begin in the second half of 2025.

SK Hynix, Samsung’s biggest memory rival, is a key supplier of HBM to Nvidia, which likely won’t be thrilled with this latest news.

To meet the increased demand from Broadcom, SK Hynix is reportedly adjusting its production capacity. TheElec says the company will boost its 1b DRAM wafer output (used as the core die in its HBM) from 140,000–150,000 units to 160,000–170,000 units in 2025. There is a knock on with this expansion however, which is that it could delay the rollout of SK Hynix’s next-generation 1c DRAM as the company prioritizes its immediate production needs.

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• Broadcom is making some major changes to stop VMware exodus
• OpenAI is talking to Broadcom to produce AI chip capable of rivaling Nvidia
• Broadcom says three hyperscalers want to deploy 1,000,000 GPUs by 2027

• Apple Intelligence needs 7GB now, up from 4GB
• The increase is due to new features in iOS 18.2
• Expect the requirements to go up even further

Over the last year or so we've heard plenty about Apple Intelligence and how it's going to transform the way we use our Apple devices – and it seems the AI tech is also going to take up more internal storage on those devices too.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, the recently launched iOS 18.2 update needs 7GB of free local storage to install Apple Intelligence, according to Apple's website. When the AI features started appearing in iOS 18.1, the requirement was 4GB.

It's no surprise that the iOS 18.2 update requires so much more space on your device: it includes a wealth of new AI tricks, including the integration of ChatGPT with the Siri smart assistant, Genmoji, and Visual Intelligence.

The first batch of Apple Intelligence features that showed up with iOS 18.1 back in October included Writing Tools and Notification Summaries. These upgrades are going to continue to show up gradually as we make our way towards iOS 19 next year.

More to come

Apple Intelligence is an optional extra (Image credit: Apple)

Apple likes as much of its AI to run locally as possible: not relying on the cloud means faster response times and improved user privacy. As we're now seeing though, there is a cost in terms of storage space.

You can turn off Apple Intelligence if you want to: the setting is under Apple Intelligence & Siri on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. You can also choose to not install it in the first place, because it's not enabled by default on these devices.

However, you can't pick and choose the AI features you want: It's all or nothing. If you're running low on storage space on your device, then you may have to think twice about having Apple Intelligence enabled (or buy some more iCloud storage space, of course).

And it's likely that Apple Intelligence will demand even more storage space as we go through 2025: it's expected that iOS 18.4 will bring with it a host of new AI updates, including smarter features for Siri.

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• Privacy is more important than AI for the next iPhone
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• How to set up Apple Intelligence on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

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• amp fitness, a new AI-powered strength machine, is on display at CES 2025
• It’s backed by influencers such as online strength coach Chris Heria and actor Terry Crews
• amp officially launches in January 2025

When it comes to fitness, there are all kinds of gadgets designed to optimize our workouts, improve our health, and shoehorn technology into our otherwise-offline physical pursuits. From the best smartwatches and running watches to the best fitness apps and connected kit like Peloton, right down to the wacky stuff like continuous glucose monitors, technology has woven its way into our exercise and diets.

However, one area where technology hasn't so far been able to gain a foothold is strength training. Sure, there have been attempts – Technogym’s AI-powered dumbbells spring to mind – but while running and outdoor cycling got Strava, hiking got AllTrails and spin classes got Peloton, the barbell has yet to see any real tech-based innovation.

(Image credit: AMP)

That’s because, by its nature, strength training is a primal, offline, natural activity, one with little scope for enhancement beyond having a device to count your reps for you with mild inaccuracy, or to plan your next workout. You can’t measure muscle growth with a sensor. There are plenty of apps that help with programming, but in hardware terms, there’s nothing that can really enhance strength training beyond perhaps a rest timer.

That may all be about to change, however. Showcased at this year’s CES 2025 conference and available to pre-order now, amp takes the old-school gym-based cable machine and jazzes it up with a futuristic design and AI smarts. It’s a machine that might just be strength training’s 'Peloton moment'.

It’s essentially a slick-looking, highly adjustable cable machine with a camera and a companion app that you attach to a wall in your house. You can choose multiple kinds of resistance electronically, from a start-to-finish static mode to 'band', mode which starts out slack and becomes more resistant as you reach the peak of your movement, aping the use of resistance bands. You can control the level of resistance with a simple dial.

It’s got challenges and leaderboards to get those gamified Peloton addicts onboard, and follow-along workouts and programming produced in partnership with popular fitness influencers, such as YouTube star Chris Heria. A press release states the device “features an AI system that adapts workouts in real-time, ensuring users are always challenged and supported on their fitness journey”.

It’s endorsed by bodybuilders like Larry Wheels, and Brooklyn 99 actor Terry Crews has also thrown his (considerable) weight behind it.

There’s no denying it looks good, like a Hydrow (another connected fitness success story) mounted on the wall. It seems incredibly simple to use, and while I was initially skeptical about the benefits an AI-powered machine could bring to strength training, I can certainly see amp at least being a mild success, in an arena where other post-COVID home workout strength tech has failed dismally to generate any excitement. If it had been released in 2019, it probably would have been a roaring triumph.

We can’t wait to put it through its paces with a proper strength workout. amp will cost $1,795 in the US (around £1,450 / AU$2,900) – not cheap, but cheaper than a Peloton. It's available for pre-order now, and will release in the US initially in early January.

(Image credit: Future)

We’re covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES show floor!

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