NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Thursday, November 21 (game #529)

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 #529) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• ВОВА
• FETT
• POLO
• STAR
• OXFORD
• SPONGE
• BUBBLE
• PENN
• PEARL
• TORTE
• CORAL
• TEE
• ZIT
• JELLY
• FLANNEL
• TAPIOCA

NYT Connections today (game #529) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Top-half clothing type
• Green: Ingredients (or constituents) in a certain type of drink
• Blue: Under the sea
• Purple: CANN is another

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 #529) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: KINDS OF SHIRTS
• GREEN: SPHERES IN MILK TEA
• BLUE: MARINE INVERTEBRATES, FAMILIARLY
• PURPLE: STARTS OF PASTA NAMES

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

NYT Connections today (game #529) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #529, are…

• YELLOW: KINDS OF SHIRTS FLANNEL, OXFORD, POLO, TEE
• GREEN: SPHERES IN MILK TEA BOBA, BUBBLE, PEARL, TAPIOCA
• BLUE: MARINE INVERTEBRATES, FAMILIARLY CORAL, JELLY, SPONGE, STAR
• PURPLE: STARTS OF PASTA NAMES FETT, PENN, TORTE, ZIT

---

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Fail

---

Okay, this was simply too difficult for me. I'm not beating myself up about it – I just wasn't smart enough to get all four groups. Scratch that – I was only smart enough to get one group.

I solved yellow, spotting that FLANNEL and POLO were both KINDS OF SHIRTS. TEE – which until then I'd been thinking might be a homophone for TEA – was obviously another inclusion, but I wasn't certain about the fourth. However I thought that maybe OXFORD was also an example and indeed it was. It's probably to do with the university or something, I don't know – but it seemed to fit (pardon the pun).

After that, though, nothing. I had several leads, and a couple were on the right lines, but I couldn't put the correct four together in either case. Green – SPHERES IN MILK TEA – was one that I had a hunch about, given that I know TAPIOCA is an ingredient and that they are PEARLs. And of course they contain BUBBLEs, too. But I've heard of BOBA, so didn't get that one.

Similarly, I figured that CORAL and SPONGE might go together in some sea-life-related group, and separately also considered JELLY and STAR as words that have FISH after them. But I didn't put the four together, possibly because two were abbreviated and two were not. To me that feels a little unfair of the NYT, stating that they are all MARINE INVERTEBRATES, FAMILIARLY; I'm not sure I've ever used the word STAR to refer to a starfish, or JELLY to talk about a jellyfish.

That wouldn't have mattered if I'd have solved one of the other groups, of course, so I won't dwell on it. And purple was simply far too difficult, I truly had no idea there at all. I guess I'll start building again tomorrow…

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

---

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 20 November, game #528)

• YELLOW: SOUND LIKE A DOG BARK, BAY, HOWL, SNARL
• GREEN: BROADCAST, AS ONLINE MEDIA AIR, PLAY, RUN, STREAM
• BLUE: COCKTAIL-MAKING VERBS GARNISH, MUDDLE, STIR, STRAIN
• PURPLE: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES, METAPHORICALLY CHAIN, LADDER, PYRAMID, TREE

---

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.

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Meta AI smart glasses say bonjour, hola, and ciao to Europe and new languages

Meta is doing its part to make 2025 the year of smart glasses by releasing the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses in several European countries. Soon, people in France, Italy, Ireland, and Spain will be able to buy the AI-powered wearables, and the Meta AI assistant will be able to communicate with users in Spanish, French, Italian, and English.

"With Meta AI on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, people have a hands-free way to ask questions on-the-go and receive real time answers and information, recommendations, or even receive some creative writing inspiration," Meta described in a blog post. "For example, you can ask, “Hey Meta, what’s the best patisserie in Paris?” or “What are some good gift ideas for my kids aged 6 and 8?” and receive an answer instantly. "

European locales won't have access to all the features of the smart glasses available in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Specifically, European wearers won't be able to ask Meta AI about what's around them and hear a description of landmarks or events around them, at least for now.

In the U.S., you might look at the Statue of Liberty and ask about its history or ask the AI to tell you the species of a plant you see on a hike.

AI EU

That might be a regulatory issue about the smart glasses and their visual processing ability rather than a technical obstacle. This isn't the first time Meta has cited the EU's regulatory environment as a barrier to its feature rollouts.

Similar rules slowed the release of the Meta AI assistant across the continent. As the tech giant continues to work with government agencies, more European countries will likely get access to the smart glasses.

Still, four new countries and three new languages are a big deal. They extend the potential market enormously, particularly in regions where English is uncommon. Plus, there are an enormous number of countries where Spanish and French are spoken, albeit in many different dialects.

You might also like...

• Meta AI can imagine anything… except operating in the EU
• Meta announces Orion, its first fully functional AR glasses prototype
• Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are getting even more AI features, like live language translations and Meta AI for live video

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Reddit is down – live updates on the huge outage

Reddit suffered a major outage on Wednesday, plunging its millions of devoted users into discussion darkness, with no place to drop their hot takes, memes, and AMA.

As of 4PM ET, the popular website was returning a mostly blank page with an upstream error at the top

Down Detector put Reddit at the top of its outage list.

(Image credit: Future)

Reddit appeared to be recovering by 4:13PM but the instability remains.

(Image credit: Future)

Some pages, like the all-important Popular, remain blank.

(Image credit: Future)

On the bright side, you can still peruse some of Reddit's homepage.

Today, perhaps coincidentally, was also the day of US News Anchor Katie Couric's first-ever Reddit AMA. It launched at 2PM ET, though we're not pointing any fingers.

Post by @katiecouric

View on Threads

While the Reddit homepage appears to be sort of functional, Reddit's own status checker is reporting degraded performance for most of its services. No word, yet, on what's causing the issues. and, yes, "popular" remains offline.

(Image credit: Future)

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ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode lands in your desktop browser – and it’s a big step towards its rumored Operator agent

---

• OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode in the browser
• Only paying subscribers will get access for now
• It's a vital first step towards browser-based AI agents for ChatGPT

---

It's been a busy time for ChatGPT and OpenAI. Hot on the heels of rumors that ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode (the ability to have a free-flowing conversation with the AI) is about to get the ability to 'see', and rolling out the ChatGPT Windows app to all free users last week, it has just announced that Advanced Voice mode is now available in the browser-based version of ChatGPT, for paid subscribers only.

So, if you're a ChatGPT Plus or Teams subscriber, a visit to ChatGPT.com (or the newly purchased Chat.com domain) will soon give you access to the Advanced Voice mode option that has previously only been available only in the app versions of ChatGPT.

ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode was released in September on mobile and was recently added to the desktop apps. The browser release is described as "rolling out", so you might not see the Advanced Voice mode when you log in with ChatGPT (we currently don't have access), but that should change in the coming days.

Free users will eventually get access to Advanced Voice Mode too. In a post on X.com, which also contains a video that shows how ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode works in a browser, Kevin Weil, CPO of OpenAI said, "We'll look to roll to free users in the coming weeks."

Rolling out to ChatGPT paid users this week: Advanced Voice Mode on web! 😍 We launched Advanced Voice Mode in our iOS and Android apps in September, and just recently brought them to our desktop apps (https://t.co/vVRYHXsbPD)—now we’re excited to add web to the mix. This means… pic.twitter.com/HtG5Km2OGhNovember 19, 2024

AI Operators

ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode is a vital first step towards the rumored ChatGPT Operator Agent, a tool that might change the way we interact with our computers and technology in general.

ChatGPT Operator Agent is an AI Agent that can interact directly with your computer on your behalf. Agents aren't unique to OpenAI – everybody from Anthropic to Google and Microsoft is also developing autonomous AI agents that can see what's on your screen and interact with it. You could, for example, get an AI Agent to pay your bills, or book a holiday for you, taking the virtual assistant model to the next level. Voice control in the browser will be a necessary first step for using an AI Agent since the majority of its work will be browser-based.

Don't expect the announcements from OpenAI to slow down before the end of the year. We're still expecting ChatGPT search, which launched recently for paid users, to be made available to users on the free tier any day now. It launched with the note, "We’ll roll out to Free users over the coming months.”

You might also like...

• I tried ChatGPT Search and now I might never Google again
• 4 things you can do in the ChatGPT Windows app that it does better than Copilot
• ChatGPT o1-preview can solve riddles faster than me and I kind of hate it for it

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Meet your own personal AI Jesus in this Swiss church’s confessional

• A church in Switzerland has an AI Jesus taking confession and offering advice
• The church worked with a local university to design and deploy the AI
• The AI is trained on the New Testament to mimic Jesus

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A Swiss church is trying a new way of connecting with Jesus in the confessional. It uses AI to simulate the personality of the 1st-century Galileleean for visitors as part of a religiously themed art project called Deus in Machina (God in a Machine). The digital simulacrum of Jesus Christ engages with visitors and offers spiritual guidance based on what people say.

If you enter the confessional, you'll see the AI Jesus displayed on a screen. The decidedly Swiss-looking man from the Roman-run Middle East of two millennia ago listens to people voice their questions or concerns. The AI model underlying the simulation was built by a team from the church working with the Immersive Realities Research Lab at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts using the New Testament as the basis for how Jesus thinks and speaks. So far, it's performed well.

"AI fascinates us. But it also has its limits and raises ethical questions," St. Peter's theologian Marco Schmid explained in a statement (translated from German by Google). "In all previous tests, his answers have matched our theological understanding of St. Peter's Chapel."

Reach out and touch faith

The video of people reacting to AI Jesus shows some mixed reviews. One parishioner expressed surprise at how easy it was and how good the advice they received was. Another said it was very generic and not very impressive. A disagreement over religious interpretation suggests AI Jesus is performing exactly as it should. Now that AI Jesus is here, the question is, what comes next?

If you want to experience the other side of the religious experience, you can try Social AI, an entire universe where you are the only real person, and everyone you talk to is just an AI character. Or you could go for being a kind of priest yourself for the traumatized AI personalities you encounter at Friend.com. If you're truly uncertain about how to use AI ethically in a religious context, you can always ask the Pope. He and IBM have put together a whole guide for ethical AI use.

You might also like...

• The Pope is getting on the AI bandwagon
• SocialAI makes you the most important – and only – person on social media
• Your most dramatic human friend can't hold a candle to the AI 'Friends' you can soon wear around your neck

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NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Wednesday, November 20 (game #262)

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 #262) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… For our furry friends

NYT Strands today (game #262) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• TREE
• CALL
• PALS
• PANT
• BIKE
• SEAL

NYT Strands today (game #262) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Re-tail therapy?

NYT Strands today (game #262) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 5th row

Last: right, 2nd row

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

NYT Strands today (game #262) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #262, are…

• LITTER
• BONE
• COLLAR
• KIBBLE
• BALL
• LASER
• CATNIP
• SPANGRAM: PETSUPPLIES

---

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

---

I own a dog and a cat, or rather they own me, given that I spend my money on food, treats and other assorted PETSUPPLIES for them. And what do I get in return? Well, actually, from the dog, a lovely chocolate labrador, I get unconditional love. From the cat, meanwhile, I get… well, I get the honor of buying it food and treats and assorted PETSUPPLIES, and the sense that I should be very happy with that and nothing more.

Anyway, this is a subject I'm all-too familiar with, so finding all of the answers was not a great problem. I spotted LITTER and BONE while I was hunting for hints to use in this column, then once I knuckled down and tried properly I got the likes of COLLAR and KIBBLE with no issues. It was one of the easier Strands puzzles (and few are that hard, to be honest).

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

---

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 19 November, game #261)

• KNIFE
• TONGS
• FORK
• SPOON
• SKEWER
• SPORK
• CHOPSTICKS
• SPANGRAM: UTENSILS

---

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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NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Wednesday, November 20 (game #528)

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 #528) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PLAY
• BAY
• STIR
• CHAIN
• TREE
• STREAM
• BARK
• RUN
• HOWL
• GARNISH
• AIR
• PYRAMID
• MUDDLE
• LADDER
• SNARL
• STRAIN

NYT Connections today (game #528) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Woof!
• Green: YouTube verbs
• Blue: Things you might do in a specific kind of bar
• Purple: Command structures

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 #528) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: SOUND LIKE A DOG
• GREEN: BROADCAST, AS ONLINE MEDIA
• BLUE: COCKTAIL-MAKING VERBS
• PURPLE: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES, METAPHORICALLY

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

NYT Connections today (game #528) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #528, are…

• YELLOW: SOUND LIKE A DOG BARK, BAY, HOWL, SNARL
• GREEN: BROADCAST, AS ONLINE MEDIA AIR, PLAY, RUN, STREAM
• BLUE: COCKTAIL-MAKING VERBS GARNISH, MUDDLE, STIR, STRAIN
• PURPLE: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES, METAPHORICALLY CHAIN, LADDER, PYRAMID, TREE

---

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

---

I seem to be making quite the habit of guessing groups with one connection in mind, only to get it right even though the answers were all linked by something different. I had two of those today: purple and blue, although in both cases I was halfway there.

Taking purple first, I put PYRAMID, LADDER and CHAIN together as things that humans might form into. I tried MUDDLE along with them – don't judge me, it was just a guess – and when that was wrong turned to TREE, which proved to be correct. I was on the right lines: the actual connection was ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES, METAPHORICALLY.

For blue, I had a feeling that GARNISH, STIR and STRAIN went together as things you did to food, and thought maybe MUDDLE was also connected; do you muddle a salad maybe? Maybe not! But it was right anyway, though the connection was actually COCKTAIL-MAKING VERBS. Lucky me.

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

---

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, 19 November, game #527)

• YELLOW: AREA OF EXPERTISE CONCENTRATION, FIELD, FOCUS, SPECIALTY
• GREEN: WAYS TO UNLOCK A DEVICE FACE, FINGERPRINT, PASSWORD, PIN
• BLUE: PASTA SHAPES EAR, ELBOW, RIBBON, WHEEL
• PURPLE: DOUBLE ___ AGENT, DRIBBLE, JEOPARDY, STANDARD

---

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.

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Quordle today – hints and answers for Tuesday, November 19 (game #1030)

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 #1030) - 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 #1030) - 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 2.

Quordle today (game #1030) - 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 #1030) - 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 #1030) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• N

• P

• P

• F

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

Quordle today (game #1030) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1030, are…

• NINJA
• PENCE
• PAINT
• FOIST

I very nearly failed for the second day in a row here, with the culprit this time being FOIST. Actually, the culprit was my brain, which should have spotted that FOIST, JOIST and MOIST were all valid answers to -OIST (with HOIST having been ruled out already), and that I should therefore have played something like JUMBO in order to rule out two of them. I didn't, so wasted three guesses on getting that one right then had to solve the remainder with no room to spare.

Fortunately I did that today, and in fact guessing JOIST earlier gave me the J I needed for NINJA, arguably an even harder word, what with its repeated N, uncommon J and uncommon format. I will try harder tomorrow!

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

---

Daily Sequence today (game #1030) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1030, are…

• FILMY
• SWAMP
• DIVER
• PIXIE

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Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1029, Monday 18 November: ASCOT, BRINK, WEIRD, HOMER
• Quordle #1028, Sunday 17 November: STATE, BRAWN, SWORE, URBAN
• Quordle #1027, Saturday 16 November: NOTCH, BENCH, BUSED, FOUND
• Quordle #1026, Friday 15 November: PURER, TRUSS, TORCH, FORUM
• Quordle #1025, Thursday 14 November: EXALT, TASTE, CRONY, CLOUT
• Quordle #1024, Wednesday 13 November: YEARN, ELBOW, SURGE, PINEY
• Quordle #1023, Tuesday 12 November: CHORD, ATTIC, OLIVE, EIGHT
• Quordle #1022, Monday 11 November: COPSE, REGAL, GRUNT, GOODY
• Quordle #1021, Sunday 10 November: GROIN, FAULT, FERRY, SUITE
• Quordle #1020, Saturday 9 November: FLUME, THERE, ATOLL, SANER
• Quordle #1019, Friday 8 November: DELAY, NAVAL, MOLAR, SWARM
• Quordle #1018, Thursday 7 November: REPAY, SYNOD, LOATH, PITHY
• Quordle #1017, Wednesday 6 November: SASSY, DRUID, THREW, SLOSH
• Quordle #1016, Tuesday 5 November: BEGET, AMUSE, STONY, LOUSY
• Quordle #1015, Monday 4 November: CHILL, TACKY, GRAPH, PLAZA
• Quordle #1014, Sunday 3 November: QUIRK, HEART, ELBOW, KNOWN
• Quordle #1013, Saturday 2 November: SWUNG, FLOOR, PARER, CRUST
• Quordle #1012, Friday 1 November: FIFTY, GULCH, RECUT, TWEET
• Quordle #1011, Thursday 31 October: TWINE, RIGID, BELCH, AMEND
• Quordle #1010, Wednesday 30 October: SLOOP, BRINE, BROOD, FLUID

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NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Tuesday, November 19 (game #527)

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 #527) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FOCUS
• FACE
• FIELD
• JEOPARDY
• RIBBON
• PIN
• WHEEL
• EAR
• PASSWORD
• AGENT
• CONCENTRATION
• FINGERPRINT
• STANDARD
• ELBOW
• SPECIALTY
• DRIBBLE

NYT Connections today (game #527) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Thing you're good at
• Green: Security measure
• Blue: BOW is another
• Purple: [Twice] blank

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 #527) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: AREA OF EXPERTISE
• GREEN: WAYS TO UNLOCK A DEVICE
• BLUE: PASTA SHAPES
• PURPLE: DOUBLE ___

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

NYT Connections today (game #527) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #527, are…

• YELLOW: AREA OF EXPERTISE CONCENTRATION, FIELD, FOCUS, SPECIALTY
• GREEN: WAYS TO UNLOCK A DEVICE FACE, FINGERPRINT, PASSWORD, PIN
• BLUE: PASTA SHAPES EAR, ELBOW, RIBBON, WHEEL
• PURPLE: DOUBLE ___ AGENT, DRIBBLE, JEOPARDY, STANDARD

---

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

---

I managed a perfect score today, but it owed a huge amount to luck. Not on the first two groups, green and yellow in that order, which were both pretty simple. Green – WAYS TO UNLOCK A DEVICE – was particularly easy given that I'm a technology journalist when not writing this column, with FACE, FINGERPRINT, PASSWORD and PIN all rather obvious.

As is so often the case, I struggled with blue and purple. I had a hunch that WHEEL and EAR might go together with a vague food theme: EAR of corn and WHEEL of cheese, maybe? RIBBON felt like it could work for PASTA, while ELBOW… well, I wasn't sure, but you get a knuckle of beef, so maybe there was an elbow somewhere. I guessed it without expecting it to be right, but to my amazement it was – and for nearly the right reason. I'd been on the correct path with pasta, because these were all PASTA SHAPES, which was obvious after the fact. Purple was a difficult 'blank' variety that I wouldn't have got, due to not knowing what DOUBLE DRIBBLE means.

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

---

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, 18 November, game #526)

• YELLOW: USED IN HAIR CARE COMB, DRYER, HAIRSPRAY, ROLLERS
• GREEN: MONTHLY EXPENSES GAS, INTERNET, PHONE, RENT
• BLUE: THINGS WITH SPOTS DALMATIAN, DIE, DOMINO, LADYBUG
• PURPLE: ___ CRAB FIDDLER, HERMIT, HORSESHOE, SPIDER

---

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.

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The AI health coach from OpenAI and Arianna Huffington sounds like it's still out of shape

The AI health coach hyped up by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Arianna Huffington earlier this summer as Thrive AI Health may not be ready to come off the bench just yet, as first found in what seems to be a brief and inadvertently released demo by TechCrunch. The health data tracker uncovered seems like a limited version of ChatGPT centered on sharing information gathered from your health wearables and leveraged to design workout routines.

If that sounds familiar, it's because it's basically the same as a million other health apps, not to mention those services built into Apple and Android mobile devices. Personalizing (and misspelling) suggested prompts like “Can you analyze my sleep patterns?” and “What were my [sic] heart rate over the last week?” doesn't come off as much of a revolution in personal health and wellness the way Thrive's backers envisioned.

Huffington's wellness technology firm Thrive Global and the OpenAI Startup Fund set up Thrive AI Health in the summer to eventually offer personalized health coaching with expert-level guidance. Altman and Huffington boasted in a shared op-ed that the AI choice could help reduce chronic diseases by promoting healthier daily behaviors.

The personal suggestions are supposedly created from peer-reviewed scientific research as well as biometric data. Thrive AI Health hired former Google product management leader DeCarlos Love as CEO, which made sense as he had overseen Fitbit, the Pixel Watch, and Wear OS.

Coach Crunch

"Thrive AI Health Coach is the product to solve the limitations of current AI and LLM-based solutions by providing personalized, proactive, and data-driven coaching across the five daily behaviors," Love said in a statement when the company launched. "This is how it will improve health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and significantly impact chronic diseases worldwide."

Since then, the company hasn't said much about its plans, and the website doesn't offer anything beyond a beta access signup sheet for those interested in trying out the AI coach. TechCrunch noted that the only recent mention of the company was when personal health management platform Function Health cited Thrive AI Health as part of a deal where members can share their data with the AI health coach for better advice.

Using AI to personalize health and wellness makes sense, but it may be harder to embed in a product than Altman and Huffington realized. If rumors that developers are struggling to make the next generation of AI models meet expectations are true, Thrive AI may not be as close to a full release as the founders hope.

You might also like...

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Google might resurrect Pixel laptop as a high-end Chromebook to take on MacBook Pro and Surface Laptop

Google might be resurrecting its Pixel laptop, a fresh rumor insists, getting plenty of hopes up with high-end Chromebook fans.

This comes from Android Headlines which cites an internal email that was leaked as mentioning Google’s new project for a premium laptop under the Pixel branding (which is now used for its smartphones and watches).

Way back in the mists of time, there used to be a Chromebook Pixel laptop, and the new version is apparently codenamed ‘Snowy.’ We aren’t told anything about it, though, save that it’s still in the early stages, and that Google intends it to be a rival for the likes of the MacBook Pro, Microsoft Surface Laptop and Dell XPS – a seriously premium effort by the sound of things.

The laptop will surely run ChromeOS, and likely be among our rankings of the best Chromebooks, if it does end up coming to fruition, although nothing is confirmed at this stage.

What we are told is that the project is greenlit and underway, so it’s progressing from the concept phase, and apparently a dedicated team has been formed to develop the laptop.

This is one to keep an eye out for future rumors around, certainly, though we need to take this report with a good deal of caution at this stage. We’ll be happier when we have the contention made here corroborated by other tech sites.

---

(Image credit: Future)

Analysis: Pixel perfect? Here’s hoping

The original Chromebook Pixel was a gorgeous creation in some ways, but deeply flawed in others, when it came to light over a decade ago. Google switched to make the Pixelbook (and Pixelbook Go) towards the end of the decade, which were superb notebooks (the latter especially). However, sadly the whole laptop line-up came off the rails eventually, and indeed the whole team behind the Pixelbook was dissolved in 2022 – which seemed a pretty bold line drawn to close the entire affair.

Apparently, though, a team is now back together, and Google is rethinking the possibilities behind another Chromebook Pixel, or maybe even a Pixelbook if it keeps the more recent (and successful) branding.

We hope this is true, but at the same time, we’ve got to acknowledge that we’ve heard buzz from the rumor mill about a Chromebook Pixel resurrection in the past that resulted in nothing. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this rumor is on the money, and Google’s development team manages to generate enough interest from the powers-that-be and various bean counters to allow new Pixel hardware to emerge in notebook form.

There’s no shortage of enthusiasm around a new Pixel laptop, that’s for sure, but hopefully as well as premium portables, there’ll be room for an affordable option in the mix, too. We’ll likely be in for a fair old wait for these creations to come to market, mind you.

You might also like

• Ode to the Pixelbook: why Google should revive this awesome laptop
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AMD’s Ryzen chips appear to be wiping the floor with Intel – but the best-selling CPUs right now might surprise you

---

• Intel’s top-selling CPU is a lowly number 13 in Amazon rankings
• Team Blue is doing better in the Newegg CPU chart, but still not well
• This may reflect fallout from Intel’s recent fumbles with chip instability and the rocky Arrow Lake launch

---

AMD is totally cleaning up in the world of desktop processors, with Intel lagging way behind its rival now, at least going by Amazon’s rankings of the bestselling CPUs.

As you may be aware, Amazon keeps track of the bestsellers across its entire range of tech (and other) products, and the top processor list is currently dominated by AMD, with Team Red now holding the entire top 10.

In fact, the first Intel CPU you’ll see is the Intel Core i5-13600KF at number 13, so the top 12 processors are from AMD (at the time of writing, anyway). Granted, Intel does have numbers 14, 15, 17, and 18 as well, notably with older CPUs from the 13th-gen and 14th-gen ranges, with no Core Ultra 200S (Arrow Lake) chips to be seen in the top 20 – or indeed in the top 100.

Are those chips simply too fresh to the market, then? Well, AMD’s Ryzen 9800X3D is also very new on the scene and is ranked at the number four spot, in fact, it's been so popular that at the time of writing it's sold out of stock.

What are AMD’s top chips by sales, then? At number one we have the AMD Ryzen 5700X, the mainstay from two generations ago which is still selling strongly, followed by its more affordable sibling, the 5600X.

The AMD Ryzen 7800X3D is in third place, followed by the 9800X3D as mentioned, and then the Ryzen 7600X is in fifth. It makes sense to see the 7800X3D in a strong position; it's now the cheaper alternative to the next-gen 9800X3D, while remaining a strong choice of CPU for serious PC gamers.

---

(Image credit: Future/John Loeffler)

Analysis: Processing advantage AMD

This represents a very clear picture of how AMD has pulled ahead in the CPU arena, albeit it is just one retailer – though a huge retail player, of course.

If you look at Newegg, which also keeps a regularly updated CPU ranking, this isn’t quite as heavily weighted towards AMD, but Team Red is clearly winning. In this case, Intel does have chips at numbers five through to eight, and 14, plus 20, but the rest of the top 20 is entirely AMD (again, that’s correct at the time of writing, though the processors may have shuffled around a bit by the time you’re reading this).

It’s much the same story as Amazon with the bestselling Ryzen chips, though the top seller is actually the Ryzen 9800X3D in this case (even though it has sold out – stock is still a big issue for would-be buyers), followed by the Ryzen 7600X (with a nice discount as you might guess). For Intel, the 14700K and 14900K are the top offerings – you won’t find an Arrow Lake CPU until number 39, where the flagship 285K currently resides.

Are we particularly surprised at this development? Well, not really, although the grip AMD has on the market at Amazon is pretty eye-opening. But given recent history in the world of CPUs, with Intel having a nightmarish time with its 14th-gen and 13th-gen silicon suffering serious instability problems, and Arrow Lake having a wobbly launch too, it’s pretty much a given that AMD is going to capitalize on these missteps.

Even if Ryzen 9000 also received a rather lukewarm reception, albeit the Ryzen 9800X3D has turned that around as a gaming powerhouse chip – the problem with that new 3D V-Cache CPU is that it’s out of stock everywhere, as noted.

Via Tom’s Hardware

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NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Monday, November 18 (game #526)

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 #526) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DOMINO
• DRYER
• FIDDLER
• LADYBUG
• INTERNET
• HORSESHOE
• SPIDER
• RENT
• HAIRSPRAY
• GAS
• DALMATIAN
• COMB
• PHONE
• HERMIT
• ROLLERS
• DIE

NYT Connections today (game #526) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: You might find them in a hair salon
• Green: Payday expenses
• Blue: They're dotty
• Purple: Sideways movers

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 #526) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: USED IN HAIR CARE
• GREEN: MONTHLY EXPENSES
• BLUE: THINGS WITH SPOTS
• PURPLE: ___ CRAB

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

NYT Connections today (game #526) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #526, are…

• YELLOW: USED IN HAIR CARE COMB, DRYER, HAIRSPRAY, ROLLERS
• GREEN: MONTHLY EXPENSES GAS, INTERNET, PHONE, RENT
• BLUE: THINGS WITH SPOTS DALMATIAN, DIE, DOMINO, LADYBUG
• PURPLE: ___ CRAB FIDDLER, HERMIT, HORSESHOE, SPIDER

---

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

---

I nearly scored a reverse rainbow today, which I've only done once before. This is the NYT's term for when you solve the four Connections groups in reverse difficulty order – so purple, then blue, then green, then the easiest yellow.

Unfortunately (sort of – it really doesn't matter in reality!) I got blue first, so that dream died there. But it was strange that my brain spotted the two hardest ones initially and had to work a bit harder to solve green and yellow.

Blue was a good one: THINGS WITH SPOTS, with DALMATIAN, DIE, DOMINO and LADYBUG. I always find it helpful to not just look at the words, but also think visually about them. Doing that here gave me the image of a spotty dalmatian and domino, at which point I went in search of others and found them both.

Purple, meanwhile, was one that required a little general knowledge. I haven't actually heard of a FIDDLER CRAB, but I knew HERMIT, SPIDER and HORSESHOE, and FIDDLER fit better than any of the other remaining words (INTERNET CRAB? HAIRSPRAY CRAB? Obviously not!) so I played that and guessed correctly. Green and yellow were pretty simple by that stage, so I completed today's without any mistakes – a rarity for me.

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

---

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, 17 November, game #525)

• YELLOW: ALLIANCE ASSOCIATION, GUILD, LEAGUE, UNION
• GREEN: CLOSE-FITTING CLINGY, SLEEK, SLINKY, SNUG
• BLUE: OCCASIONS WHEN ONE MIGHT KNEEL APOLOGY, DUBBING, PRAYER, PROPOSAL
• PURPLE: WHAT AN APOSTROPHE MIGHT INDICATE CONTRACTION, FOOT, POSSESSIVE, QUOTATION

---

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.

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