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Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 3.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 572 for Friday, Jan. 3.

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 102 for Jan. 3.

Here are some hints -- and the answers -- for the Jan. 3 Strands puzzle, No. 306.

The regulations said ISPs had to treat all internet traffic equally.

While Americans might not mourn the loss of net neutrality, the court's ruling sets a troubling precedent for consumer protections in every industry.

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 #1075) - 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 #1075) - 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 #1075) - 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 #1075) - 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 #1075) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• P

• Q

• N

• S

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

Quordle today (game #1075) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1075, are…

• PERKY
• QUARK
• NAVEL
• SHEEN

I should have realized quicker that a U as a second letter was likely to trigger a word beginning with Q, but I got there in the end and was helped by the fact that I’d used a T in an earlier guess, meaning the word was not going to be Quart. Still, it took me a good few minutes of staring at the screen to come up with QUARK.

I momentarily thought Quordle was going to be very mean today and hit us with a J word too, but my guess of Jerky ended up being the much more gettable PERKY.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1075) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1075, are…

• IONIC
• SWEET
• SEWER
• TRUCE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• 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
• Quordle #1056, Sunday 15 December: DROVE, STILT, LINEN, GIANT
• Quordle #1055, Saturday 14 December: SPIEL, ONSET, TIGER, DITTO

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 #572) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SINGLE
• STICKER
• BELLY
• BUTTON
• HOLE
• SOLE
• OYSTER
• CLAM
• BUCK
• LUCK
• BALL
• TRUMPET
• MOREL
• ARCH
• SMACKER
• HEEL

NYT Connections today (game #572) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Tootsies 
• GREEN: Cash
• BLUE: Delicious funghi 
• PURPLE: Top pan

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 #572) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A FOOT 
• GREEN: ONE DOLLAR
• BLUE: KINDS OF MUSHROOMS 
• PURPLE: POT 

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

NYT Connections today (game #572) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #572, are…

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A FOOT ARCH, BALL, HEEL, SOLE
• GREEN: ONE DOLLAR BUCK, CLAM, SINGLE, SMACKER
• BLUE: KINDS OF MUSHROOMS BUTTON, MOREL, OYSTER, TRUMPET
• PURPLE: POT BELLY, HOLE, LUCK, STICKER

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 mistake

Connections played a nice trick today with OYSTER and CLAM making me think there had to be a seafood group – so I convinced myself that SMACKER and MOREL were types of mollusk. They are not.

Putting this error to one side, I managed to connect the PARTS OF A FOOT. Then, once I remembered that CLAM is slang for money and MOREL was actually a mushroom then the other three groups fell into place.

A satisfying teasing out of semi-useless knowledge.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, 2 January, game #571)

• YELLOW: PERCEIVE CATCH, CLOCK, NOTICE, REGISTER
• GREEN: CADENCE BEAT, METER, RHYTHM, TIME
• BLUE: ONE IN A GROUP OF TWELVE DONUT, INCH, JUROR, MONTH
• PURPLE: DOG __ DAYS, PADDLE, TAG, TIRED

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… On auto

NYT Strands today (game #306) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• RULER
• ROPE
• SIDE
• HIDE
• DRAG
• BURN

NYT Strands today (game #306) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Vehicle parts

NYT Strands today (game #306) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: right, 5th row

Last side: left, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #306) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #306, are…

• DOOR
• HOOD
• TRUNK
• MIRROR
• BUMPER
• GRILLE
• WINDSHIELD
• SPANGRAM: CAR BODY

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

A nice Strands to ease us into the first weekend of 2025, naming the various parts of a car that are excessively expensive to repair should you be unfortunate enough to have a bump.

I am fortunate in that most of my car accidents have involved inanimate objects that I have hit at about 3 miles per hour while reversing. Although I did also scrape the side of a police vehicle during a driving lesson. I’m a lot safer these days – unless you’re a bollard, post, or garden wall.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, 2 January, game #305)

• STOCK
• CELERY
• ONIONS
• CARROTS
• PEPPER
• NOODLES
• SPANGRAM: CHICKEN SOUP

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.

Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1,294 for Friday, Jan. 3.

Members of the Elsevier-published Journal of Human Evolution quit, citing AI production processes introducing errors, high author fees, and concerns over editorial independence.

• Images purporting to be of the MSI Gaming Trio RTX 5080 appear online – but are quickly deleted
• The images, if legitimate, support rumors that the RTX 5080 graphics card will be the first to launch after CES 2025
• The pictures also appear to confirm some of the specs for the upcoming GPU

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 appears to have leaked online, thanks to a couple of photos of the retail packaging for what appears to be an overclocked (OC) version of the card from one of Nvidia's third-party partners.

Appearing on a now-deleted ChipHell forum post (according to VideoCardz, which says it managed to grab the photos posted to the forum before the post was deleted), the retail packaging for what may be the MSI Gaming Trio RTX 5080 is shown from the front and the back, appearing to confirm some key details about the new card.

While it has to be said that ChipHell's forums have sometimes produced genuine photos and detail leaks of graphics cards and PC processors in the past, it's also an internet forum, so you'll want to take anything posted there with a grain of salt. After all, you can do amazing things with PhotoShop these days and if there's one thing to know about forum posters, it's that they are notorious clout-chasers, so they've been known to make stuff up for clicks, as well as be very susceptible for falling for fake photos and 'leaks' in the past.

That said, the photos do look pretty genuine at first glance, and the inclusion of the back of the retail box appears to confirm a few rumored spec details, and the fact that the photos purport to be of the RTX 5080 and not the flagship RTX 5090, does line up with rumors that the RTX 5080 will be the first Nvidia Blackwell GPU to hit the shelves, possibly as soon as January 21, 2025.

Confirmation of new specs? Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: ChipHell / Via VideoCardz)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: ChipHell / Via VideoCardz)

Other than their mere existence, the two photos also reveal some new details about the new GPU, assuming they are legit.

First, the new card will apparently include 16GB GDDR7 memory, as has long been speculated. It may also feature a 256-bit memory bus, much like its predecessor. These two specs alone mean it will likely be a monster of a GPU for 4K gaming.

VideoCardz goes on to claim that the card is expected to be the first consumer card to use the PCIe 5.0 interface standard and that the RTX 5080 will use Nvidia's GB203-400 Blackwell GPU, which is expected to have 10,752 CUDA cores.

If Nvidia's Blackwell architecture keeps the same SM structure as Lovelace (which is likely), that means the RTX 5080 will also have 84 SMs, so 84 ray-tracing cores and 84 tensor cores, altogether a 5% increase in core counts over the RTX 4080 Super.

None of this appears on the packaging, however, so at this point, this is all speculation, but with CES 2025 right around the corner, we can expect to know for sure by this time next week.

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Google's Gemini Live AI assistant may soon make a big leap to Windows taskbars, according to a Chromium patch spotted by Windows Latest. Though Gemini access is already available through Chrome's address bar, the Chromium patch hints at plans to integrate this AI feature into Chrome for Windows 11, Windows 10, and potentially other platforms. If this happens, it could make Gemini Live a key part of your browsing experience.

Gemini Live is designed for natural, human-like conversations while helping users a la ChatGPT. You can converse in real-time with the AI and get answers that consider context and tone of voice. It's a feature limited to the Gemini app for Android and iOS devices for now, but Google’s plans clearly involve making it much more widely available.

The patch to Chromium’s codebase that raises the possibility is labeled as addressing “floaty detach on Windows.” It’s connected to what Google calls GLIC, which appears to be shorthand for Gemini Live in Chrome. Essentially, Google is developing a floating panel to host Gemini Live in its browser. Chrome could be used for Gemini Live, which is what Microsoft Edge was used for Copilot. Microsoft’s Copilot started as a sidebar feature in Edge before transitioning into a standalone app.

The references to a floating panel suggest Gemini Live might not be tied to the browser window. Instead, it could be a standalone assistant, accessible from the taskbar, always ready to help. The Chromium patch hints that Google has solved some of the technical issues around the floating window, allowing Gemini Live to pop out as its own interface, separate from Chrome itself.

Floating Gemini

When the feature is released, you might simply click on a taskbar icon to summon Gemini Live, which could hover unobtrusively while you’re drafting an email or researching online. Unlike Copilot, which sometimes felt clunky, Gemini Live could offer a smoother and more conversational experience. And because it’s Google, you can expect tight integration with its ecosystem, from Gmail to Android devices.

Gemini Live would be ever-present, a permanent element of both online browsing and the desktop experience. Of course, that presumes any of the issues around the feature are dealt with beforehand. Chrome is already a resource-heavy browser, and adding AI features might raise concerns about performance, not to mention any expanded privacy concerns. Still, as Google tries to make Gemini usage universal, this will be a key step to beating Microsoft and other AI rivals.

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• The U.S. CPSC has announced that Apple's AirTag is now inline with Reese's Law.
• Apple's item tracker now features additional warnings about it's potential battery hazards.
• The law is centered around preventing 'life threatening ingestion of button cell or coin batteries'.

No, it’s not an AirTag 2, but Apple’s AirTag now comes with a warning label attached to the box and a symbol by the battery door to make the item tracker complaint with Reese’s Law in the United States, according to a new notice issued by U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

While Apple’s item tracker has come under scrutiny for unwanted tracking, this time, Apple’s item tracker is now in line with Reese’s Law's “warning label requirements” after being in violation.

The law is all about having the proper warning labels and notices on products with ‘button cell or coin batteries’ to prevent children from ‘life threatening ingestion.”

(Image credit: TechRadar)

Since its launch, Apple’s AirTag has had the proper mechanism for keeping the battery in place. However, units imported after the effective date of Reese’s Law – March 19, 2024 – were not in compliance because they were missing the label on the box or on the battery door for the tracker itself.

The company is now affixing a label to the box warning of the battery and to help prevent ingestion, as well as adding an icon to the interior of the door on the AirTag itself.

Additionally, since units were sold without the proper labels, an update to the Find My app’s interface for changing the battery warns “about the hazards of button and coin cell batteries.”

The CPSC worked with Apple to get the AirTag in line with Reese’s Law and is the one issuing the release revealing how the company is now compliant with the law. It’s a win-win, especially for consumer protection and hopefully to prevent battery ingestion.

Apple’s AirTag has been on the market since 2021 and has proven to be a very handy item tracker that works seamlessly with the iPhone, among other devices. One of the main benefits is that it has a user-replaceable battery, so making it safer and clearer of the potential dangers is important.

Of course, as with most Apple products, rumors are swirling around a successor to the original AirTag with better privacy and improved connectivity. That second-generation AirTag could arrive later this year, but for now, the current model is in line with Reese’s Law.

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Samsung's new lower-cost phone will get support for years to come.

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In a tweet on X.com, OpenAI CEO and founder Sam Altman listed what people most want most from the company in 2025. It makes for very interesting reading, and it's not all about ChatGPT.

In answer to the question “What would you like OpenAI to build/fix in 2025?” Altman has identified a list of common themes, and honestly, it’s a great wishlist for OpenAI to get started on. The themes are: AGI agents, a much better 4o upgrade, much better memory, longer context, a “grown up mode”, deep research feature, a better Sora, and more personalization.

common themes:AGIagentsmuch better 4o upgrademuch better memorylonger context“grown up mode”deep research featurebetter soramore personalization(interestingly, many great updates we have coming were mentioned not at all or very little!) https://t.co/lMZmlZif66December 30, 2024

AGI

The first thing on Altman’s list is AGI. AGI stands for Artificial General Intelligence and is the next level of artificial intelligence, where we create human-equivalent, or smarter-than-human intelligence, which some people think comes with as many dangers as opportunities.

I don’t think we’ll be getting AGI in 2025 despite it being top of the wishlist. When I interviewed Dr Ben Goertzel, one of the people who created the term AGI, last year he thought that 2029 was a more realistic date for it, but that's not to say that companies like OpenAI won't make some significant strides towards it in 2025.

Agents

The second thing listed on Alman’s list is Agents. These are automated AI bots that can perform tasks for you, and act like a true personal assistant, perhaps rescheduling missed appointments or ordering food items you’ve run out of.

We were expecting OpenAI to release its long-awaited Operator Agent as part of its ‘12 days of OpenAI’, but we were left disappointed. Since Operator Agent was supposed to be released in January, we’re expecting OpenAI to release something in the very near future.

ChatGPT improvements

I’m assuming that most parts of the wishlist referred to ChatGPT, specifically: longer context, more personalization, “grown up mode”, much better 4o upgrade, deep research feature and much better memory.

It’s been noticed that the rate of improvements in Large Language Models is slowing down significantly the more they evolve, so people’s everyday experience of ChatGPT is not as significantly different between the 4o model and the new o1 model as it was between the older ChatGPT 3 and ChatGPT 4 models. It’s interesting to note that most of the requested changes are not about the ability to answer deep math questions or generate better code, but rather they’re about more simple things like a better memory of who it’s talking to and a more personalized user experience.

Call me superficial, but I would love these things too. It’s not immediately clear what a “grown up mode” means, but presumably, this would involve taking off some of the guardrails that ChatGPT currently works within. Personally, I think they’re there for a good reason, so I’m not sure how I feel about that.

An example of video generated by Sora. (Image credit: Future) A better Sora

Sora was released, to a lot of praise, as part of ‘12 days of OpenAI’ event, and while it is without doubt one of the best AI video generators out there, its long development process (it was announced in February 2024) has allowed others to catch up.

While it may sound ungrateful to ask for a "better Sora" so soon after its release, rivals like Pika can already do things that it can’t do and are stealing its thunder. I'd like to see a more practical Sora. Give me some more reasons why I'd want to create AI video. We're not all budding film directors, and some of us just want to use AI to make our lives easier.

What would I love to see?

I don’t think the world is quite ready for AGI yet, even if it was a technical possibility. Of everything on the wishlist, improvements to ChatGPT top my list. Particularly better memory, a feature that Google is spending a lot of time developing for ChatGPT rival Gemini, along with its deep research feature.

To finish off his tweet, Altman ended with the enigmatic, “Interestingly, many great updates we have coming were mentioned not at all or very little!”

Perhaps he’s just trying to keep us on our toes about what 2025 will look like, but wondering what OpenAI is going to come up with that's not on the wishlist has certainly whetted my appetite for 2025. Bring it on!

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The Treasury Department says the disinformation was distributed across at least 100 websites designed to imitate legitimate news outlets, through a "network of U.S.-based facilitators."

Prep for anything in 2025 -- from inclement weather to off-grid adventures -- with the Jackery Explorer 300 while it's at an all-time low price.

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