NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, October 16 (game #957)

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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, October 15 (game #956).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Just a little bit

NYT Strands today (game #957) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• PILL
• STATE
• LAME
• SALT
• LOCAL
• WORM

NYT Strands today (game #957) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #957) - 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 #957) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #957, are…

• PINPOINT
• MOLECULE
• ATOM
• MITE
• FOLLICLE
• AMOEBA
• SPANGRAM: SMALLWORLD

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Yet again, looking in the top left-hand corner paid off. However, it was at the expense of a fairly easy-to-spot spangram — congratulations if you got a Spangram First today.

After spotting PINPOINT and SMALLWORLD (did everyone have the Disney ride theme tune churning around their heads afterwards?) I was convinced that MINIATURE would be lurking on the board somewhere.

Instead, the remaining words were all scientific leaning, with only the spelling of AMOEBA causing me pause.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, October 15, game #956)

• BEACON
• STAIRCASE
• DOME
• LANTERN
• GALLERY
• SPANGRAM: LIGHTHOUSE

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 Friday, October 16 (game #1223)

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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, October 15 (game #1222).

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 #1223) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• HUNGARY
• HUNGRY
• HIPPO
• CHICKEN
• CHIP
• CHAD
• COOLIDGE
• CYRUS
• SPAN
• MARK
• LAOS
• NICK
• PARAGUAY
• SMARTIES
• BULGARI
• SCRATCH

NYT Connections today (game #1223) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Paint repair required
• GREEN: Nations without a coastline
• BLUE: Nations with something absent
• PURPLE: Fashionable to begin with

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 #1223) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS
• GREEN: LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES
• BLUE: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH WORDS FOR "STYLISH"

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

NYT Connections today (game #1223) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1223, are…

• YELLOW: SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS: CHIP, MARK, NICK, SCRATCH
• GREEN: LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES: CHAD, HUNGARY, LAOS, PARAGUAY
• BLUE: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER: BULGARI, CYRUS, HUNGRY, SPAN
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH WORDS FOR "STYLISH": CHICKEN, COOLIDGE, HIPPO, SMARTIES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Having HUNGRY and HIPPO beside each other on the board, not to mention HUNGRY and HUNGARY, was very distracting. Fortunately I managed to focus and completed the game without a hitch.

I got the four EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER first, but it was a toss of a coin between that and the quartet of LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES.

Once again I managed to get Yellow last, which is something of an achievement considering that it was the most straightforward of today's groups and required no lateral thinking. Perhaps Hungry Hippo was a mental distraction after all.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, October 15, 2026, game #1222)

• YELLOW: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD: CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS: BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN
• BLUE: LOWEST PART: BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION
• PURPLE: LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED: CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY

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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Experts uncover bizarre new malware that spooks users with jump scares and screams

• KGB RAT is a malware-as-a-service platform offering remote access, credential theft, and crypto hijacking features
• The malware includes unusual psychological tactics such as fake BSODs, jump scares, and screamer functions
• Researchers found multiple operators using the tool, which is marketed as legitimate software despite its criminal capabilities

Halloween is just around the corner, and cybercriminals are making use of it to give Windows users a good scare (and then some!) - ater all, few things strike fear into the hearts of Windows users quite like the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), and a newly analyzed malware strain is turning that nightmare - into a weapon.

Security researchers Group-IB have published an in-depth report on KBG RAT, a newly discovered Remote Access Trojan (RAT). The malware has been advertised for sale on underground forums since late 2025, although researchers found evidence of its infrastructure dating back to January 2022. It’s quite possible that it was used privately for a little while before its developers decided to share it with the community.

KGB RAT

KGB RAT is offered as Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS), Group-IB explained, saying subscriptions start at $150 per month and reach $800 annually. The $150 package provides one month of access, while the $800 one covers the entire year, working out to roughly $67 per month for the annual subscription.

According to Group-IB, even the cheapest package includes all of the biggest features - remote desktop access, file management, webcam and microphone access, keylogging, password recovery, endpoint persistence, and different anti-detection features.

KGB RAT can also hijack cryptocurrency transactions by monitoring the clipboard for copied wallet addresses and replacing them with the ones owned by the attackers during pasting.

The more expensive plans, on the other hand, include multi-client management, payload customization, additional evasion features, plugin support, and access to more extensive server infrastructure. The unnamed developers are also offering a separate $500 Network Spreading add-on, which apparently allows the malware to propagate automatically throughout compromised networks.

Boo!

What makes this RAT stand out, however, are not its hacking features, but rather - thriller ones. In the report, Group-IB describes them as “a set of psychological harassment features”, which include screamer functions, jump scares, and forced blue screens of death. “Psychological harassment” might be a bit too harsh of a classification for a jump-scare during Halloween, but we would argue that what Microsoft did with its OS after Windows 11 could fall under that category.

KGB RAT’s developers call these features “fun settings”, the researchers discovered, while Group-IB says they’re a signal that the threat actor is “comfortable weaponizing victim anxiety alongside data theft”. Cryptocurrency theft, data exfiltration, keylogging, and remote desktop access, somehow seem to go hand-in-hand with anxiety, we believe.

The malware is designed to evade detection, using obfuscation, a reportedly daily-updated crypter, sandbox detection, and mechanisms for disabling (or simply bypassing) security protections. It uses a Telegram bot to notify the attackers when a new device becomes infected, and ip-api.com to determine where the compromised endpoint is located. The researchers said they identified multiple operators using the same malware builder, including at least one focused on stealing cryptocurrency from their victims.

Another interesting aspect of KGB RAT is that it is being positioned as a legitimate tool. Its website comes with (fake) customer reviews, and claims of being used by more than 10,000 IT professionals. It comes with an education section and different how-to videos. Ironically enough, the site was returning a “502 Bad Gateway” error when we tried to open it. While it could mean it was shut down, it can also mean a temporary server failure, or hosting problems, and it could make a comeback in the future.

While it was online, though, it contained a legal section with disclaimers, warnings and notifications encouraging users to make a legit use of their software, Group-IB found. They also included educational videos of how to install, configure, and use the software.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, October 15 (game #956)

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, October 14 (game #955).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Sailor’s guide

NYT Strands today (game #956) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• GONE
• MEAT
• GREAT
• SOUR
• THEN
• GRAY

NYT Strands today (game #956) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #956) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

• First side: top, 2nd column

• Last side: bottom, 3rd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #956) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #956, are…

• BEACON
• STAIRCASE
• DOME
• LANTERN
• GALLERY
• SPANGRAM: LIGHTHOUSE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

The theme meant nothing to me (was it about maps or tides?) until I spotted BEACON in my favorite left-hand corner starting spot and the light of inspiration beamed down on me.

After getting the next most obvious LIGHTHOUSE feature of STAIRCASE (connected in the format of a spiral, no less), the remaining four game words proved harder to spot — so I took a hint and was gifted DOME.

From here I literally kicked myself as I spotted LANTERN and limped over the line with the now-easily-spottable GALLERY and TOWER.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, October 14, game #955)

• BEAUTY
• BEAST
• FROG
• PRINCESS
• TORTOISE
• HARE
• SPANGRAM: ONCEUPONATIME

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, October 15 (game #1222)

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, October 14 (game #1221).

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 #1222) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SMOKE
• BASKET
• DRY
• FOOT
• VOLLEY
• CANNON
• RUN
• PICKLE
• BASE
• GOAL
• FORGE
• FOUNDATION
• CURE
• RACINE
• BOTTOM
• TOUCHDOWN

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Keep things edible for longer
• GREEN: Game achievements
• BLUE: Sink down to see these
• PURPLE: Altered geography

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 #1222) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS
• BLUE: LOWEST PART
• PURPLE: LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED

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

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1222, are…

• YELLOW: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD: CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS: BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN
• BLUE: LOWEST PART: BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION
• PURPLE: LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED: CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

Kudos if you were switched on enough to spot canyon, gorge, ravine and valley in the tiles that formed the purple group’s LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED. This kind of clever letter altering trickery always foxes me.

Instead, I fell for today’s most obvious trap and linked PICKLE, BASKET, FOOT and VOLLEY, thinking that “ball” was the connection (I could have included CANNON and BASE, too).

Fortunately, this was the end of my mistakes and I saw the real reason PICKLE and BASKET were in the game.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, October 14, 2026, game #1221)

• YELLOW: HINT: FLICKER, SUGGESTION, TRACE, WHIFF
• GREEN: TENNIS SHOTS: SERVE, SLICE, SMASH, VOLLEY
• BLUE: SUPERHEROES, WITH "THE": FLASH, HULK, PUNISHER, THING
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM": FEED, FIERY, FOMENT, FUMBLE

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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'Nothing is obvious and nothing is rubbed into your face' — Control Resonant composer says 'in the end it’s all only music made with love and enthusiasm' and fans will likely uncover hidden easter eggs in the soundtrack years later

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko says he likes to "go to extremes to add depth to everything" in his work
• He says each Resonant has "their own features in the concept track" that can be picked apart
• Alanko says, "Nothing is obvious and nothing is rubbed into your face, and in the end it’s all only music made with love and enthusiasm"

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko has revealed that his music features easter eggs that may take fans years to uncover, as he likes to "go to extremes to add depth to everything."

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming about his favorite aspects of the Control series and its music, Alanko said there are "layers" to each soundtrack, and some of them are only revealed "when you dive deep into my project file timelines and start digging out the details of sounds."

"One trick I’ve used about a million times with various tools is to add some string section’s 'resin' sound to something else, turning it into a resemblance of a stringed instrument," Alanko said. "Some of the tricks will probably never surface and are more or less subliminal, some of them slightly more at the forefront, but as I mentioned, I love to hide all kinds of nods and winks everywhere, pay homage to the greats."

He continued, sharing that if any hardware synth is involved in his work (which he explained is a big part of his musical arsenal), it was " reamped through a speaker setup and a pair of microphones," which was a trick he learned from the articles concerning the late Konradi "Conny" Plank, the sound engineer and producer of Kraftwerk and Ultravox.

"I learned my chops back in the day meticulously inspecting and evaluating Die Mensch-Maschine, Computerwelt, Vienna and Rage In Eden," Alanko said, adding that he "learned a good deal of studio tricks during my early adulthood" when he worked as a synth programmer and a producer for various productions, and all of that experience has "proven to be rather handy during the creation of the Control Resonant soundtrack."

Alanko went on to share some neat details about the creation of the game's enemies, the Resonant, and said each has "their own features in the concept track," with Hedron, for instance, having "clangorous, metallic, sequenced, patterned, constantly moving" sounds.

"Hiss wants to corrupt everything and especially with that entity, the pitches start going all over the place," he said. "And Mold is a triumphant spectacle of all kinds of dispersers, turning everything into some sonic goo."

Alanko said his passion allowed him to add as much detail as he wanted, which also meant leaving in small hints that listeners likely won't find until years later.

"I have, and I will go to extremes to add depth to everything," Alanko said, "and the most beautiful thing is when people realise something after, say, seven-eight years, and I get an email from someone who just realised the rhythm of a certain sound was actually Morse code for 'BEWARE'.

"Nothing is obvious and nothing is rubbed into your face, and in the end it’s all only music made with love and enthusiasm."

Alanko has discussed the early stages of Control Resonant's development, revealing that he was brought on to the project "very early" and was still working on Alan Wake 2. He explained that this proved to be a better outcome and suggested that other studios should value music more if they care about their games and avoid AI.

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'I’d love to do a proper sci-fi score one day' — Control Resonant composer shares what kind of game he'd like to work on next, says 'one thing is sure: I’m not much good for a My Little Pony game'

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko shares what game he would like to work on next
• He says he would "love to do a proper sci-fi score one day" and enjoys "emotional psycho-thrillers a lot"
• Alanko says he would pass on any "cute cartoon-like games" like My Little Pony

Petri Alanko, the composer for Remedy Entertainment's Control, Control Resonant, and Alan Wake 2, has revealed which genre of game he would love to work on next, but insisted that "cute games" are a hard pass.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Alanko said that with "synth" being part of his musical arsenal, he would "love to do a proper sci-fi score one day," and shared his enthusiasm for thrillers.

"Just gimme a project and free hands, thank you," Alanko said. "I enjoy emotional psycho-thrillers a lot; they offer so much writing ground, but combining that with some other, say, sci-fi flavours, now that would be something I’d love."

As for what he's working on right now, the composer said he's moved on to another game soundtrack, which he couldn't reveal, and also the movie Häyhä, which is about a WW2 Finnish sharpshooter, Simo Häyhä (aka The White Death).

He explained that "scoring movies is relatively easy, really," as "you have the linear media unchanged in front of you," and compared to the average game, " you need only a handful of music for it."

"I certainly don’t want to look down on any film composer," Alanko added. "I know several of them, and they are very dear to me, but in some ways, I feel like that posse has it pretty easy in their line of work."

Alanko went on to share which genre of game he would absolutely avoid if offered the chance to compose music for, including cozy games, because they don't align with his personal tastes.

"One thing is sure: I’m not much good for a My Little Pony game," he said. "Or cute cartoon-like games. Or rally games. Nothing against them, but I don’t have that in me. I’m from a Northern faraway country, and I live with a forest behind my house, and Nordic Noir is more or less a code of conduct in my whereabouts (laughs), so that pretty much stamps my life with [a] 'psycho-thrillers ahoy' badge."

Elsewhere, Alanko suggested studios should value music more if they care about their games and avoid AI at all costs, saying, "Love your game, love your handiwork. Respect the client: the gamers, the fans, dammit."

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, October 14 (game #955)

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, October 13 (game #954).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Folk and fairy tale twosomes

NYT Strands today (game #955) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• CANE
• TINT
• METER
• SHARE
• TROT
• STEM
• TROOP

NYT Strands today (game #955) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #955) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

• First side: left, 7th row

• Last side: bottom, 2nd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #955) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #955, are…

• BEAUTY
• BEAST
• FROG
• PRINCESS
• TORTOISE
• HARE
• SPANGRAM: ONCEUPONATIME

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Imagination was not required in order to understand today’s theme and I was able to make the leap and spot ONCEUPONATIME dividing the folk and fairytale twosomes.

My approach was to complete the game in pairs, but that was really just to make it a little bit more interesting.

As a slow-moving person, constantly being followed by busy people “tutting” at my heels, The Tortoise and the Hare is my favourite fairytale. I usually align myself with the TORTOISE, but this game made me feel like a speedy impatient HARE.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, October 13, game #954)

• EMBARRASS
• APPALL
• NONPLUS
• CHAGRIN
• MORTIFY
• SPANGRAM: CRINGEWORTHY

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 Wednesday, October 14 (game #1221)

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, October 13 (game #1220).

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 #1221) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FEED
• THING
• SERVE
• SUGGESTION
• FIERY
• FLICKER
• FLASH
• FOMENT
• SMASH
• HULK
• TRACE
• FUMBLE
• SLICE
• WHIFF
• VOLLEY

NYT Connections today (game #1221) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: A small reveal
• GREEN: As seen at Wimbledon
• BLUE: Comic book champion
• PURPLE: A giant’s saying at the start

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 #1221) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: HINT
• GREEN: TENNIS SHOTS
• BLUE: SUPERHEROES, WITH "THE"
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM"

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

NYT Connections today (game #1221) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1221, are…

• YELLOW: HINT: FLICKER, SUGGESTION, TRACE, WHIFF
• GREEN: TENNIS SHOTS: SERVE, SLICE, SMASH, VOLLEY
• BLUE: SUPERHEROES, WITH "THE": FLASH, HULK, PUNISHER, THING
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM": FEED, FIERY, FOMENT, FUMBLE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

There is often a link between Strands and Connections and today I can’t help thinking that the purple group STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM" has some NYT thread with today’s folk and fairy tale theme in Strands.

For me, the expression, along with the next line “I smell the blood of an Englishman”, is a strong reminder of being a small child, when all adults seemed like giants, as it is what my uncle would bellow at the start of a hide-and-seek game.

Anyway, I digress as I completely missed it in favour of TENNIS SHOTS (I wanted to add PUNISHER in there as I’m sure there are some players who call their best shot that) and SUPERHEROES, WITH “THE”.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, October 13, 2026, game #1220)

• YELLOW: DISCERNMENT: EYE, FLAIR, SENSE, TASTE
• GREEN: FASTEN: HITCH, LASH, TETHER, TIE
• BLUE: SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES: BELT, CUP, JACKET, RING
• PURPLE: LOOSE_____: CANNON, CHANGE, ENDS, LIPS

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

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Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, October 13 (game #1723)

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle 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: Quordle hints and answers for Monday, October 12 (game #1722).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

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

Quordle today (game #1723) — hint #1 — Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1723) — hint #2 — repeated letters

Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1723) — hint #3 — uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1723) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)

Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1723) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• F

• D

• T

• S

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

Quordle today (game #1723) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1723, are…

• FLUFF
• DEBUT
• TEETH
• STEIN

I didn’t make any mistakes today, but this game still took me a long time to complete.

My difficulty was in finding a three-letter combination beginning with U from the letters I had left. Eventually I landed on the only possibility and a rare five-letter word containing three of the same letter — FLUFF.

Daily Sequence today (game #1723) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1723, are…

• TIDAL
• PAUSE
• SUING
• SHYLY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1722, Monday, 12 October: HELLO, BELOW, RIGHT, SLANT
• Quordle #1721, Sunday, 11 October: LILAC, INLET, TRIAD, SHAPE
• Quordle #1720, Saturday, 10 October: SWEAT, THIRD, RURAL, CLASP
• Quordle #1719, Friday, 9 October: OLDEN, DUNCE, SWATH, HILLY
• Quordle #1718, Thursday, 8 October: MINTY, ROWER, BROOD, RESET
• Quordle #1717, Wednesday, 7 October: PALER, FROTH, DOZEN, ERASE
• Quordle #1716, Tuesday, 6 October: FRESH, SKULK, BATCH, ENSUE
• Quordle #1715, Monday, 5 October: SIXTH, SPEAK, SEDAN, HEIST
• Quordle #1714, Sunday, 4 October: INFER, RAINY, THING, ARENA
• Quordle #1713, Saturday, 3 October: CHORE, FLYER, STICK, PURSE
• Quordle #1712, Friday, 2 October: IVORY, SADLY, ANGEL, LLAMA
• Quordle #1711, Thursday, 1 October: NAVEL, SHEER, BIRTH, TACKY
• Quordle #1710, Wednesday, 30 September: CHOKE, BATCH, MOSSY, EAGER
• Quordle #1709, Tuesday, 29 September: BILGE, MEDAL, LODGE, PORCH
• Quordle #1708, Monday, 28 September: BRUNT, TORSO, STONE, HEATH
• Quordle #1707, Sunday, 27 September: VALET, CHEST, VIGIL, PUREE
• Quordle #1706, Saturday, 26 September: SNORT, BIBLE, LAPSE, CRANE
• Quordle #1705, Friday, 25 September: SWEAR, FLOOD, GUPPY, GROAN
• Quordle #1704, Thursday, 24 September: TOPIC, METRO, SCALP, FREED
• Quordle #1703, Wednesday, 23 September: SHEET, BLAND, JOIST, GUAVA

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, October 13 (game #954)

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, October 12 (game #953).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Well, this is awkward

NYT Strands today (game #954) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SOME
• BREWS
• PART
• PATH
• FROM
• FROGS

NYT Strands today (game #954) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 12 letters

NYT Strands today (game #954) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

• First side: left, 1st row

• Last side: right, 7th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #954) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #954, are…

• EMBARRASS
• APPALL
• NONPLUS
• CHAGRIN
• MORTIFY
• SPANGRAM: CRINGEWORTHY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

I’m classing this as tricky because despite getting by without hints it still took me longer than usual to complete the board.

After getting the spangram fairly quickly I was confident I’d roar through the board at speed, chuckling at memories of CRINGEWORTHY scenes from Something About Mary and Meet The Parents.

Alas, after getting EMBARRASS I struggled to think of any other synonyms for awkward; I thought NONPLUS meant you were indifferent. Ah well, every day’s a school day.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, October 12, game #953)

• PARLANCE
• JARGON
• VERNACULAR
• LINGO
• DIALECT
• SPANGRAM: TURNOFPHRASE

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, October 13 (game #1220)

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, October 12 (game #1219).

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 #1220) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• EYE
• LASH
• LIPS
• JACKET
• TIE
• SENSE
• CHANGE
• BELT
• RING
• TASTE
• CUP
• HITCH
• CANNON
• TETHER
• FLAIR
• ENDS

NYT Connections today (game #1220) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Very particular
• GREEN: Put together
• BLUE: What winners get
• PURPLE: Begin with the opposite of tight

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 #1220) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: DISCERNMENT
• GREEN: FASTEN
• BLUE: SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES
• PURPLE: LOOSE_____

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

NYT Connections today (game #1220) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1220, are…

• YELLOW: DISCERNMENT: EYE, FLAIR, SENSE, TASTE
• GREEN: FASTEN: HITCH, LASH, TETHER, TIE
• BLUE: SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES: BELT, CUP, JACKET, RING
• PURPLE: LOOSE_____: CANNON, CHANGE, ENDS, LIPS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

Seeing LIPS, LASH and EYE on the top line of the grid immediately made me think about makeup, but I resisted the temptation to cobble a group together and instead waited to see if I could find anything more concrete.

I stumbled on a Purple First after trying to think about what possible group could contain CANNON and could only come up with weaponry and the phrase “loose cannon”, which chimed with CHANGE, ENDS, and LIPS.

Sadly I ruined my clean run with eight tiles left, as I thought we were looking for ways of strapping items of clothing, so I had BELT instead of TETHER in the group that became FASTEN.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, October 12, 2026, game #1219)

• YELLOW: STATUS: CONDITION, SHAPE, SITUATION, STATE
• GREEN: TOLERATE: BEAR, HANDLE, STAND, WEATHER
• BLUE: WORD SHORTENINGS, OFTEN: ABBREVIATION, CONTRACTION, ELISION, NICKNAME
• PURPLE: WORDS MADE USING U.S. POSTAL ABBREVIATIONS: ALKYLAMIDE, CALAMARI, MANDARIN, MELAMINE

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

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The WoW: Forever team says it learned a lot from Classic: Season of Discovery, including managing the in-game economy and RMT — but Blizzard will be 'more careful and cautious' with class changes as it 'knew we were going too far'

• Blizzard Entertainment says it learned plenty of lessons from World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery
• It acknowledged that "we were going too far" with class changes in Season of Discovery and "Forever will be a lot more careful and cautious with slower class changes"
• The studio also learned "what levers we could create to help us manage the in-game economy" in Forever

Blizzard Entertainment has learned a lot from World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery, but it's taking care not to overindulge in class experimentation for World of Warcraft: Forever.

In the same lengthy interview with TechRadar Gaming, where Blizzard confirmed it doesn't plan to modernize Forever's classes, as it wants to preserve the Classic experience, the team shared what it learned from Season of Discovery, a seasonal release for Classic that reimagines progression systems, adds new abilities, unconventional class roles, and redesigned instances, and how it will apply those lessons to Forever.

The team said that it had fun exploring class changes, but admitted it went "too far" and is taking steps to be more considerate with how it applies updates in Forever.

"We pushed every class to the limit and explored every power fantasy on every class," Blizzard said. "But we knew we were going too far. It’s like eating all your Halloween candy on October 31. It’s fun and amazing, but afterward you are sick to your stomach.

"Forever will be a lot more careful and cautious with slower class changes."

Another lesson it learned from Season of Discovery was "what levers we could create to help us manage the in-game economy," something that sometimes suffers from botting and real-money trading (RMT).

It told us that it's actively working to combat RMT in Forever and has already devised penalties that, depending on the terms of service infraction, could result in permanent bans.

Blizzard continued, saying, "We built several systems both under the hood and player-facing that allowed us to control the inflow and outflow of key resources, which led to a much healthier economy, with much less problematic behavior such as RMT."

RMT has always been a huge issue in WoW, whether it's retail or Classic, and Blizzard confirmed it has "a number of new systems in place" to support detection.

"It’s a cat and mouse game, so talking too much about our plans here could tip our hand," it said. "Suffice to say, we are watching very closely, and engaging in RMT is not worth putting your account at risk."

Blizzard has also addressed WoW: Forever's controversial Skyborne race and explained why the Elf race is available to both Alliance and Horde. It's also shared why Summoning Stones won't be in the upcoming game.

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