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Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1225 for Oct. 26.

Here are some hints, and the answers, for the Oct. 26 Strands puzzle, No. 237.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 503 for Oct. 26.

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 26

Just because you're using a monitor with a laptop doesn't mean you have to keep the lid open.

Pigs are noisy, but AI may be able to interpret their sounds and tell us what they are feeling based on them. A group of scientists has developed an AI algorithm that can decode pigs' emotions based on their grunts, squeals, and snuffles. The research aims to help farmers understand the emotional and physical health as well as well-being of their animals. Learning that pigs are happy, sad, stressed, or something else can help those raising them work out any potential issues affecting the animals and maintain them in better conditions.

The researchers used thousands of recordings of pigs in all kinds of situations during their lives, right up until they went to the slaughterhouse in some cases. Every squeal and grunt was tagged and labeled depending on whether the pig was experiencing a positive or negative experience. Soon, the AI could determine the emotions that evoked different sounds. For instance, high-pitched squeals often mean fear or stress, while short grunts mean the pig is content.

There’s a lot of high-tech equipment used to monitor the physical health of animals on modern farms. Adding their psychological fitness to the list could be a real boon for farmers. Happy pigs are healthy, and stressed pigs might be a sign of bigger problems. Happier pigs aren’t just good for ethical reasons; they also tend to be more valuable for meat.

Doolitle AI

The researchers believe that with enough data, this AI could eventually be adapted to understand the emotions of other animals, too. There are already efforts in that arena. The new Shazam Band leverages AI to translate for animals. The collar around your dog or cat (or any animal) uses sensors to monitor how the animal responds to what you say to it and their movements. The AI interprets that into human language and broadcasts from speakers in the collar. Over time, it learns your pet's communication skills and becomes more accurate.

Putting collars like that around the millions of pigs raised on farms is not likely to be practical. Still, the AI algorithm could be deployed in other useful ways. The researchers are looking to create an app that employs the algorithm that farmers can use to check up on temperature or watch for wild animals. Then, all that's needed is to connect the device to a loom and thread to let the pig make its own tapestry to proclaim how great it is, no spider necessary.

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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 #503) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SWING
• THROW
• ROCKER
• ROLLER
• RATTLE
• THREAD
• CRADLE
• SPOOL
• CAN
• RUFFLE
• CHAT
• HAMMOCK
• CONVERSATION
• SILO
• CHAIN
• FAZE

NYT Connections today (game #503) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Cause (minor?) distress
• Green: Communication series, probably online
• Blue: Rock a bye baby?
• Purple: All of a shape

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 #503) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: FLUSTER
• GREEN: SERIES OF MESSAGES
• BLUE: PLACES TO LIE/SIT THAT MOVE
• PURPLE: CYLINDER-SHAPED THINGS

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

NYT Connections today (game #503) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #503, are…

• YELLOW: FLUSTER FAZE, RATTLE, RUFFLE, THROW
• GREEN: SERIES OF MESSAGES CHAIN, CHAT, CONVERSATION, THREAD
• BLUE: PLACES TO LIE/SIT THAT MOVE CRADLE, HAMMOCK, ROCKER, SWING
• PURPLE: CYLINDER-SHAPED THINGS CAN, ROLLER, SILO, SPOOL

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I'm pretty sure that I could have played today's Connections for a week and never have spotted the link between SPOOL, CAN, ROLLER and SILO. Yes, they are all CYLINDER-SHAPED THINGS – but I don't think that would ever have occurred to me; the connection is just too obtuse. Then again it is the purple group, so it's not like it was ever going to be easy.

Fortunately the other three were nowhere near as bad. I spotted blue first, guessing that CRADLE, HAMMOCK, ROCKER and SWING were all PLACES TO LIE/SIT THAT MOVE – or if not quite that, then at least recognizing that they were all of a kind. Yellow and green were straightforward too, meaning my fledgling streak advanced to 10.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 25 October, game #502)

• YELLOW: • DOT, PERIOD, POINT, TITTLE
• GREEN: EVENT WITH DANCING BALL, FORMAL, HOP, RAVE
• BLUE: IPHONE MESSAGE TAPBACK RESPONSES EXCLAMATION POINTS, HEART, QUESTION MARK, THUMBS UP
• PURPLE: “PAN” BAD REVIEW, CAMERA MOVEMENT, COOKWARE, SATYR

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Sing-song

NYT Strands today (game #237) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• RAIL
• BALL
• BELL
• CABLE
• SING
• SALT

NYT Strands today (game #237) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• No instruments required

NYT Strands today (game #237) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 5th row

Last: right, 6th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #237) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #237, are…

• ARIA
• BALLAD
• SHANTY
• JINGLE
• LULLABY
• SPIRITUAL
• SPANGRAM: VOCALMUSIC

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 2 hints

I was mildly concerned when I uncovered ARIA as the first answer today. It was sitting prominently in the top-left corner of the board, and given that the theme clue was 'Sing-song' it seemed likely to be a solution. And it was. However, all I know about ARIAs is that they are an opera thing – and I know about as much about opera as I do about brain surgery. Probably less, frankly.

Fortunately, this wasn't a Strands puzzle all about opera, but rather one about VOCALMUSIC. Establishing that fact was not too tricky, because I spotted the MUSIC part of the spangram on account of the SIC part being right in the middle height-wise and on the edge of the board, which led me to the full phrase. I then got BALLAD and SHANTY easily enough because they were squashed in below the spangram. so far, so good.

Only then I stalled. I couldn't think of any other types of VOCALMUSIC and needed to use hints for JINGLE and LULLABY. I added SPIRITUAL by default, but was rather disappointed I hadn't done better here.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 25 October, game #236)

• CHIRP
• SQUEAK
• PURR
• GROWL
• BARK
• SQUAWK
• GRUNT
• MEOW
• SPANGRAM: PETSOUNDS

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 #1006) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* 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 #1006) - 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 #1006) - 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 #1006) - 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 #1006) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• D

• C

• B

• S

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

Quordle today (game #1006) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1006, are…

• DUCHY
• CANNY
• BLOCK
• SMART

Well, this was about as easy as a Quordle ever gets for me. Like, really, really easy.

My strategy involves playing three set start words every day, and though I have experimented with other approaches, it's by far the most successful I've tried. Those three words are STARE, DOILY and PUNCH and today they gave me all five letters for the top-left answer, four for the top- and bottom-right quadrants and three for the bottom left.

The first of those merely needed me to solve an anagram, then – which I did to find DUCHY, possibly the hardest word here simply because it's not a widely used term. CANNY was the other contender for toughest to solve – it has a repeated N, after all – but there was no other option for me, so it was again rather simple.

SMART was another where the answer was given to me by my start words – I knew it was S-ART and didn't have any other letters that could fit but the M. So that just left BLOCK. Here I did need a bit of luck, because it also could have been FLOCK, but with only a 50/50 ahead of me there was no point in playing a word to narrow down those options, so I guessed BLOCK and solved it in seven.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1006) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1006, are…

• SHALE
• SWILL
• TOWER
• DADDY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• 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
• Quordle #993, Sunday 13 October: UNFIT, NYMPH, THUMB, PUREE
• Quordle #992, Saturday 12 October: SAUCY, UNDUE, EGRET, HELLO
• Quordle #991, Friday 11 October: RINSE, ANIME, PUSHY, ZEBRA
• Quordle #990, Thursday 10 October: UNTIL, MARSH, METAL, WINDY
• Quordle #989, Wednesday 9 October: TRIAL, HUSKY, DOWNY, TRADE
• Quordle #988, Tuesday 8 October: TROUT, HATER, BARGE, DOZEN
• Quordle #987, Monday 7 October: CAULK, HALVE, APING, HEATH
• Quordle #986, Sunday 6 October: FUDGE, TENOR, BEGAT, ROUSE

A February cyberattack on a UnitedHealth subsidiary compromised the personal data of some one-third of Americans.

We’ve all been using photo filters and related tools for years to make our faces, food, and fall decor look their best. AI tools arguably manipulate photos in fundamental ways well beyond better lighting and removing red eyes.

Google Photos has several generative AI features that can alter an image, but Google will now mark on a photo that you’ve used those tools in the name of transparency.

Starting next week, any photo edited with Google’s Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, or Zoom Enhance tools will show a disclaimer indicating that fact within the Google Photos app. The idea is to balance out how easy it is to use AI editing tools in ways that are hard to spot by looking. Google hopes the update will reduce any confusion about image authenticity, whether innocent or done with malicious intent.

Google already marks a photo’s metadata if it’s been edited with generative AI using technical standards created by the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC). The metadata is only seen when examining the data behind a photo, relevant only for investigative purposes and record-keeping. But the update digs out that bit of metadata to show along with an image’s more mundane details, such as its file name and location.

AI image mania

Google isn’t singling out its AI tools for the transparency initiative either. Any blended image will have a disclaimer. For instance, the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 smartphones have two photo features: Best Take and Add Me. Best Take will meld together several photos taken together of a group of people into one image to show everyone at their most photogenic, while Add Me can make it look like someone is in a picture who wasn’t there. As these are in the realm of synthetic image creation, Google decided to give them a tag indicating they are built from multiple pictures, though not with AI tools.

You probably won’t notice the change unless you decide to check a picture that seems a little too amazing or if you want to check everything you see out of well-founded caution. However, professionals will probably appreciate Google’s move since they don’t want to undermine their credibility in a dispute over whether they used AI. Trusting a photograph isn’t always enough when AI tools are good enough to trick the eye. A tag or lack thereof by Google might boost trust in a photo.

Google’s move points to what may be the future of photography and digital media as AI tools grow more common. Of course, doing so is also a marketing move. It’s a very minor change to Google Photos in many ways, but proclaiming it helps Google look like it's being responsible about AI while actually doing so.

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The recent RISC-V Summit in Santa Clara, California, saw major industry players like Nvidia, Qualcomm, Google, and Samsung deliver presentations focused on AI and the expanding role of the RISC-V architecture.

The involvement of such big name players put a spotlight on the growing momentum behind RISC-V, which is increasingly being seen as viable challenger to proprietary architectures like Arm and x86.

Nvidia, which has used RISC-V in its GPU microcontrollers for nearly a decade, presented a 20-minute keynote titled “One Architecture, Dozens of Applications, Billions of Processors,” presented by its VP of Multimedia Architecture/ASIC, Frans Sijstermans exploring the company has used RISC-V to improve its products, highlighting the architecture’s growing influence in GPU design.

Building new AI accelerators

Having previously announced its long-term commitment to RISC-V, Qualcomm also took to the stage to discuss Sail and other alternative approaches to providing a single source of truth for the RISC-V ISA. The company also participated in a keynote panel on the future of AI and security, alongside Nvidia and others.

Samsung highlighted how it has successfully integrated RISC-V CPUs into its embedded systems, and offered insights on how Samsung Foundry is helping customers innovate with RISC-V. The company also discussed ways it has optimized chip and chiplet performance to create smarter, more efficient systems.

One of the definite highlights of the event was a talk from Google DeepMind’s Cliff Young and Martin Maas, who spoke on the benefits of building new AI accelerators with RISC-V. Google’s TPUs are based on the architecture, and the session covered the pair’s experiences at Google designing and deploying successful accelerators and the challenges faced along the way.

Although widespread server and PC adoption may take time, RISC-V is gaining momentum in both the AI and automotive sectors, with other summit speakers discussing more about this and cover how upcoming computing trends could be shaped by the architecture, including RISC-V’s role in generative AI and high-performance computing.

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• Modular laptop vendor Framework releases RISC-V motherboard
• This 192-core RISC-V processor could be AMD and Intel's biggest rival yet
• Large Chinese tech company has announced 3,072-core RISC-V server

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