NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, April 23 (game #781)

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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, April 22 (game #780).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Provinces of the pantheon

NYT Strands today (game #781) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• ROAM
• RAGE
• STING
• GLAMOR
• DEVIL
• MORE

NYT Strands today (game #781) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 6 letters

NYT Strands today (game #781) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First side: left, 5th row

Last side: right, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #781) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #781, are…

• THUNDER
• UNDERWORLD
• MARRIAGE
• LOVE
• HARVEST
• WISDOM
• SPANGRAM: DOMAIN

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

Seeing as yesterday’s game paid homage to Earth Day, I was fully expecting today’s round to be a nod to World Book Day — the most feared day in a parent's diary, thanks to the tradition of kids dressing up as fictional characters for school. 

A friend of mine’s mother got the wrong day for this back in the day and he had to spend the entire school day dressed as Voldemort while the rest of the school were in their uniforms.

Anyway, I digress. Instead of books and Harry Potter we were treated to a search for some words associated with ancient mythology — I know this now after Googling, but at the time it seemed entirely random. 

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, April 21, game #779)

• REPAIR
• RECYCLE
• DONATE
• REFILL
• REUSE
• REDUCE
• SPANGRAM: CONSERVATION

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 Thursday, April 23 (game #1047)

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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, April 22 (game #1046).

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 #1047) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• MOTHER
• MY
• NEIGHBOR
• TOTORO
• TOUCH
• WHAMMY
• SKIRT
• SCIENCE
• PULP
• EDUCATED
• LITERARY
• ASIAGO
• DEVOTE
• VERY
• HISTORICAL
• FLANK

NYT Connections today (game #1047) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Close to the edge
• GREEN: Types of narrative story
• BLUE: Science memory learning phrase
• PURPLE: Words that begin with retro pop groups

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 #1047) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: BORDER
• GREEN: KINDS OF FICTION
• BLUE: WORDS IN A PLANETARY MNEMONIC
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH FOUR-LETTER '80S BANDS

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

NYT Connections today (game #1047) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1047, are…

• YELLOW: BORDER FLANK, NEIGHBOR, SKIRT, TOUCH
• GREEN: KINDS OF FICTION HISTORICAL, LITERARY, PULP, SCIENCE
• BLUE: WORDS IN A PLANETARY MNEMONIC EDUCATED, MOTHER, MY, VERY
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH FOUR-LETTER '80S BANDS ASIAGO, DEVOTE, TOTORO, WHAMMY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

I think this is my favorite ever “purple first”.

Partially it’s because I managed to avoid thinking that the Studio Ghibli classic My Neighbor Totoro was anything other than a in-joke, secondly because I managed to avoid including PULP and thirdly because I saw the link between Toto, Devo and Wham in the first place.

ASIAGO was an educated guess, but let's just say Asia were not in the same league as the other STARTING WITH FOUR-LETTER '80S BANDS.

I was also pretty pleased to get quite tricky yellow and green groups, a good thing as the mnemonic My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles was not a thing at my school (but then neither was education). I now know that it’s a way to remember the order of the planets from the sun.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, April 21, game #1045)

• YELLOW: POTTERY EQUIPMENT CLAY, GLAZE, KILN, WHEEL
• GREEN: WALLOP DECK, PUNCH, SLUG, SOCK
• BLUE: WORDS PRONOUNCED DIFFERENT WAYS AS PROPER NOUNS HERB, NICE, POLISH, READING
• PURPLE: PICK-UP ____ ARTIST, GAME, STICKS, TRUCK

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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"SIM-Farm-as-a-Service": How a Belarus-based network hijacked UK and US telcos to enable global fraud

• SIM farm deployments across 17 countries linked via shared ProxySmart software
• Remote SIM infrastructure enables bypass of phone-based verification systems globally
• Network connects dozens of telecom carriers across Europe North America and beyond

A previously unreported network of SIM farms linked to a Belarus-based provider has been identified across multiple continents, showing how mobile networks are being used to support fraud operations at scale.

Research published by UK-based cyber firm Infrawatch found a distributed infrastructure that allows remote access to physical SIM hardware connected to telecom networks in multiple regions.

Infrawatch identified 94 SIM farm deployments across 17 countries linked through software operated by a Belarus-based provider called ProxySmart.

Facilitating large-scale fraud

The deployments were supported by 24 commercial providers selling access to SIM connectivity across Europe, North America, and South America.

The network offers connections to 35 cellular carriers, including major UK operators such as Three, O2, EE, and Vodafone. U.S. connectivity was also widely available, with infrastructure distributed across 19 states that allows attackers to appear as legitimate domestic users.

SIM farms consist of racks of SIM cards or mobile devices that can be controlled remotely at scale. These are commonly used to bypass phone-based verification methods, including SMS one-time passwords used during logins or payments.

Their ability to mimic legitimate consumer connections makes it difficult for service providers to distinguish malicious traffic from ordinary mobile activity.

Technical analysis carried out by Infrawatch found that the ProxySmart platform supports automated IP rotation, remote device control, and network fingerprint spoofing. This allows operators to maintain persistent access to telecom infrastructure while cutting the chances of being spotted.

Investigators also found that services selling access to ProxySmart-backed SIM farms are promoted through online forums and messaging platforms.

Many of these services operate without customer identity checks, accept cryptocurrency payments, and are structured to reduce visibility to enforcement systems.

Blocking SIM farm activity is difficult because mobile operators assign a single IP address to multiple customers, making it tricky to separate legitimate users from malicious actors using IP-based filtering methods.

“SIM farms have been largely overlooked as criminal infrastructure to date – in part because the UK is the only country to have outlawed them, making global law enforcement crackdowns difficult," said Lloyd Davies, Founder and CEO, Infrawatch.

“This investigation highlights a significant resilience gap that leaves organisations and users more exposed to fraud and online harms. The global ecosystem of SIM farm operators and monetisation services is highly sophisticated and acts as a foothold into telecoms networks across Europe, America and South America for bad actors.”

The investigation began with the discovery of a UK-based SIM farm service and expanded into a wider mapping effort that revealed the scale of the ProxySmart ecosystem.

Findings were shared with relevant law enforcement bodies and regulators ahead of publication.

“ProxySmart is openly advertised as a SIM Farm-as-a-Service and, unfortunately, that’s not hype or marketing. These are serious operators who have perfected a model that makes running a SIM farm simple from end-to-end: from offering remote assistance setting up racks of modems to a dedicated software for remote infrastructure management and anti-bot countermeasures," Davies added.

“The legal grey area that SIM farms sit in has allowed that model to scale with limited disruption and we assess that it’s highly likely to be facilitating large-scale fraud operations today.”

With dozens of deployments already identified across multiple regions, the research shows how remote telecom access infrastructure is being commercialized and reused to support fraud, account abuse, and automated online activity.

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'We will reveal their identity photos, names, location, and other': Experts reveal extraordinary battle between rival ransomware gangs — and how victims can get their data back

• 0APT is threatening to expose the identities of rival ransomware operators
• Double extortion tactics lose impact when used against cybercriminal groups
• Krybit credentials and wallet data were found in leaked samples

The ransomware ecosystem has never been known for trust or cooperation, but a new conflict has pushed intra-criminal warfare into uncharted territory.

A cybercrime group called 0APT has threatened to expose the identities of individuals affiliated with a rival ransomware operation known as Krybit.

In a leaked blog post, 0APT issued an unusual ultimatum to its fellow criminals. "If the group does not make the payment or contact us, we will reveal their identity photos, names, location, and more," the post stated.

Double-extortion model

The threat also contained an unexpected offer directed at Krybit's original victims: "And if you are one of their victims, contact us to get your data unlocked."

0APT is using a double-extortion model that relies on the threat of reputational damage to pressure victims into paying ransoms.

That leverage evaporates almost completely when the target is another ransomware group, since criminal enterprises have no legitimate reputation to protect.

Cybersecurity researchers note that the tactic loses much of its sting in this context, yet 0APT has proceeded as if following a conventional playbook.

The group leaked a small sample of allegedly stolen Krybit data as a warning shot and has threatened a full dump if no payment arrives.

Eric Taylor, owner of Barricade Cyber Solutions in South Carolina, has analyzed the small number of Krybit files already released by 0APT.

His team discovered plaintext credentials belonging to Krybit operators and affiliates, along with five cryptocurrency wallet addresses.

Notably, the team found no evidence of a single paid ransom to Krybit, suggesting the group may have been less successful than its public claims implied.

Krybit's website is currently offline, replaced by a splash page that reads: "Everything will return to work shortly. We apologize for this. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

This type of intra-rivalry is not entirely without precedent. In 2025, a group called DragonForce attacked rival groups BlackLock and Mamona by defacing their websites and leaking internal communications.

DragonForce also seemingly took over and later shut down the operation of former ransomware kingpin RansomHub in April last year after a month of infighting.

Security firm Halcyon has noted that 0APT "poses a legitimate threat" and shows "credible technical depth," though within its first 48 hours, the group posted a list of hundreds of victims that almost certainly contained inflated claims.

For organizations that have been encrypted by Krybit, the current conflict creates an unusual opportunity.

Victims should ensure their firewall logs and network traffic data are preserved, as these may contain evidence of the attack.

Although 0APT seems to offer a way out for Krybit’s victims, there is a need for caution because the former remains a cybercriminal.

Whether 0APT actually possesses decryption keys for Krybit's victims remains unproven, and trusting one criminal group to rescue you from another carries obvious risks.

The situation is extraordinary, but the safest path for any victim is still to rely on professional defenders rather than rival attackers.

Via The Register

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NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, April 22 (game #1046)

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, April 21 (game #1045).

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 #1046) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• TRUCK
• POLISH
• NICE
• SLUG
• DECK
• GAME
• WHEEL
• HERB
• CLAY
• SOCK
• READING
• ARTIST
• STICKS
• GLAZE
• PUNCH
• KILN

NYT Connections today (game #1046) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Used to make a vase
• GREEN: Bashed about
• BLUE: Say it another way
• PURPLE: Begin with two words that mean “lift vertically”

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 #1046) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: POTTERY EQUIPMENT
• GREEN: WALLOP
• BLUE: WORDS PRONOUNCED DIFFERENT WAYS AS PROPER NOUN
• PURPLE: PICK-UP ____ 

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

NYT Connections today (game #1046) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1046, are…

• YELLOW: POTTERY EQUIPMENT CLAY, GLAZE, KILN, WHEEL
• GREEN: WALLOP DECK, PUNCH, SLUG, SOCK
• BLUE: WORDS PRONOUNCED DIFFERENT WAYS AS PROPER NOUNS HERB, NICE, POLISH, READING
• PURPLE: PICK-UP ____ ARTIST, GAME, STICKS, TRUCK

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I made zero mistakes in this game but came pretty close to making plenty.

Years of watching a British TV show called The Great Pottery Throwdown is the only reason I got today’s yellow group. The rest were all by chance.

WALLOP I thought was about boxing terminology and the blue group I thought was something to do with double meanings, because both READING and NICE are cities as well as words. I ended up being wrong but also right, which is the beauty of Connections sometimes.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, April 21, game #1045)

• YELLOW: AMBLE (IN) BREEZE, MOSEY, STROLL, WALTZ
• GREEN: BALDERDASH BALONEY, BILGE, BULL, BUNK
• BLUE: KINDS OF BAGS CROSSBODY, HOBO, MESSENGER, SADDLE
• PURPLE: STARTS OF ONE-WORD JAMES BOND MOVIE TITLES GOLD, MOON, OCTOPUS, THUNDER

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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NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, April 22 (game #780)

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 Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 21 (game #779).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Earth Day

NYT Strands today (game #780) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• RINSE
• SORE
• CREATOR
• LATER
• DOVE
• REPAID

NYT Strands today (game #780) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 12 letters

NYT Strands today (game #780) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: top, 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 #780) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #780, are…

• REPAIR
• RECYCLE
• DONATE
• REFILL
• REUSE
• REDUCE
• SPANGRAM: CONSERVATION

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Today, is of course Earth Day, an annual event where we all, as a human race, can show our support for the environment by behaving sustainably and thinking about how we can protect the planet for the future. Not blowing it up would be a good start, perhaps.

Despite the theme being obvious I was quite slow to get going today and saw plenty of words that I should have clocked as game words.

In fact, I saw “repaid” before I saw REPAIR, “conserve” before the spangram CONSERVATION and “cycle” before RECYCLE.

Unlike previous games this one was decidedly lacking in ridiculously long words — perhaps the game makers were choosing not to be wasteful with their letters. 

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, April 21, game #779)

• BOLD
• INTREPID
• GUTSY
• COURAGEOUS
• ADVENTUROUS
• SPANGRAM: DAREDEVILS

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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Fed up with expensive DDR5? ASRock's new HUDIMM memory is riding to the rescue — but it's not a silver bullet for the RAM crisis

• ASRock has revealed a new trick to beat high RAM prices
• HUDIMM DDR5 RAM modules are considerably more affordable
• They cut back on performance, however, so it's a trade-off here

There's a new type of DDR5 RAM in town, and it's cheaper, but before you start rejoicing that all your memory-related prayers have been answered, bear in mind that there are weighty caveats attached here.

Tom's Hardware noticed the announcement from ASRock about its new HUDIMM DDR5 RAM module for motherboards with Intel chipsets. In a nutshell, these are designed to be a good deal more affordable, but to achieve that, performance is dropped considerably.

A standard stick of DDR5 (UDIMM) uses a two-subchannel architecture (2 x 32-bit), but with HUDIMM (the 'HU' stands for Half Unbuffered), you get a single 32-bit subchannel instead.

That sounds very technical, but what's happening is simple enough — the bandwidth and density of the RAM stick is effectively halved. And sticks that need fewer memory modules can, of course, be made a good deal more cheaply, because you're only buying half the chips to produce them.

As the company observed on X: "ASRock's HUDIMM architecture reduces chip count and cost, enabling more affordable and flexible system builds for users and system integrators worldwide."

Intel's Robert Hallock, VP and GM for its Enthusiast Channel Segment group, commented: "Innovations like ASRock's One sub-channel DRAM technology are crucial to ensuring desktop computing remains accessible despite the rising demand and costs for DDR5 memory.

"Intel's grateful for ASRock's support in bringing this to market for our 600/700/800-series chipsets, ensuring Intel users have more access to the benefits of DDR5 memory in the years ahead."

So, as noted, these new RAM offerings are compatible with ASRock's Intel 600, 700, and 800-series motherboards.

ASRock has hooked up with TeamGroup to produce these HUDIMM sticks, and needless to say, they'll be entry-level offerings. This RAM will also be manufactured for laptops, too, in the form of HSODIMMs.

Asus is reportedly looking into this type of memory, too, as per leaks on X, so we could see a broader shift towards HUDIMMs as the year progresses.

Analysis: sign of the RAM times

(Image credit: ASRock)

The catch is that the cutbacks made to this RAM mean that performance is going to be a lot slower. Is that a compromise you want to make? Perhaps it is, given the cost of DDR5 RAM right now, which has reached extortionate levels, frankly.

The twist is that ASRock's new way of working here can run alongside standard DDR5 RAM, which remains compatible in these motherboards. HUDIMM offers asymmetrical dual-channel support at the BIOS level, so you should be okay to put a HUDIMM next to a standard UDIMM, and they'll work fine in dual-channel mode (with 3 x 32-bit subchannels active — one from the HUDIMM, and a pair from the UDIMM).

If you had an 8GB HUDIMM stick alongside a 16GB UDIMM, this would, in theory, be a faster implementation than a single 24GB UDIMM stick. So you could, say, start with just an 8GB HUDIMM (or 16GB), and then expand with a UDIMM later (when pricing drops back down to a more reasonable level).

As Tom's points out, though, ASRock's marketing indicates a not inconsiderable 90ns latency with this RAM standard, and the proof will be in the pudding of how these sorts of theorized combos work out.

Meanwhile, HUDIMMs certainly represent one shortcut to lower DDR5 RAM pricing, but the compromise in terms of performance (away from mix-and-match scenarios) is going to be a heavy price in itself. Still, this may be an option some people wish to exercise, and I can't say I blame them, looking at what retailers are asking for run-of-the-mill DDR5 these days.

What this also serves as is a reminder of just how bad the RAM crisis has got, and the fact that hardware makers are looking at longer-term solutions such as this scheme isn't much comfort as to the prospective duration of this whole affair.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 21 (game #779)

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, April 20 (game #778).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Risky business

NYT Strands today (game #779) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• ROUTE
• ROUTER
• DIET
• RATE
• GATE
• CRATE
• SUET
• CRUET
• VIRAL

NYT Strands today (game #779) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #779) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First side: left, 5th row

Last side: right, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #779) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #779, are…

• BOLD
• INTREPID
• GUTSY
• COURAGEOUS
• ADVENTUROUS
• SPANGRAM: DAREDEVILS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

Initially, I briefly entertained, then eliminated, the possibility that today’s search was about Tom Cruise films… Then I found BOLD and deduced that we were searching for words associated with people for whom risks are occupational hazard.

With this in mind I went looking for “stunt performer”, but managed to find DAREDEVILS instead — a word which sums up people in this profession. After a run of long spangrams we returned to a relatively short one today, and one in which there was a game word (ADVENTUROUS) that was longer.

It is hard to imagine a less daring pursuit than Strands — unless of course you completed today’s puzzle whilst hanging upside down from a trapeze suspended over a ravine. And if you did then I applaud you.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, April 20, game #778)

• GLINT
• GLITTER
• GLISTEN
• GLEAM
• GLOW
• GLIMMER
• SPANGRAM: CATCHTHELIGHT

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, April 21 (game #1045)

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, April 20 (game #1044).

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 #1045) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• OCTOPUS
• BREEZE
• THUNDER
• MESSENGER
• MOON
• SADDLE
• BULL
• WALTZ
• BUNK
• GOLD
• НОВО
• MOSEY
• BILGE
• CROSSBODY
• STROLL
• BALONEY

NYT Connections today (game #1045) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Walk slowly
• GREEN: Nonsense chat
• BLUE: Things you carry
• PURPLE: 007 beginnings

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 #1045) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: AMBLE (IN) 
• GREEN: BALDERDASH
• BLUE: KINDS OF BAGS
• PURPLE: STARTS OF ONE-WORD JAMES BOND MOVIE TITLES

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

NYT Connections today (game #1045) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1045, are…

• YELLOW: AMBLE (IN) BREEZE, MOSEY, STROLL, WALTZ
• GREEN: BALDERDASH BALONEY, BILGE, BULL, BUNK
• BLUE: KINDS OF BAGS CROSSBODY, HOBO, MESSENGER, SADDLE
• PURPLE: STARTS OF ONE-WORD JAMES BOND MOVIE TITLES GOLD, MOON, OCTOPUS, THUNDER

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

I know that Connections love sports, so spying THUNDER and BULL in the grid, my first thought was that there must be a group linked by the NBA. However, even though I know next to nothing about basketball I couldn’t spot any other potential team names — although OCTOPUS would be cool.

AMBLE (IN) was my first group, largely because all these words describe my own particular speed of travel. I’d say MOSEY is about as fast as I can go; if I’m in a rush I may STROLL but that’s my limit. All of which really annoys the stressy speed walkers of the world.

My mistake came in trying to collect the KINDS OF BAGS. I was certain about CROSSBODY, MESSENGER and SADDLE, but the fourth eluded me and I initially went for GOLD before finally getting it correct.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, April 20, game #1044)

• YELLOW: MASS OF SMOKE BILLOW, CLOUD, PLUME, PUFF
• GREEN: FISHING GEAR BAIT, HOOK, NET, ROD
• BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH BLACK WIDOW SPIDERS CANNIBALISM, HOURGLASS, VENOM, WEB
• PURPLE: _____ MONDAY BLUE, CYBER, MANIC, MEATLESS

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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“Essentially invisible:” How hackers 'trojan-horsed' QEMU virtual machines to bypass security and drop ransomware

• Hidden virtual machines allow attackers to bypass endpoint security and remain undetected
• Attackers used trusted virtualization tools and built-in software to disguise malicious activity
• Sophos links campaigns using QEMU to ransomware deployment and long-term network access

Attackers are increasingly hiding malicious tools inside virtual machines to slip past security controls.

Sophos analysts say the approach relies on virtualization software that security systems often treat as legitimate activity.

In recent incidents, attackers used QEMU, an open-source machine emulator and virtualizer, to run hidden environments where malicious activity remained largely invisible to endpoint defenses and left minimal evidence on the host system.

A growing evasion trend

Sophos notes that while the method is not new, it has gained traction again, with two active campaigns, tracked as STAC4713 and STAC3725, identified since the end of last year.

In the STAC4713 campaign, attackers created a scheduled task named TPMProfiler to launch a hidden QEMU virtual machine under system-level privileges.

The virtual machine used disguised disk images, first appearing as database files and later masquerading as dynamic link libraries.

Once launched, the virtual machine established reverse SSH tunnels that created covert remote access channels, allowingattackers to run tools and collect domain credentials without exposing activity to traditional security tools.

Sophos investigators also observed attackers using built-in Windows utilities such as Microsoft Paint, Notepad, and Edge for file access and network discovery. This relied heavily on trusted software to blend malicious actions into routine system behavior.

Older intrusions tied to the campaign used exposed VPN systems without multi-factor authentication, while later incidents exploited a SolarWinds Web Help Desk vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-26399. These varied entry points show attackers adjusting their tactics depending on available weaknesses.

Sophos links the STAC4713 campaign to PayoutsKing ransomware, which focuses on encrypting virtualized environments.

The group behind the ransomware appears to target hypervisors and deploy tools that can operate across VMware and ESXi systems.

The second campaign, STAC3725, relied on exploiting the CitrixBleed2 vulnerability to gain initial access before installing remote access software.

Attackers then launched a QEMU virtual machine to manually assemble attack tools for credential theft and network reconnaissance.

Rather than delivering ready-made payloads, attackers compiled their toolsets inside the virtual machine after gaining access. That approach allowed them to customize attacks and reduce the chance of detection by signature-based defenses.

Sophos warns that hiding activity inside virtual machines represents a growing evasion trend. Strong endpoint protection, network monitoring, and timely patching of exposed systems critical to reducing risk.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, April 20 (game #778)

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, April 19 (game #777).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Gloriously glaring!

NYT Strands today (game #778) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SHEATH
• CRAG
• CHEAT
• TOTAL
• LINT
• MILE

NYT Strands today (game #778) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #778) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First side: bottom, 3rd column

Last side: top, 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 #778) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #778, are…

• GLINT
• GLITTER
• GLISTEN
• GLEAM
• GLOW
• GLIMMER
• SPANGRAM: CATCHTHELIGHT

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

The theme was a little bit confusing initially, but after spotting GLINT and GLITTER I understood that every light-associated word we were searching for began with the letter G.

There was no place then for shimmer or sparkle in this gaggle of G words.

The spangram was harder to spot, but with “light” not featured among the game words I worked backwards to find “catch” and then CATCHTHELIGHT.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, April 19, game #777)

• ADJUST
• MODIFY
• TWEAK
• REFINE
• IMPROVE
• ALTER
• SPANGRAM: THEREIFIXEDIT

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 Monday, April 20 (game #1044)

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 Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, April 19 (game #1043).

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 #1044) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CYBER
• HOURGLASS
• BLUE
• CLOUD
• ROD
• WEB
• MANIC
• NET
• PUFF
• VENOM
• HOOK
• BILLOW
• BAIT
• PLUME
• MEATLESS
• CANNIBALISM

NYT Connections today (game #1044) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: A bunch of fumes
• GREEN: Used for angling
• BLUE: Linked to an infamous arachnid 
• PURPLE: Start the week

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 #1044) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: MASS OF SMOKE
• GREEN: FISHING GEAR
• BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH BLACK WIDOW SPIDERS
• PURPLE: _____ MONDAY

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

NYT Connections today (game #1044) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1044, are…

• YELLOW: MASS OF SMOKE BILLOW, CLOUD, PLUME, PUFF
• GREEN: FISHING GEAR BAIT, HOOK, NET, ROD
• BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH BLACK WIDOW SPIDERS CANNIBALISM, HOURGLASS, VENOM, WEB
• PURPLE: _____ MONDAY BLUE, CYBER, MANIC, MEATLESS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

A bit of music knowledge got me to my 33rd “Purple First” thanks to Blue Monday by New Order and Prince’s Manic Monday, made famous by The Bangles. CYBER I was confident about, but MEATLESS I went with purely because of the alliteration.

This actually seemed the easiest group, not that I’m complaining.

Elsewhere, nature knowledge may have helped me get ASSOCIATED WITH BLACK WIDOW SPIDERS, but I spotted the more obvious yellow and green groups first.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, April 19, game #1043)

• YELLOW: CHEEKY ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, WISE
• GREEN: DRESS MEASUREMENTS BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, WAIST
• BLUE: CARDS IN TEXAS HOLD 'EM FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, TURN
• PURPLE: LAST WORDS OF CANDY BRANDS IN THE SINGULAR CAP, DUD, KID, MINT

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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Eero Signal is the best home office upgrade I’ve made this year

As someone who has worked from home for the last 15 years, there aren't many things more frustrating than my internet connection going down in the middle of a workday. Sure, my kids act like it's the end of the world when it happens after school, when they're trying to unlock some forbidden fruit on Roblox or whatever, but that's nothing compared to the internal rage I feel when I see my camera feed stuttering on a video call.

My current Internet Service Provider (ISP) has gotten more reliable, but there was a period of time when I'd complained about them so much on Twitter that I had four technicians and their boss randomly show up at my house, asking if they could run a brand new service line in a bid to fix my issues.

Those improvements aside, it's not perfect. My connection still drops from time to time.

I've tinkered with backup internet solutions over the years, and even considered signing up for Starlink as a secondary provider at one point.

But most of the backup internet solutions offered by firewalls or Wi-Fi systems aren't seamless, requiring you to connect your router to your phone's hotspot, which then broadcasts mobile data throughout your home's network.

That's not an ideal solution when I'm on a video call, for example. My home office is nowhere near my router, so I'd have extended downtime while I move closer, connect my router to the hotspot, and by then, the call was either over or my regular connection had returned.

Then I found Eero Signal

I currently use one of Eero's mesh Wi-Fi systems, so when Eero announced its latest product, the $99 Eero Signal, my interest was piqued.

The small device that looks like a wireless charging stand for your phone connects to a compatible Eero router. When your main internet connection drops, your Eero system automatically switches to the LTE connection that Signal provides. (There's a 5G model coming later this year that I'd instantly upgrade to.)

I've had Signal set up and running in my house for several weeks now, and I have to admit — I'm smitten. It's perfectly picked up where my service provider has let me down.

Setup was easy, and it has deep controls

(Image credit: Future/Jason Cipriani)

After unboxing the Signal and a 45W power adapter, I immediately connected it to my Eero system and the included power supply. The rest of the process required a few taps on my phone, adding the device to my home system, ensuring I was on an Eero Plus plan for the cellar portion, and I was up and running.

Eero offers two plans. You can pay $99.99 a year for 10 GB of data per month, while $199.99 gets you 100 GB of data per month through Signal's connection.

To test Signal, all I had to do was temporarily disconnect the wired internet connection going to my Eero system, and it switched over to Signal almost immediately.

Seamless backup internet achieved.

The last step to complete setup was to go through the list of devices in the Eero app, approving or forbidding access to data when Signal is active. It's a quick and easy way to ensure that your work laptop or home alarm system and cameras stay connected to the internet during an outage, but stopping your streaming devices from eating into your data allotment.

Recent maintenance put Eero Signal to the test

(Image credit: Future/Jason Cipriani)

My home network setup is complex, and beyond the previously mentioned video calls for work being a priority, so too is all of the self-hosted websites and services I have running, including personal and business websites from my basement. When my sites go down, I get sad. I don't like being sad.

But since installing Eero Signal, my sites have had virtually zero downtime due to a lack of internet.

The reliability and speed of Signal was put to the test a couple of weeks ago when my internet service provider announced routine maintenance in my area that'd take my connection offline all day.

‌Bring it on, I said to myself as I read the email.

The morning of the scheduled downtime, while I was out of town and away from the house, I received an alert that my connection had dropped and my network switched over to Signal and then... nothing. I didn't get an alert that any of my sites were down, and I could pull up a live stream of my Ring security cameras.

Several hours later, I received another alert that the work was done for the day, but they were unable to finish everything, and expected a prolonged outage the next day.

The second day came and went much like the first — Signal kicked in and took over, providing data to my home's network and self-hosted services, all the while I was able to call into a Teams meeting. The Signal's LTE connection is averaging 50 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up for me, which isn't super fast compared to my standard connection, but it's enough for short periods..

(Image credit: Future/Jason Cipriani)

Internet outages are a thing of the past

(Image credit: Future/Jason Cipriani)

I'd become so accustomed to dealing with sporadic internet outages that I didn't realize how much time I spent worrying about it. Then again, being connected to the internet during the day is how I do my job, and without it, I'm not very productive, so it makes sense.

It also makes sense that after setting up Signal and realizing it delivers on its promise, I've felt relieved. A couple of months ago, those messages alerting me of upcoming maintenance would have stressed me out for days.

Instead, all I did was get excited because it was going to be a stress test for Signal — and it passed, easily.

That relief alone is worth the cost. Now I can spend that energy on something productive.

eero

Signal

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