Rainbow Six Tactics game director says players can't repeatedly play their favorite Operators because of the game's fatigue and injury system — 'It's a way to push players to use their tools and shuffle their roster'

• Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron says the game's fatigue and injury system will encourage players to try other Operators
• Operators can go out of commission if they're injured, pushing players to shuffle through the roster
• Potron says this also reminds players that Operators are "human"

Rainbow Six Tactics won't let fans repeatedly play the same Operator like in Rainbow Six Siege, but will encourage players to experiment with the entire roster using two new gameplay systems instead.

Rainbow Six Siege fans have a favorite Operator, whether it's Ash, Smoke, Fuze, Hibana, or someone else on the massive roster. But in Rainbow Six Tactics, Ubisoft's turn-based tactics spin-off, the fatigue and injury systems will force players to try other characters across a variety of missions.

"It's a way to push players to use their tools and shuffle their roster," game director Martial Potron told TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom. "So fatigue is one way, injuries is another way."

Potron explained that Operators are human beings, so it makes sense that these special agents will be out of commission for some time if they get injured during a mission; unlike in Siege, where objective-based game rounds will reset a player's health each time.

"I think it's also a good way to remind people that Operators are humans," the director said. "A bullet is a bullet. It's very dangerous. That's why reconning is important. If you don't recon, it may happen that there is someone hidden and he shoots you, and and you get you get injured. You don't have your Operator for two missions."

He added that the fatigue system serves the same purpose and "forces players to readjust their roster" whenever they send Operators on missions; he said this may seem negative, but the game will inform players which Operators will fit certain missions.

For example, a mission that requires players to save targets wouldn't suit Ash, who uses explosives, so a more close-range or precise Operator would be best.

"So depending on who I am facing, I will also readjust my roster because they really are meant to counter other enemies," Portron said. "So there is this negative side of humanity, and there is a positive side of Operators being very good against some part of the challenges."

Rainbow Six Tactics arrives in 2027 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

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Alien: Isolation 2's Xenomorph has animations initially designed for the first game, but the team 'didn't have the technology at the time' to use them — but now the Alien is even more 'responsive' and 'reactive'

• Alien: Isolation 2 principal environment artist Archie Whitehead says the Xenomorph uses legacy animations that Creative Assembly designed for the first game
• He explains that the studio didn't have the technology to implement it at the time
• The sequel animations have been improved so the alien is "more responsive"

Alien: Isolation 2 principal environment artist Archie Whitehead has revealed that the game's Xenomorph uses improved legacy animations that Creative Assembly designed for the first game but didn't have the technology to implement 12 years ago.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Whitehead confirmed that working around the alien's intelligence will be a core part of gameplay—even with the added exterior environment—and if players use a flamethrower or repeatedly hide in lockers, their actions will be less effective against the Xenomorph.

But the developer said the fear of hiding from the alien isn't just about its intelligence, but about how players perceive it visually; he explained that its animations and transitions have been improved from the first game, making it scarier.

"Intelligence is about perception," Whitehead said. "It's about what the player sees. If the alien was a cube sliding around, it might still kill you; it might still be scary, but you probably wouldn't perceive it as that intelligent if it was just a rotating cube, right?

"Obviously, the model, the character, the mesh for it; it's much more improved. There's a lot of layers there that I can't talk about the specifics, but it's more responsive, more reactive. It's really, really terrifying."

Whitehead went on to reveal that the Xenomorph uses animations and transitions that were initially designed for the first game, but Creative Assembly "didn't have the technology at the time" to use them. However, they've been polished for the upcoming sequel.

He explained that he chatted with animation director Simon Ridge, who worked on the first game, and saw some legacy animations that appeared to be unused, but were "really scary" and "amazing transitions" where the alien was looking at the player.

"I was studying when the original came out, so I wasn't on the first game," he said. "So, I was coming to this as a big fan, and I was chatting to him, and he was showing me these legacy animations he had, and I was like, 'I played the original a lot of times, I don't recognize these animations.'

"The vision was there, but they didn't have the technology at the time [or] whatever exactly they needed to implement it."

He added that this is a "benefit" for the sequel coming out 12 years later instead of immediately after the first game.

"We're able to use that kind of stuff, and obviously it's still going to be polished up, and it's a new setup and everything," he said, "but it's one of the things that makes it [the Xenomorph] feel smarter is its reactivity; making it feel like it's not just looking at the player, it's not just pointing its head in your direction. You feel like it's looking at you, and that's the kind of stuff that, again, when they show it off within the team, everyone's getting chills, and it's super exciting. We're super excited to show you."

Alien: Isolation 2 will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. A release date hasn't been announced.

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Microsoft reveals new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices

• Microsoft has revealed a new Surface Pro 12-inch tablet and Surface Laptop 13-inch
• Both consumer devices are built around a 6-core Snapdragon X2 Plus processor
• They go on sale on October 13, 2026, starting at $1,149.99 for the Surface Pro and $1,199 for the Surface Laptop

It seems like Microsoft might be getting its mojo back for its Surface line-up of products, with Brett Ostrum, Corporate Vice President, Surface Devices, announcing at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit that the company will be releasing a new Surface Pro 12-inch tablet and Surface Laptop 13-inch. Both will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Plus chips, which explains the venue choice. (I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that the Snapdragon Summit is held in Hawaii).

According to Microsoft, the two new Surface devices with Snapdragon X2 Plus CPUs will be up to 17% faster for Office workloads, up to 18% more battery efficient, and offer over 60% faster graphics performance.

As these are Microsoft products, there is also the now-customary boasting about AI performance, with the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU offering 80 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second) resulting in a claimed 95% faster local AI performance.

The Surface Pro 12-inch (2026) is a Windows 11 tablet built around the 6-core Snapdragon X2 Plus processor, partnered with either 16GB or 24GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and 256GB or 512GB storage. The 12-inch LCD display has a resolution of 2196 x 1464 and a refresh rate of up to 90Hz. The screen of this new model is, according to Microsoft, 25% brighter than the previous model, and there’s a new black color. Microsoft estimates around 15.5 hours of local video playback and 13 hours of web use on a single charge. It’ll start at $1,149.99 (around £900 / AU$1,650) and goes on sale on October 13, 2026.

The Surface Laptop 13-inch (2026) features the same 6-core Snapdragon X2 Plus chip and is available in the same memory and storage configurations as the Surface Pro. The 13-inch touchscreen has a resolution of 1920 x 1280 and a refresh rate of 60Hz, which I’m not going to lie, is a bit disappointing in a laptop these days, although Microsoft claims the 500-nit display is 25% brighter than the last model.

It also has two USB-C (USB 3.2) ports and a USB-A port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Microsoft claims up to 22.5 hours of battery life, which if accurate is very impressive.

The Surface Laptop will start at $1,199 (around £920 / AU$1,700) and will also go on sale on October 13, 2026.

Ready to take on the MacBook Air?

Microsoft’s announcement of two new consumer Surface devices is definitely welcome. Surface Pro tablets and Surface Laptops used to be Microsoft’s flagship products and showcases for cutting-edge Windows features. They certainly felt like Microsoft’s attempts to create a MacBook Air. The problem is, they never reached that potential, and when Apple switched to using its own Arm-based M series chips in 2020, the gap widened even further.

Surface devices also had a larger than life cheerleader in the form of Panos Panay, who had a major role at Microsoft and whose passion for the Surface line-up, that he helped create, was infectious (even if that infection didn’t translate into sales). After Panay left Microsoft for Amazon, it felt like the wind had been taken out of Surface’s sails, which wasn’t helped when Microsoft aimed recent Surface devices at commercial and business users, rather than mainstream consumers.

So, it’s good to see that these new Surface devices are firmly pitched at consumers, and the price points are around the same as the MacBook Air since Apple increased prices earlier this year. It also pits them against new Googlebooks, which are going on sale soon as well, and are priced similarly.

Will this mean Microsoft finally has a MacBook Air rival? While I’m glad it’s trying again, I’m not too sure. The Snapdragon X2 Plus is a decent mid-range chip, but the 6-core variant in the new Surface devices falls short of the 10-core CPU in the M5, especially as the M5 offers better single-core performance.

My main concern with the Surface Laptop is that the 1920 x 1280 screen just won’t compare to the display of the MacBook Air, which offers a 2560 x 1664 resolution for a much sharper image.

I’ve also seen the first five new Googlebook laptops, and they all come with higher resolution screens, and some also feature OLED.

The screen of the Surface Pro 12-inch (2026) is more promising, though if you want to use it as a laptop, you’ll need to buy a keyboard accessory, which adds to the price. However, it should still come in at under the price of Apple’s 13-inch iPad Pro.

So, I’m not entirely sure that these will be the MacBook Air/iPad Pro killers Microsoft needs them to be, but I’m glad Microsoft is at least trying again, and I could be proved wrong when we get the new Surface devices in for review soon.

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These popular TP-Link home security cameras could be hacked to spy on you while you sleep, experts warn

• Cybersecurity company OPSWAT found a login bypass and a crash bug in TP-Link's Tapo C200 cameras
• TP-Link has extended that to include its C120 offering too
• Anyone on the same network could get admin access, live video, and recordings without requiring the owner's credentials

Security researchers at OPSWAT have detailed two high-severity flaws in TP-Link's Tapo C200, a pan-and-tilt indoor camera listed on Amazon for $26.99 and sold as a baby monitor and pet camera.

The more serious issue is that someone on the same network can log in as the camera's administrator without the password, accessing the live feed and stored recordings.

At least one other bug, which OPSWAT rates as critical in the same disclosure but does not detail, has not been published.

A localized login that requires no authentication

(Image credit: TP-Link)

The TP-Link Tapo C200, as we noted in previous coverage of the incident, isn't just another security camera that happens to be vulnerable; it is one of the most popular models on the market, clocking in at over 3,000 sales on Amazon alone.

The Tapo C120, in its current iteration, sells over 5,000 units monthly, even as the advisory notes that its V1 hardware version is currently compromised until users update the firmware on their devices.

Both SKUs have received firmware updates that patch the vulnerabilities (CVE-2026-15315 & CVE-2026-15316), which are assigned 'high' scores of 8.7 and 7.1, respectively. However, according to TP-Link, CVE-2026-15316 does not affect the C120 camera.

However, the former vulnerability is the more pressing of the two and, according to OPSWAT, is particularly problematic for users because of how the C120 and C200 cameras function.

Both run a local management interface over HTTPS and use a challenge-response login designed to prove a client knows the owner's password. Khoi Tran, a graduate fellow at OPSWAT, and his mentor, Thai Do of the company's Unit 515 team, found a second verification path in which, under certain conditions, a value the camera hands out during login can be sent back and accepted as a valid authentication response.

The result is an administrator session after a small number of requests, with no password, no existing session, and no requirements for the new 'owner'. As a result, access includes live video, stored footage, and configuration changes.

OPSWAT's researchers pointed out that a C200 used as a baby monitor would expose "live video, night vision, crying detection and two-way audio."

The second flaw, CVE-2026-15316, affects only the C200 and sits in its Wi-Fi onboarding code. Sending the camera an oversized chunk of encrypted Wi-Fi credential data can crash its HTTPS service or restart the device outright, cutting the owner off from management and monitoring until it recovers.

The attacks are somewhat limited in scope: users aiming to exploit such vulnerabilities would need to be on the same Wi-Fi network, or within a certain trusted ecosystem, to begin with.

For now, users upgrading to TP-Link's newest firmware, issued for both models, rectifies both issues, but there might already be another security patch in the works: OPSWAT also found "a critical vulnerability that could allow an attacker to fully compromise the camera," which could then serve as a foothold inside the network.

It is currently holding off on publishing any details about the vulnerability as it waits for TP-Link to issue a patch that rectifies the situation. Neither OPSWAT nor TP-Link, however, has provided a timeline for when the patch will be available to end users.

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NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, September 23 (game #1200)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #1199).

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 Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1200) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PAINT
• CAPTCHA
• BITCOIN
• WALLET
• SPAM
• PHONE
• RECORD LABEL
• AGE
• VERIFICATION
• SURINAME
• PAYWALL
• CONDENSED MILK
• RUB-A-DUB
• KEYS
• SHAVING CREAM
• COOKIE CONSENT
• SUNGLASSES

NYT Connections today (game #1200) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Don’t forget these…
• GREEN: Online obstacles
• BLUE: All packaged in tins
• PURPLE: Final descriptions

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 #1200) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE
• GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM"

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

NYT Connections today (game #1200) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1200, are…

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE: KEYS, PHONE, SUNGLASSES, WALLET
• GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES: AGE VERIFICATION, CAPTCHA, COOKIE CONSENT, PAYWALL
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS: CONDENSED MILK, PAINT, SHAVING CREAM, SPAM
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM": BITCOIN, RECORD LABEL, RUB-A-DUB, SURINAME

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

Another yellow last! I think it was SUNGLASSES that threw me there — if it had said “bus pass” then I’d be there, but sunglasses are something I wear twice a year at most. Then again, maybe this is a sign that I really should be not forgetting to grab them whenever I leave the house!

Regardless of the order in which I solved today’s groups, luck was definitely on my side as I sailed through without making any mistakes while at the same time never being 100% certain in my connections.

I was also unsure of what the groups could be. I thought WEBSITE HURDLES was about security, THINGS THAT COME IN CANS was stuff that’s mixed, and ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM" something about circles.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, September 22, 2026, game #1199)

• YELLOW: DEMONSTRATIVES: THAT, THESE, THIS, THOSE
• GREEN: EMBELLISHMENT: ACCENT, DETAIL, FLOURISH, TOUCH
• BLUE: OPTIONS ON A MULTIPLE CHOICE SURVEY: AGREE, DISAGREE, NEUTRAL, OTHER
• PURPLE: BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED: CAFE, PATRON, ROSE, THE

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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Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2's protagonist is a Yutani employee, which offers 'a new perspective to the franchise' — 'Weyland-Yutani is an English-Japanese speaking company, and the Japanese side doesn't really get explored that much'

• Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2's protagonist will offer "a new perspective to the franchise"
• Blake is a Weyland-Yutani employee, with principal environment artist Archie Whitehead saying the Japanese side hasn't been explored a lot
• Principal UI artist Laura Mouther says Blake isn't like any other Alien protagonist and "is such an interesting character to explore"

Alien: Isolation 2 will offer a totally new perspective on the Alien franchise by telling a story from the viewpoint of Yutani employee Blake, and Creative Assembly believes players will love her.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, principal environment artist Archie Whitehead and principal UI artist Laura Mouther discussed what they're most excited for players to experience in the upcoming sequel, highlighting the game's protagonist, Blake.

Blake works for Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a mega-conglomerate and the major human-led antagonist throughout the sci-fi series, but is employed specifically on the Yutani side of the company.

It's a viewpoint that hasn't been showcased during the horror franchise before, and something the developers were eager to explore in depth.

"Weyland-Yutani is an English-Japanese-speaking company, and it's something that the Japanese side, I feel like, doesn't really get explored that much," Whitehead said. "It's something we're trying to explore more here because Kurosaki, it's the name of the station [the game's setting] so I'm very interested for players to discover: 'How does that influence the world and the people living in it?'"

Mouther added that Blake is "awesome" and "brings such a new perspective to the franchise in total," and her being an employee of this mega-corp will be a much different experience from the first game, where the character where average people.

"If you think back to the first game or even the first movie, it's truckers in space, right? It's average people doing average things," Mouther said. "They're not powerful. They're expendable. No one cares for them. They have to care for themselves.

"But now we have Blake, who is a very Weyland-Yutani employee, and that means that she has some power, right? But when you hear in the trailer that the Japanese voice is telling her, 'You made a mistake. This is your last chance.' She was sent to Kurosaki against her will, and she wants to do well. She wants to be there to redeem herself."

Talking more about the story, Mouther explained how characters in the prologue will talk to Blake with respect and "you can get a sense of her standing," but all Blake is focusing on is trying to redeem herself. That's why when she heads to the crash site and accidentally unleashes the Xenomorph onto the colony, she's made yet another mistake, which the developers said will make Blake an interesting character to play.

"That dichotomy, she is such an interesting character to explore," Mouther added. "And I think the players will really get to know her and love her in the journey; they will make out their own journey [as well]. We tell a larger story, obviously, but similar to the first game, every player will have their own way of telling the 'in-betweens' between that [main] story, and will be so interesting to see."

Alien: Isolation 2 doesn't have a release date yet but will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

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Mistral denies a fresh security breach, but the code on sale looks a lot like May's leak

• Seller claims to be offering Mistral AI's full source code and says the company was breached again after May 2026 attack
• Mistral says an investigation found no evidence of new unauthorized access but has not stated whether the listed code is genuine
• No customer data has surfaced in analyzed samples, and nobody has shown files created after the May incident

A seller on a cybercrime forum says French giant Mistral AI has been hacked again and is offering what they call the company's full source code for sale.

The September 16 2026 post by an account using the handle "mrwho" consists of a listing titled "Selling mistral.ai Source Code" on an English-language cybercrime forum, according to The CyberSec Guru, pricing the material in Monero only before it attempted to steer potential buyers to Session or Telegram.

Mistral AI's own team has refuted this, stating it has "found no evidence to support this claim."

Not Mistral's first hacking-centric PR problem

Mistral's earlier hacking incident is undisputed - in May 2026, the Mini Shai-Hulud supply chain campaign, attributed to the TeamPCP group, spread from compromised TanStack packages to hundreds of npm and PyPI projects.

Mistral's own security advisory MAI-2026-002 says an automated worm led to compromised versions of its SDKs being published for a few hours on May 11 and 12, and that an affected developer device was involved. Microsoft Threat Intelligence found that a poisoned Mistral AI Python package fetched a second-stage credential stealer that allowed the attack to exploit users.

Mistral went further in statements to reporters than in its advisory. It told BleepingComputer that attackers had compromised a codebase management system and "contaminated some of our SDK packages for a brief period," while insisting that hosted services, managed user data, and research and testing environments were untouched. It also told HackRead that only certain non-core repositories were accessed.

TeamPCP, meanwhile, advertised roughly 450 repositories, about 5GB in total, for $25,000, and threatened to dump them for free if no buyer appeared within a week. One can therefore contend that this could be the same dump being remarketed by a different account, and the seller's profile is already suspect.

The CyberSec Guru noted that the account joined in September 2026 and had four posts and a reputation score of 30, despite displaying a top-tier "GOD User" rank. That profile could fit a scam in the making, but as the outlet pointed out, it could also fit a broker fronting for someone else or a freshly minted alias.

HackRead published 24 sample repository names from TeamPCP's May post. FrenchBreaches, which examined the 339-file tree mrwho shared in September, lists several of the same names. At least four of these appear in both: mistral-inference-private, mistral-inference-internal, mistral-finetune-internal, and mistral-common-internal.

This makes it hard to tell whether the purported 'hack' is just a rehash of an existing dump from Mistral's previous breach or a second successful hacking attempt. There is a straightforward test, however: If the September archives contain commits, files, or credentials dated after May 12, or secrets that were still valid after Mistral's cleanup, the seller's claim of a second breach gains real weight. If everything predates the May incident, this is a resale, which is embarrassing for Mistral but not a new security failure.

Of course, locating the archives or examining them would involve paying the ransom in crypto, as required by what could potentially be a scam in the making- a tremendous leap of faith for an account that was created earlier this month, making this essentially a lottery ticket at best for any security researcher attempting to take a closer look.

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Cairn and Furi creator’s games are all so different that ‘there’s a chance our next game is an MMO match-3 about friendship,’ jokes creative director, Emeric Thoa

• The Game Bakers' creative director says he wants people to "remember our games forever"
• It means the team may take risky or polarizing decisions, but it's worth it to build a passionate audience
• It's paid off with games like Cairn, which has achieved excellent reviews and award recognition, and is about to release its first DLC

It’s a joke, obviously, but given the catalog of titles released by The Game Bakers so far, part of me believes creative director Emeric Thoa when he tells me that “there’s a chance our next game is an MMO match-3 about friendship.”

It’s a testament to the team’s creativity and versatility that I could see something like this sitting alongside the frenetic boss rush Furi, charming co-op RPG Haven, and the captivating climbing adventure Cairn.

“We always make games with the goal of creating a very memorable experience. All our efforts, our ideas, our choices are made so that people will remember our games forever,” explains Thoa.

(Image credit: The Game Bakers)

Cairn definitely stuck in the mind, as you took on a gruelling and demanding ascent up the enormous Mt. Kami with professional climber Aava. It may have mixed in some quiet moments of exploration and an engaging story, but it was almost exclusively about climbing a big mountain.

Thoa appreciates that, as with other The Game Bakers titles, taking this approach to follow and explore a single idea to its fullest in service of creating something impactful can be a big risk.

“This sometimes leads to polarizing design choices, but we’d rather be loved passionately by 10 people than be just appreciated by a hundred,” says Thoa.

(Image credit: The Game Bakers)

It’s paid off with the excellent reception to Cairn, including a four-star review from me. Thoa is also pleased that critics and players responded well to the game, with various high scores and award recognition.

“I should feel extremely happy and grateful, but the truth is that if the response had not been very positive, I would be broken right now. So, I feel not-so-broken, and that’s pretty good. I’m especially proud that people eventually appreciated the innovation and risk-taking in Cairn.”

So with that mindset in place, what is genuinely next for The Game Bakers? Well, there’s the first part of the On the Trail DLC for Cairn coming on October 29, which I went hands-on with at Gamescom. After that, Thoa doesn’t have too much to reveal: “It’s too soon to tell, and I’m not even sure myself.”

Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be fascinating.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #933)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, September 21 (game #932).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #933) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Day and night shift

NYT Strands today (game #933) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• FAIL
• SAVERS
• TWIN
• CHAIN
• VOTES
• SOIL

NYT Strands today (game #933) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 11 letters

NYT Strands today (game #933) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

• First side: top, 1st column

• Last side: 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 #933) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #933, are…

• SWITCH
• CHANGEOVER
• TRANSITION
• PROGRESSION
• SPANGRAM: FALLEQUINOX

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

Even as I was collecting the words I still thought that the theme was about work and the moment when the day shift and the night shift swap over.

It wasn’t until I got the spangram — I had been ignoring the game’s two rare letters until then — that the penny finally dropped and I understood that the words were connected to what AI tells me is “the precise astronomical moment when the center of the Sun crosses Earth's equator, marking the official astronomical start of autumn”.

Every day’s a school day with Strands!

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, September 21, game #932)

• NEON
• LYCRA
• GRUNGE
• SCRUNCHIES
• TRACKSUITS
• SPANGRAM: NINETIESTREND

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which 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 hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #1199)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, September 21 (game #1198).

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 Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1199) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• THIS
• THAT
• THE
• OTHER
• CAFE
• PATRON
• AGREE
• ACCENT
• TOUCH
• THOSE
• ROSE
• NEUTRAL
• DETAIL
• DISAGREE
• THESE
• FLOURISH

NYT Connections today (game #1199) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Determiners
• GREEN: Adornment
• BLUE: A quiz with choices
• PURPLE: Fancy drinks

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 #1199) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: DEMONSTRATIVES
• GREEN: EMBELLISHMENT
• BLUE: OPTIONS ON A MULTIPLE CHOICE SURVEY
• PURPLE: BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED

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

NYT Connections today (game #1199) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1199, are…

• YELLOW: DEMONSTRATIVES: THAT, THESE, THIS, THOSE
• GREEN: EMBELLISHMENT: ACCENT, DETAIL, FLOURISH, TOUCH
• BLUE: OPTIONS ON A MULTIPLE CHOICE SURVEY: AGREE, DISAGREE, NEUTRAL, OTHER
• PURPLE: BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED: CAFE, PATRON, ROSE, THE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Connections loves to hide a clue to another group on one of the tiles and today it was ACCENT.

This tile featured in the green group for EMBELLISHMENT but may also have tipped some crafty players off to the fact that we were searching for a group featuring accents or, as it happened, BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED.

Before linking the fancy drinks I took a bit of a risk with the yellow group, having to choose between THE and THIS. Had I paid attention more at school I may have found this task easier — demonstratively easier, even. Yet somehow I scraped through without a single error.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, September 21, 2026, game #1198)

• YELLOW: EMAIL BUTTONS: COMPOSE, DRAFTS, SENT, SPAM
• GREEN: WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH: CHUM, FLY, SPINNER, WORM
• BLUE: CHESS VERBS: CAPTURE, CASTLE, CHECK, MATE
• PURPLE: STARTS OF COMPOSERS' NAMES: BEET, BRAH, CHOP, VIVA

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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via TECHNICAL SAFEER

Hackers are hiding malware on blockchains that are nearly impossible to take down, and unrestricted AI models have pushed these attacks up 440%

• Hackers are using blockchains to keep malware instructions available after servers disappear
• AI is making blockchain-based malware infrastructure easier for less experienced hackers
• Blockchain traffic is difficult to block without disrupting legitimate cryptocurrency services worldwide

Hackers are increasingly hiding malware instructions inside public blockchains, creating communication channels that can survive the removal of conventional infrastructure.

New figures from Chainalysis claim malicious blockchain activity increased 440%, with daily entries rising from 2.06 to 11.1 after newer AI systems emerged.

The technique gives attackers another way to maintain communication with compromised computers without relying entirely on conventional servers controlled by hosting providers.

Blockchain networks become malware dead drops

Blockchain dead drops use transaction data or smart contracts as lookup points, allowing infected computers to retrieve commands, addresses, or configuration information.

Because blockchain records are distributed across networks, removing a conventional server does not erase information already stored on the ledger.

A North Korean-linked operation associated with UNC5342 uses TRON and Aptos as alternate routes before retrieving encrypted instructions through the BNB Chain.

Its malware can check one network, switch to another when necessary, and retrieve updated addresses without receiving another malware package.

Iranian actors suspected of links to the country's intelligence ministry have embedded encoded routing information inside Bitcoin transactions used for malware retrieval.

Russian-speaking cybercriminals have also commercialized the technique, using Polygon contracts to provide blockchain-backed infrastructure for malware campaigns operated by different customers.

One related operator controls more than 50 BNB Chain resolver contracts while also conducting activity involving fraudulent tokens and clipboard-monitoring malware.

These operations show how blockchain records can function as persistent lookup infrastructure rather than merely serving their conventional financial and transactional purposes.

AI lowers the technical barrier

Chainalysis said the sharp increase in this malicious activity followed the arrival of high-capacity Chinese open models, which placed fewer restrictions on malware development requests.

Before those systems appeared, building reliable blockchain-based malware infrastructure required expertise across malicious software, cryptocurrency networks, and distributed communication systems.

AI tools can reduce that knowledge barrier by helping less experienced operators understand unfamiliar technologies and produce components needed for blockchain communication.

In the second quarter of 2026, state-linked groups accounted for roughly two-thirds of newly observed activity.

Those groups also represent about half of overall observed activity, indicating that blockchain-based malware infrastructure extends beyond conventional cybercriminal operations.

Defenders face difficulties because blocking blockchain traffic could also disrupt legitimate wallets, decentralized applications, exchanges, and decentralized finance services used worldwide.

Attackers can further complicate disruption by operating their own blockchain nodes, reducing dependence on external providers that defenders might otherwise pressure or disable.

Some operators have hidden server addresses inside wallet identifiers without usable private keys, then used zero-value transfers to trigger malware retrieval.

Those transactions leave public records that investigators can examine, potentially providing useful clues even when attackers attempt to conceal their infrastructure.

"While the exploitation of blockchain by state-linked organizations such as North Korea is becoming more sophisticated, on-chain records left by attackers can actually serve as important clues to track them," said Kwon Jun-hyeok, General Manager of Chainalysis Korea.

"Tracking these traces and identifying attackers and related infrastructure through blockchain intelligence will become increasingly important in responding to new cyber threats."

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Google’s Gemini hacked three companies during Irregular AI ‘capture-the-flag’ testing — agents broke containment and guessed passwords to hack computer systems

• Google's Gemini AI broke out of a testing environment and hacked into three third-party companies
• The agents guessed passwords and used a public repository of passwords to hack into computer systems
• The incident occurred in May 2026, with AI testing lab Irregular stating that the incident was caused by the "same issue" that caused incidents by Anthropic and Meta

Google’s Gemini has joined the ranks of AI models that have been involved in testing-turned-breakout events, alongside Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI.

During capture-the-flag testing by AI lab Irregular, Google’s model autonomously accessed three computer systems belonging to third-party companies by guessing passwords and accessing an online repository of publicly listed passwords.

Google said that the incident occurred in May 2026, potentially marking it as the earliest AI models to escape testing ahead of the other incidents that took place in early July.

Google Gemini jumps the gun

“In a standard evaluation, the model found public information online and guessed credentials to access websites it thought were part of the test,” Heather Adkins, vice president of security engineering at Google, said in a statement. “In all three of these instances, the model stopped.”

Google also noted that a bug in the testing environment was responsible for allowing agents access to the internet. Contrary to incidents disclosed by other AI developers, Google’s agents ceased their intrusion once they had determined they had accessed company systems outside of the testing environment.

The testing was being conducted by Israeli AI lab Irregular. Irregular was also conducting the testing of Meta and Anthropic models during AI testing breakouts in July.

“This is the same issue that was already reported and does not represent a materially separate incident,” an Irregular spokesperson said in a statement (via CNBC). “All relevant labs were notified in late July, and affected entities were contacted as part of the investigation.”

Google said it was informed of the incident by Irregular in late July.

Debate over AI safety intensifies

The first disclosures of AI testing break outs - alongside several subsequent disclosures of more recent incidents - have coincided with increasing opposition to AI and the upcoming midterm elections in the United States, where AI has become a make-or-break topic.

The debates currently raging circles around who should control the pace of AI development. Some big tech leaders, such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, have aligned their views with those of President Trump. Trump recently stated that AI development cannot be allowed to slow down because “whoever wins AI, wins!”

Huang’s views follow a similar line. The Nvidia head has argued that AI companies should pace themselves, rather than being subject to oversight. At Dreamforce 2026, he argued that AI companies should, “run as fast as you can...but if you feel at any given point in time the company’s out of control or the product’s not going to be safe, take a pause and make sure you get it right.”

Other AI heads, such as Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, are more skeptical. Following the resignation of an Anthropic researcher, Amodei published an essay arguing in favor of ‘pacing the frontier’ - where AI companies slow development to advance alignment and regulation.

Numerous political action committees (PACs) have been channeling millions of dollars of funding into pro-AI candidates, with Nvidia setting up its own PAC to help shift US policy in the company’s favor.

Several previously pro-AI data center candidates have shifted their tone in response to their constituents' views which have become increasingly hostile to AI technology. Numerous states have also rolled-back tax exemptions for AI data centers after seeing billion dollar revenue losses.

As prices rise and the war in Iran continues to push up fuel prices, working class communities are banding together to oppose AI data centers that have pushed up energy costs and bills with new grid connections and unprecedented electricity demands in regions with existing capacity constraints.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, September 21 (game #932)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, September 20 (game #931).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #932) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… It’s back!

NYT Strands today (game #932) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• CAUSING
• STAR
• GRUNT
• RING
• DARK
• RETURN

NYT Strands today (game #932) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #932) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

• First side: left, 2nd row

• Last side: left, 8th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #932) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #932, are…

• NEON
• LYCRA
• GRUNGE
• SCRUNCHIES
• TRACKSUITS
• SPANGRAM: NINETIESTREND

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

This one took me a while and a couple of hints to make any progress.

As someone who lived through the 1990s I really should have found this easier, but even though I was certain of the theme after getting LYCRA (I still have nightmares about a colleague who turned up to work in cycling shorts) I struggled to think of anything else that could be linked to the decade.

Thinking about plaid shirts and Teen Spirit help me get GRUNGE, but the remaining two words took me an embarrassingly long time.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, September 20, game #931)

• BOAST
• BRAG
• FLEX
• GLOAT
• STRUT
• BLUSTER
• POSTURE
• SPANGRAM: GRANDIOSITY

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which 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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