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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 #460) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• BEETLE
• JUICE
• ENERGY
• LEVEL
• COW
• PEP
• FOCUS
• BEANS
• ZIP
• JACK
• LIFE
• TENET
• GIANT
• VOLT
• CIVIC
• REFER

NYT Connections today (game #460) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Dynamism
• Green: Reads both ways
• Blue: In a specific fairy tale
• Purple: What are you driving?

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 #460) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: VITALITY
• GREEN: PALINDROMES FEATURING “E”
• BLUE: FEATURED IN “JACK AND THE BEANSTALK”
• PURPLE: CAR MODELS

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

NYT Connections today (game #460) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #460, are…

• YELLOW: VITALITY ENERGY, JUICE, LIFE, ZIP
• GREEN: PALINDROMES FEATURING “E” LEVEL, PEP, REFER, TENET
• BLUE: FEATURED IN “JACK AND THE BEANSTALK” BEANS, COW, GIANT, JACK
• PURPLE: CAR MODELS BEETLE, CIVIC, FOCUS, VOLT

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Is it just me or has Connections got a lot easier lately? I don't feel like I'm doing anything different, but after multiple failures over a two-to-three-week period I've now beaten eight in a row. And today's might be the simplest of them.

The only one I didn't solve was green – PALINDROMES FEATURING “E”. I'm surprised this was the green group, because it's harder than either blue or purple, and they are meant to be in difficulty order. I guess finding CAR MODELS (purple) might be tricky if you're not a driver, but they're all generally well known. And as for blue… is there anyone on the planet who wouldn't spot that the BEANS, COW, GIANT and JACK go together?

Not that I'm complaining – it's nice to actually feel like I'm good at this game!

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, 12 September, game #459)

• YELLOW: MARK ONLINE FOR LATER BOOKMARK, FAVORITE, LIKE, SAVE
• GREEN: BEHALF ADVANTAGE, BENEFIT, INTEREST, SAKE
• BLUE: NBA LEGENDS, FAMILIARLY BIRD, CURRY, KOBE, MAGIC
• PURPLE: ENDING WITH GREEK LETTERS BIOTA, FETA, MOCHI, PEPSI

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 #963) - 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 #963) - 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 #963) - 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 #963) - 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 #963) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• L

• O

• F

• P

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

Quordle today (game #963) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #963, are…

• LEANT
• ORGAN
• FILLY
• PLAIT

When my start words – STARE, DOILY, PUNCH – don't work well enough, I turn to my unofficial fourth word BEFOG. And more often than not, it does the trick. That was certainly the case today. Not only did it give me the F that enabled me to choose between FILLY and BILLY, but it also uncovered the G that I needed for ORGAN and placed the E that I needed for LEANT. Result!

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

Daily Sequence today (game #963) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #963, are…

• DONOR
• GREAT
• EJECT
• BALMY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #962, Thursday 12 September: ARBOR, STARK, LEAVE, GOOFY
• Quordle #961, Wednesday 11 September: ROUGH, CACTI, SAVOY, ODDER
• Quordle #960, Tuesday 10 September: PLUMB, SEIZE, EARLY, ASSET
• Quordle #959, Monday 9 September: CHIRP, BEADY, THETA, MINUS
• Quordle #958, Sunday 8 September: TEASE, AGATE, PRIDE, PLATE
• Quordle #957, Saturday 7 September: LASSO, TILDE, BUNCH, PRONG
• Quordle #956, Friday 6 September: FARCE, WOOLY, LOCAL, NIGHT
• Quordle #955, Thursday 5 September: SNIDE, EGRET, AMONG, SHINY
• Quordle #954, Wednesday 4 September: POINT, WITTY, GAFFE, ABUSE
• Quordle #953, Tuesday 3 September: ATOLL, ANGER, OCEAN, SWEEP
• Quordle #952, Monday 2 September: HABIT, LODGE, PLAIN, DRIFT
• Quordle #951, Sunday 1 September: RABBI, CRAWL, GUPPY, BRAND
• Quordle #950, Saturday 31 August: AWOKE, TIBIA, ITCHY, SNACK
• Quordle #949, Friday 30 August: ARISE, OLDER, ISSUE, ERUPT
• Quordle #948, Thursday 29 August: DECAY, DRUID, AVOID, KNEED
• Quordle #947, Wednesday 28 August: VIOLA, GONER, CAVIL, SHARE
• Quordle #946, Tuesday 27 August: ABYSS, DAILY, AGONY, MUSKY
• Quordle #945, Monday 26 August: NEVER, CHUNK, AUNTY, CROUP
• Quordle #944, Sunday 25 August: APTLY, LEVER, STORK, WIDOW
• Quordle #943, Saturday 24 August: EVENT, APNEA, SWATH, IRONY

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Boots and saddles

NYT Strands today (game #194) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• STORE
• SNORE
• COWS
• COWL
• TOOL
• TOOT

NYT Strands today (game #194) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Open range

NYT Strands today (game #194) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 5th 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 #194) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #194, are…

• COWBOY
• SHERIFF
• DUEL
• BOUNTY
• HORSE
• SALOON
• OUTLAW
• SPANGRAM: WESTERNS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Here's yet another easy Strands puzzle to get your day off to a good start. And frankly, it's been a while since we've had a truly difficult one.

Today's theme is WESTERNS as per the spangram, a concept that was heavily teased by the theme clue of 'Boots and saddles' and confirmed the second I uncovered COWBOY. After that it was simply a question of hunting through those letters like a prospector sifting for gold… None were too hard to find, and I completed this one in about five minutes flat.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday 12 September, game #193)

• LANE
• STREET
• ROAD
• AVENUE
• HIGHWAY
• BOULEVARD
• SPANGRAM: THOROUGHFARE

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.

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At Apple’s “It’s Glowtime.” special event, the technology giant unveiled a pretty important and powerful health feature coming to AirPods Pro 2. Of course, that’s the forthcoming “Hearing Aid” functionality coupled with hearing protection and a hearing test feature – all of which would be arriving in a software update at no additional cost.

Now, three days after Apple unveiled the feature and noted that it was pending FDA authorization, a greenlight was just issued. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (aka the FDA) authorized the AirPods Pro Hearing Aid feature as the “first over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid software device.”

It’s a critical step for Apple, as they needed this approval to roll out the feature. Furthermore, it’s a big deal for the over-the-counter hearing aid industry, and Apple getting the first-ever authorization is a significant step. 

The acting director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health said, “Today’s marketing authorization of an over-the-counter hearing aid software on a widely used consumer audio product is another step that advances the availability, accessibility and acceptability of hearing support for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.”

(Image credit: Future)

The FDA evaluated the feature “in a clinical study with 118 subjects with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, at multiple U.S. sites,” and the results “demonstrated that subjects who used the HAF self-fitting strategy achieved similar perceived benefit as subjects who received professional fitting of the same device.” This validation by the FDA led to the overall marketing authorization of the feature for Apple, which likely matches the tests and studies that the technology company conducted internally. 

AirPods Pro gaining the Hearing Aid feature is a big step, especially for folks with mild to moderate hearing loss. As an over-the-counter solution, and, actually, a software update that will hit existing AirPods Pro 2, it offers an alternative to purchasing other over-the-counter hearing aids, which can be more expensive.

Once available, to use the Hearing Aid feature on AirPods Pro 2, you’ll conduct the Hearing Aid test to establish a hearing profile, and then AirPods Pro 2 will make adjustments in real-time to boost sound. Apple notes that the AirPods Pro 2 will function as a “clinical-grade hearing aid,” and users will be able to make adjustments to tone, volume, and balance when they choose so.

Additionally, this authorization from the FDA allows Apple to roll out the hearing test feature on AirPods Pro 2, which TechRadar’s Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff had the chance to test. This feature, as well as hearing aid functionality and other hearing protections baked into AirPods Pro 2, move the earbuds past just being a device for listening and connecting with others. It builds upon noise level alerts for what you’re listening to on AirPods and environmental alerts for noise built into the Apple Watch.

With Apple gaining the FDA’s authorization for its AirPods Pro Hearing Aid feature, we’re likely one step closer to the feature being rolled out. As shared during the keynote and in a press release, Apple plans to release the Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features this fall in over 100 countries, including the United States, Germany, and Japan. 

These will come in the form of a software update for AirPods Pro 2 in conjunction with an iPhone or iPad that is running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18.

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Fast answers aren't always the best, which might be the key takeaway from the arrival of OpenAI Strawberry – now called o1-preview – a new ChatGPT reasoning model that takes longer to give you what might be vastly better answers.

OpenAI announced the preview release on Thursday in a blog post, saying that it will arrive in ChatGPT and the generative AI company's API. I can confirm that the o1-preview and a faster, cheaper model o1-mini are both live in our ChatGPT Plus account. The new models will not yet appear in the free ChatGPT accounts, though.

Strawberry has been eagerly anticipated because of its possible human-like-thinking capabilities. In the weeks before this announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has teased us with numerous cheeky fruit references, but has also made it clear in recent months that generative AI was set to make a significant leap forward.

In the blog post, OpenAI explained, "We trained these models to spend more time thinking through problems before they respond, much like a person would. Through training, they learn to refine their thinking process, try different strategies, and recognize their mistakes."

Ph.D intelligence

OpenAI claims this more powerful o1-preview has performed "similarly to PhD students on challenging benchmark tasks in physics, chemistry, and biology." And that's key here. o1-preview is a generative model that might have the greatest application in academia, not for helping you write an engaging prom-posal.

One example given in a video accompanying the blog is gene sequencing. In it, a scientist notes that while humans can't keep track of everything in gene sequencing, an AI can. The scientist refers to the new model as "chat with reasoning" and shows how when she types in a question, there's a moment where o1-preview says "Thinking." The value of it is that it keeps her from rabbit-holing into the wrong part of gene theory.

However, o1-preview is not a replacement for ChatGPT-4o, which is barely a month old. The new model isn't searching the web or capable of ingesting files and images. Though, that will likely show up at some point.

If biology and math are not your thing, the lighter and slightly more agile o1-mini might be for you, and is also live in ChatGPT Plus now. It's particularly adept at coding.

You can try out the new models in ChatGPT Plus ($20 a month) by logging in and then selecting the model drop-down menu. You'll see o1-preview, and o1-mini have been added to the list as of this story publishing.

It will be interesting to see what people do with the model formerly known as Strawberry and if people grow impatient while waiting for an o1-preview to deliver answers. Perhaps they'll feel better if they can see that the extra reasoning is resulting in more useful answers for some really big problems.

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If you have a lot of reading to do for school or work but would rather listen to a podcast, Google's new AI-powered Audio Overview tool has you covered. As first demonstrated at Google I/O this year, Audio Overviews lets you convert documents, slides, and other text into an audio show where AI hosts discuss the topic. Google is pitching the feature as a way for people who learn better by listening than reading to digest complex information. The feature personalizes learning for you if you would rather hear a topic discussed than read reports. 

Audio Overviews are part of the NotebookLM note-taking app introduced earlier this year. The feature relies on Google's Gemini AI models to summarize and organize documents, enhancing them with audio AI. The most interesting bit is that it's not just an AI voice reading the same text summary; you'll hear synthetic personalities talking about the documents to each other. The virtual hosts explain the subject and the connections between different topics in the documents. They try to make studying and research easier or at least something you can enjoy while driving. The back-and-forth discussion even includes jokes and banter like you've commissioned a hyper-specific podcast episode just for you. You can hear an example below based on this Google blog post on NotebookLM. 

(Image credit: Google) Your AI Podcast Pals

NotebookLM includes a generate button within the app to make an Audio Overview from a notebook. Once the overview is made, you can download the file and listen to it whenever you want. The audio is built using just your uploaded files; however, there is no additional research, so it's hardly a comprehensive study guide. Plus, as with all AI-generated content, you have to watch out for hallucinations and wrong information.

At I/O, Google promised that there would be more advanced versions of Audio Overviews to come. That includes the possibility of real-time interaction, not just a passive listening experience. It would turn the audio from a podcast to more of a call-in radio show with an audience of one and hosts who only want to talk about a very specific set of information. And while Google is centering Audio Overviews on academic or other research and studying, it's very easy to imagine the same tech being used for hyper-focused (and conversational) news reports or perhaps even a way of getting all the updates on your friends and family from their social media posts. 

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