Technology

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 19

Tom Hardy also weighed in during Friday's Sony panel.

Internet options are somewhat limited in Boise, Idaho, but there are a few good providers with fast and affordable plans. Here are CNET's top picks of internet providers in Boise.

There was a time when the Kindle range set the example for other ereaders to follow, but looking at the new 2024 Kindles from Amazon, I'm quite sure that time has passed. It now seems that Amazon is doing just enough to keep up with Kobo and that's particularly true for the new Kindle Colorsoft.

The first-ever color Kindle doesn't come to Australia (where I'm based) until 2025 – date and price TBC – so I haven't even seen it yet, but just going by what my colleagues in the US have said about it, I'm not convinced it should cost as much as $279.99 / £269.99 (about AU$420).

In comparison, both of Kobo's 2024 color ereaders – the Libra Colour and the Clara Colour – are more affordable, with the former actually offering far more value for money. Oh, and they're both repairable too, which none of the new Kindles are as far as I can tell.

Show me the features

There were rumors (via Good eReader) that Amazon's first color Kindle would have stylus support and could adopt the new E Ink Gallery 3 screen technology, which promised better saturation than the current E Ink Kaleido 3 displays used in other ereaders, including the Kobo Libra Colour and Clara Colour.

Neither of those, as we now know, are true. The Kindle Colorsoft uses the Kaleido 3 panel and there are no writing features. While it shares the same screen size as the Libra Colour (7 inches) and the same amount of internal storage (32GB), it misses out on the ergonomic build of its Kobo counterpart as well stylus support. Both offer Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity too, but the Kindle Colorsoft does get you wireless charging.

However, given how fiddly wireless charging was to use on the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, I'm not quite sure this one feature alone should account for the higher price over the $219.99 / £199.99 / AU$359.95 of the Libra Colour.

(Image credit: Amazon) I'm still not convinced

Without the asymmetric thickness and the page-turn buttons, the Colorsoft seems to be in direct competition with the Kobo Clara Colour instead, which retails for $149.99 / £139.99 / AU$259.95. This price, however, is for a 6-inch ereader using the same screen tech and with just 16GB of onboard storage.

Despite the color display, the Clara Color is cheaper than the 2024 Kindle Paperwhite ($159.99 / £159.99 / AU$299) which, however, now sports a 7-inch E Ink Carta 1300 display. I'm really keen to see this display in action on the new Paperwhite as I loved it on the Kobo Clara BW. It proved to have not just faster page turns, but I said that it was the best display on any monochrome ereader to date in my Kobo Clara BW review. If Amazon has managed to optimize it well for its new 7-inch ereader, I could justify the purchase of the 2024 Paperwhite, but I am struggling with the Colorsoft in context with the competition.

While the entire Kindle range (other than the Scribe) really needed a facelift, I'm not entirely sold on the new releases. That said, I haven't yet seen – or tried – any of them in person and will happily stand corrected when I've done the usual in-depth testing I do for ereaders. Until then, if you need me to recommend ereaders, I'd probably say go for a Kobo.

Also, Amazon, where the heck is an updated Kindle Oasis? It was too lovely an ereader to have been killed off!

You might also like...

• Kindle vs Kobo: which ereader should you choose?
• Until we do in-depth reviews of the new Kindles, check out our current best ereader picks
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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 #230) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Turn it up a notch

NYT Strands today (game #230) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SPAN
• SPAR
• PROM
• HERE
• SOME
• MOTE

NYT Strands today (game #230) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Give it some more

NYT Strands today (game #230) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: top, 5th column

Last: 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 #230) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #230, are…

• ZING
• KICK
• SPARK
• PIZZAZZ
• FIZZ
• OOMPH
• VERVE
• SPANGRAM: EXTRASOMETHING

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

Look at all those Zs! Seven of them in total, including four in PIZZAZZ alone. These did help me to get started, though, because Z doesn't go with many other letters (vowels, basically), which made it easier to find ZING. Plus ZZ is an obvious combination and it was fairly easy to also find FIZZ and the aforementioned PIZZAZZ. I stumbled upon KICK and SPARK by accident and by that point had so much of the board uncovered that it felt like completing it would be a simple task.

But no. I stalled at that stage and needed a hint to unlock OOMPH. That did the trick, and when I finally spotted the spangram, EXTRASOMETHING, victory was only a guess away.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 18 October, game #229)

• GYOZA
• SAMOSA
• WONTON
• PIEROGI
• EMPANADA
• SPANGRAM: DUMPLINGS

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.

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 #496) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PROVOKE
• SOAP
• NETTLE
• CANDLE
• INSULT
• INCENSE
• INSPIRE
• MADDEN
• JELLYFISH
• CIVILIZATION
• PROMPT
• LOTION
• HALO
• GENERATE
• WASP
• METROID

NYT Connections today (game #496) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Make it happen
• Green: Smells good
• Blue: Ouch!
• Purple: Console yourself

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 #496) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: BRING ABOUT
• GREEN: THINGS THAT ARE OFTEN SCENTED
• BLUE: THINGS THAT MIGHT STING
• PURPLE: VIDEO GAME FRANCHISES

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

NYT Connections today (game #496) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #496, are…

• YELLOW: BRING ABOUT GENERATE, INSPIRE, PROMPT, PROVOKE
• GREEN: THINGS THAT ARE OFTEN SCENTED CANDLE, INCENSE, LOTION, SOAP
• BLUE: THINGS THAT MIGHT STING INSULT, JELLYFISH, NETTLE, WASP
• PURPLE: VIDEO GAME FRANCHISES CIVILIZATION, HALO, MADDEN, METROID

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I didn't quite manage the reverse rainbow in today's Connections, but that was only because I could decide which was easiest out of BRING ABOUT (yellow) and THINGS THAT ARE OFTEN SCENTED (green). I'm not beating myself up about that, because I'm mainly just pleased that I solved the purple and blue groups first, which is now what I'm trying to do each time.

Admittedly, that's a lot easier when all four puzzles are relatively simple as they are today. If you're not a gamer then purple might cause you some trouble – but I am, so I knew right away that CIVILIZATION, HALO, MADDEN and METROID went together. Blue was fairly obvious for anyone, with THINGS THAT MIGHT STING bringing in INSULT, JELLYFISH, NETTLE and WASP. All rather straightforward, really.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 18 October, game #495)

• YELLOW: CLUNKER BUST, DUD, FLOP, MISS
• GREEN: OPPORTUNITY CHANCE, SHOT, TIME, TURN
• BLUE: NON-CASH WAY TO PAY CARD, CHARGE, CREDIT, PLASTIC
• PURPLE: AMAZON ___ KINDLE, PRIME, RAINFOREST, RIVER

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.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 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 #999) - 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 #999) - 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 #999) - 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 #999) - 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 #999) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• G

• B

• E

• H

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

Quordle today (game #999) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #999, are…

• GUSTY
• BROKE
• ENJOY
• HAZEL

I made a ridiculously stupid mistake today that saw me lose my fairly unimpressive streak that I'd been building up since my last stupid mistake. This appears to be a bit of a habit…

I was struggling to solve this Quordle anyway, with GUSTY and ENJOY both causing me problems; the way the letters fell for me it could have been ENJOY or ENVOY, and GUSTY or MUSTY or BUSTY or FUSTY, so I used a few guesses to get the right ones. But I completely miscalculated; I completed GUSTY in the top left and looked down to the bottom right for what the final answer could be, then realized that I'd already used up all my attempts and had in fact failed before I even got to HAZEL. What a fool.

In my defence, today's Quordle is a tricky one, with two uncommon letters and lots of similarly spelled words, so maybe I wouldn't have solved it anyway.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #999) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #999, are…

• PAPAL
• TENTH
• SCALE
• OUTDO

Quordle answers: The past 20

• 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
• Quordle #985, Saturday 5 October: ELECT, CROAK, FRISK, JAUNT
• Quordle #984, Friday 4 October: ELFIN, GRAIL, PATIO, RECAP
• Quordle #983, Thursday 3 October: TENTH, REMIT, CURVE, TOAST
• Quordle #982, Wednesday 2 October: ARGUE, CRANE, TOKEN, PRINT
• Quordle #981, Tuesday 1 October: FRILL, MADLY, GRANT, NYLON
• Quordle #980, Monday 30 September: CRUSH, TARDY, TEACH, STUMP
• Quordle #979, Sunday 29 September: SERIF, BORNE, WRITE, SLEEK

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Ted Lasso's season three finale was a tearjerker and gave a fitting end to the titular character. After spending time at Richmond AFC as their coach, making friends and rivals along the way, Ted decided to return to Kansas City. But if new reports are anything to go by, he could be boarding a new flight back to London for season four.

Apple TV Plus has not yet confirmed the future of one of its best TV shows, but there are rumors suggesting that it could start filming in January 2025, just a few months away. But these reports should be taken with a pinch of salt, as we have no official word from the producers or the streaming service.

What has been said about Ted Lasso season 4?

According to 9To5Mac, the Magic Rays of Light podcast has previously provided exclusive details suggesting Ted Lasso’s new production start date. They also noted that it has now been publicly listed on the Film & Television Industry Alliance’s website.

In addition, Deadline exclusively reported that Warner Bros. Television had picked up the options on three cast members: Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca Walton), Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent), and Jeremy Swift (Leslie Higgins). They also wrote, "the cast have all said repeatedly that they would be happy to reprise their roles if an opportunity arises."

But while there is some evidence to suggest season four could go ahead, it's too early to get excited. Ted Lasso's future is in the hands of Apple TV Plus and other factors, so until we've got word on all that, it's probably best to manage your expectations!

Personally, I'd love to see more from the series, but I'll get excited about other confirmed Apple TV renewals for now. I'm still counting down the days until Severance season two, if you were wondering.

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• My favorite Apple TV Plus comedy Shrinking has been renewed for season 3, and it's exactly what the doctor ordered for my Ted Lasso withdrawal
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Lauren Greenfield, director of the docuseries Social Studies, says we have to have empathy for teens growing up online. “It's not fair to ask them to self-regulate when the apps have been designed to be addictive.”

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