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Spectrum may be the largest broadband provider in Eau Claire, but some alternatives may offer quicker speeds, more affordable rates, and attractive services.

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Milton’s reclassification to a Category 3 storm suggests it is weakening, but the scale accounts only for wind speed and not hurricane size, storm surge heights, or rainfall—which are all catastrophically large.

Amazon's Prime Day ends in a few hours. Don't sleep on this smart TV deal from Best Buy.

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 #487) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• HIP
• TEA
• BIG
• BAD
• EYE
• FLY
• SEW
• SAW
• ILL
• FAR
• ELF
• LEG
• HER
• RAD
• ARM
• DOE

NYT Connections today (game #487) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Ear could be another
• Green: Dope words
• Blue: Films
• Purple: All feature in a popular musical song

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 #487) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: BODY PARTS
• GREEN: COOL, IN ’80S SLANG
• BLUE: MOVIES
• PURPLE: WORDS IN “DO-RE-MI”

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

NYT Connections today (game #487) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #487, are…

• YELLOW: BODY PARTS ARM, EYE, HIP, LEG
• GREEN: COOL, IN ’80S SLANG BAD, FLY, ILL, RAD
• BLUE: MOVIES BIG, ELF, HER, SAW
• PURPLE: WORDS IN “DO-RE-MI” DOE, FAR, SEW, TEA

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

As a child of the ‘80s I was delighted to see COOL, IN ’80S SLANG appear as a group today – although I’ll be honest and admit that I was never cool enough to say words like BAD, FLY, ILL or RAD myself very often. But I’ve watched enough ‘80s movies that they’re still in my mind, so solving this one wasn’t too tricky.

In fact, none of today’s four groups were particularly challenging. That didn’t appear to be the case when I loaded up the game, though: it was one of those days where all of the words are really short. In fact, all 16 of them were three-letter words, and though that doesn’t itself make a game hard, there was a strong possibility that some might be prefixes or suffixes, and that can make things tougher.

That wasn’t the case, though. MOVIES was another theme (with ELF, SAW, HER and BIG the answers), while the yellow BODY PARTS group was one of the easiest we’ve ever had in Connections. It was all much simpler than I anticipated, thankfully.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 9 October, game #486)

• YELLOW: EFFERVESCENCE BUBBLES, FIZZ, FOAM, FROTH
• GREEN: BURGEON BLOSSOM, DEVELOP, MATURE, PROGRESS
• BLUE: MUSIC PUBLICATIONS BILLBOARD, MOJO, PITCHFORK, SPIN
• PURPLE: ENDING WITH TABLEWARE BOILERPLATE, BUTTERCUP, JACKKNIFE, WITHERSPOON

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Think about it

NYT Strands today (game #221) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• MASS
• PASS
• MAST
• PAST
• PASTY
• PASTRY

NYT Strands today (game #221) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Where's Strands?

NYT Strands today (game #221) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 4th row

Last: right, 4th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #221) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #221, are…

• JUMBLE
• SUDOKU
• JIGSAW
• MAZE
• CROSSWORD
• CRYPTOGRAM
• SPANGRAM: PUZZLES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Give me a puzzle and I'll solve it; give me a puzzle about puzzles and I'll solve it and enjoy every second while doing so. Today's Strands is exactly that – a puzzle about puzzles. I was somewhat surprised not to see Wordle, Connections or indeed Strands in there, but the likes of SUDOKU, JUMBLE and CROSSWORD were all obvious enough that this didn't cause me any trouble.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday 9 October, game #220)

• HALL
• OFFICE
• STUDY
• KITCHEN
• LIBRARY
• PANTRY
• FOYER
• SPANGRAM: HOMEROOM

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 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 #990) - 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 #990) - 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 #990) - 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 #990) - 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 2.

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

• U

• M

• M

• W

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

Quordle today (game #990) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #990, are…

• UNTIL
• MARSH
• METAL
• WINDY

With four common words and plenty of common letters, today's Quordle holds no real dangers for experienced players. The biggest challenge will likely have been in avoiding the wrong answers for the MARSH. This could also have been HARSH if you had the four final letters in place, or the likes of CRASH or EARTH if you had only a few. But that was about it, so I imagine most people will have solved today's Quordle without major problems.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #990) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #990, are…

• NORTH
• FUNNY
• EAGER
• STRAP

Quordle answers: The past 20

• 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
• Quordle #978, Saturday 28 September: BUSHY, CIVIC, SNOUT, EQUIP
• Quordle #977, Friday 27 September: GUEST, CHASM, ROOST, BASAL
• Quordle #976, Thursday 26 September: STAGE, VOGUE, CLUMP, HEATH
• Quordle #975, Wednesday 25 September: UMBRA, DADDY, GLAZE, PRANK
• Quordle #974, Tuesday 24 September: SPACE, INNER, SPAWN, BEGAT
• Quordle #973, Monday 23 September: GUILT, STERN, ANNEX, FIELD
• Quordle #972, Sunday 22 September: ZESTY, MEATY, ALIVE, DRAWN
• Quordle #971, Saturday 21 September: VITAL, FRAIL, SPEAR, EERIE
• Quordle #970, Friday 20 September: ELIDE, DITTO, SHAWL, BONUS

Nintendo surprised the world with a high-tech alarm clock that turns waking up into a game. We unbox and set up Alarmo to see how it all works.

At issue is whether the state court wrongly refused to accept the attorney general’s findings that a death row inmate is entitled to a new trial.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

If everything else is in line, don't forget to turn your attention to your finances.

This spectacular 49-inch curved monitor is now just $850 at Amazon with this still-live deal.

A recent study published in the PNAS Nexus journal suggests the rise of AI models like ChatGPT may be challenging the dominance of traditional knowledge-sharing sites like Reddit and the programming forum Stack Overflow. This shift could impact the availability of freely accessible public information.

The research, conducted by Maria del Rio-Chanona and her colleagues, shows Stack Overflow saw a 25% decline in user activity within just six months of ChatGPT’s launch.

This drop was not observed on similar sites where ChatGPT access is restricted, highlighting the significant impact of the AI model’s rapid adoption. According to the study, users may be turning to AI-generated responses instead of seeking human-driven content, shifting how people obtain information online.

(Image credit: Maria del Rio-Chanona )

"LLMs are so powerful, have such a high value, and make a huge impact on the world. One begins to wonder about their future," says Del Rio-Chanona, who is also an associate faculty member at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH). The findings raise concerns that a growing dependence on AI could reduce the number of contributions to public forums, leading to a shortage of diverse and authentic data needed to train future models. “This has quite big implications. This means there may not be enough public data to train models in the future,” she warns.

Python and JavaScript

The trend could disrupt the open web ecosystem, as AI tools like ChatGPT rely on publicly shared knowledge for training data. "Even AI models like ChatGPT are trained on human-generated content like Stack Overflow posts,” explains Johannes Wachs, a faculty member at CSH. Ironically, as AI displaces these platforms, the quality of training data may deteriorate over time.

The impact is especially pronounced in posts related to widely-used programming languages like Python and JavaScript, where activity has dropped significantly. The study suggests this shift is not limited to novices but affects users across all experience levels, indicating a broad move from public to private interactions on AI platforms.

With fewer people contributing to public platforms, AI models may eventually rely on lower-quality data, which could degrade their performance. The researchers call for a balanced approach that maintains the open exchange of knowledge while embracing AI advancements.

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Google continues to replace Google Assistant features using its Gemini AI models and branding, as discovered in as-yet unreleased code by Android Authority. The tech giant's infusion of Gemini is rolling throughout its product line.

Upcoming Gemini Extensions will take over Google Assistant integrations with apps including Google Messages, Spotify, and WhatsApp. These Gemini extensions are designed to take over for those Google Assistant integrations while promising to personalize the interaction beyond the capacity of the older AI assistant. 

Right now, if you ask your Android device or Google app to play a song on Spotify or send a message via WhatsApp, Google Assistant completes the task. The code in the beta version of the Google app lays out how Gemini will pick up that role through Extensions running independently from Google Assistant. 

It's not just a cosmetic shift. The Spotify Extension works like the YouTube Music Gemini Extension, playing a song upon request and showing an image of the song that you can tap to open Spotify. The Gemini Extensions also allow you to use much more casual language than Google Assistant when asking Google to play music on Spotify or call someone with WhatsApp. They also speed up the process by eliminating some of the follow-up clarifications required by Google Assistant. 

The AI will adapt to your preferences, remembering what apps you favor for carrying out tasks. So, if you always use WhatsApp to call certain people and your phone to call others, you'll be able to ask the AI to call one of them without specifying which app to use, and it will automatically pick the right one. The same goes for asking Gemini to play a song on YouTube Music or Spotify. You can also manually adjust which apps are used for which tasks. 

Extension Stars

The Gemini Extensions being in beta means they can't do everything you might want as of yet. Gemini can't read or show old messages when asked yet, though that may be included when the final version of the update rolls out. When it does arrive, you might not find the update groundbreaking, but if you pay attention, you'll likely notice how much better Google's voice AI is at understanding what you want it to do and how it is completing your requests faster than you remember.

Gemini Extensions are key to Google's efforts to encourage people to use Gemini by spreading the AI everywhere. Gemini is becoming the foundation for both Google products and how they link to third-party apps and services. Google Assistant as both a brand and a product is being superseded, though marketing is definitely as much a part of that shift as actual technical upgrades. 

You might also like

• Google wants Gemini AI to be the star of every part of your life
• Google is making Gemini AI part of everything you do with your smartphone – here's how
• Google Gemini Live's AI voice now comes in ten more styles that take inspiration from the stars

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