Life

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All the Ways Smart Tech Can Keep Your Pets From Escaping

When it comes to how smart technology can help manage your pets, you have options: There are smart feeders, smart pet cameras, and even smart pet tracker collars. Generally, I’m a little more lo-fi around my dog, but I adopted a doberman named Blueberry a few months ago, and despite the cozy offerings here, she has taken to going on neighborhood walkabouts in the last few weeks. With a six-foot fence surrounding my yard, I couldn’t figure out how she was escaping: Smart tech to the rescue. 

Wireless security cameras really carry the heavy work here because they can be installed anywhere. I mounted mine to a 4×4 post I leaned against the house and moved around as needed. There are only two exit points to the yard, so I had to work my way backwards. I positioned cameras facing down the sides of the house to narrow down which side she was using. From there, I moved the cameras to the side of the house being used. I was able to figure out she was going over a fence using this method, but I still couldn’t figure out how. After repositioning the camera over the fence itself, I had my answer in less than 24 hours. 

During this time, when I knew my dog was getting out, I set up a routine using IFTTT so each time the camera had motion activity, the lights in my house would flash on and off. This would tell me to immediately go to the front to call her back in. Luckily, my dog had little interest in wandering, just spider-monkeying up some chain link along the side of my house.

It would take a few days to remove this four-foot stretch of chain link fence between my house and the neighbor and construct a proper-eight foot fence Blueberry couldn’t climb. In the meanwhile, I left the alerts on for me, and used IFTTT to create a few alerts for my dog. Namely, I used a vibration sensor from Aqara on the fence and added a smart siren. I enclosed both in Tupperware to keep them from getting wet, and mounted the containers to the top of the fence. I set up an automation so anytime the vibration sensor went off, the speaker would set off a quick, loud alarm. I kept the automation simple so it would be fast. The loud noise acted as a behavior correction device, so Blueberry would drop off the fence. I set the automation to only run 7 a.m. through 11 p.m., so I wouldn’t disturb neighbors. At night, I set the camera to blast her with light if it detected motion. 

While I was able to solve this problem using some routines and deduction, a solid way to ensure you always know if your dog leaves the yard is with a smart tracker on their collar. These generally have logic built into the app to set a geo-circle for your pet and alert you when they leave it.

The Best Tech Gadgets for Working on the Go

If your New Year’s resolution is to be more productive at work, you need to figure out how to do that no matter where you are and what you’re doing. In the post-pandemic world, sometimes you work from an office. Sometimes you work from home. Sometimes you work from a mysterious third place, hopefully with a lot of sun (or at least good coffee). Whether that’s by the pool, on a plane, or from that cafe you love, there are gadgets that can help you be more productive without compromising the security of your work.

A laptop shade

A laptop shade does two things: It enables you to work in a bright place (like on a park bench) and it stops anyone nearby from seeing what you’re up to. There are quite a few options at a variety of price points. You can try a sun shade and privacy sleeve that doubles as a bag for $79.99, or a simple clip-on shade for $22.99.

Keep the sun off of your screen:

A foldable keyboard

A foldable keyboard will enable you to type on your phone, tablet, or other device with the ease of using your laptop. Try the Samsers version, which comes well-reviewed, or go deluxe with an aluminum model from Aluratek.

Give your mobile device a full keyboard:

A travel lap desk

You don’t have to balance your laptop on your literal lap if you’re commuting or otherwise out and about. Try the iSwift Pi travel lap desk, which folds into a variety of configurations to give you room to move while you work, or the AboveTEK lap desk with a retractable mousepad.

Take your desk with you:

A portable laptop charger

Portable chargers have long been a must for your phone, but they often don’t have the oomph (or the right inputs) necessary to rev up your computer. The 24000mAh, 88.8Wh SinKeu portable charger, which has standard outlet on it, solves that problem for you. Roam as far as you want.

Juice up your laptop without an outlet:

A wireless scanner

“Work from anywhere” conjures up images of you lounging by the pool, but if you’re committed to doing work on paper from wherever you are, get a wireless document scanner like the Epson WorkForce ES-50 to keep business moving along.

A scanner that will work from anywhere:

A mini smart notebook

If you need to jot something down while you’re on the move, try a tiny version of the popular Rocketbook smart notebook. They make a mini spiral notebook that’s available for $16 and allows you to write on erasable pages and upload your handwritten work straight to your devices. Or, go fancy with Amazon’s Kindle Scribe, a version of their popular ereader that also functions as a smart notebook.

Take smarter notes, literally:

A multi-port adapter

Wherever you are, you need to make sure everything you need to use can actually be used. Think of everything you need to plug into your computer, from chargers for other devices to SD cards or whatever else. To make sure you’re not scrambling on the go, pick up a multi-port adapter.

Connect all your devices on the move:

A desktop whiteboard

When working remotely, even on the go, you still need to jot down ideas and keep everything visible while you’re toiling. Try a tiny desktop whiteboard, which holds your phone or tablet and opens up to reveal other office supplies. It’s perfect for traveling and keeping organized, plus it comes with four markers and an eraser.

Stay organized with your quick notes:

A phone mount

The nature of work these days is that your efforts are often spread across devices. If you need to refer to something on your phone, it’s annoying to have to look at it in your lap or keep picking it up. Mount it to your computer, even in public, with a simple-to-use magnetic mount. This also enables you to use your phone for video calls, if your camera quality is better there.

See your phone while you work:

A portable back massager

Crunching over a computer screen is uncomfortable no matter where you are, so bring a portable neck massager with you. No matter how many people are with you in the coffee shop, it’s not their business if you’re comfy.

Stay comfy while you work:

Need a tech-forward, spacious bag to haul it all? Check out our list of your best options here.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, January 2, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for January 2, 2024, read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is maybe a bit tricky, but I still got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 2, Wordle #927! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Three of the letters are in our mnemonic. There’s nothing too unusual today.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

It might be inspired by reflections on growing older.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one consonant that appears twice, but not in a row.

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels today. (They do not occur together.)

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with A.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with G.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is AGING.

How I solved today’s Wordle

After a string of four- and five-guess wins (I prefer to get it in three, thanks), I was hopeful when I got two greens on ARISE. Then disappointed again when I got nothing on TOUCH. But how many A⬜I⬜⬜ words could there possibly be? APING, AGING, and AXING could all fit. I took a leap of faith and guessed AGING, and was right.

Wordle 927 3/6

🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, January 2, 2024

There is a sandwich here, but resist the urge to make it right away! If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Tuesday, January 2, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 2, NYT Connections #205! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

NYT Connections board for January 2, 2024: WONDER, BREAD, WALK, TALK, TOMATO, JAM, WORLD, HIT, DOUBLE, BACON, BLOCK, FRY, STOP, RUN, LETTUCE, CLOG.

Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

It will help to recognize some sports terms. 

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category – The perfect sandwich.

  • Green category – All plugged up. 

  • Blue category – Terms you’ll use while watching a game.

  • Purple category – It’s not big!

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

There’s a fill-in-the-blank for purple. 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • To RUN or WALK can be a way of getting around on your feet; or they can be a point scored and a first-base freebie, respectively, in baseball.

  • JAM can be something you put on BREAD, or something like a CLOG. 

  • A FRY can be a golden, crispy slice of potato; or a tiny fish. 

  • I promise that there is a category of sandwich ingredients here today. You’ll just have to eliminate all of the non-sandwich items first.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: B. L. T. INGREDIENTS

  • Green: OBSTRUCT

  • Blue: BASEBALL STATS

  • Purple: SMALL ____

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is B. L. T. INGREDIENTS and the words are: BREAD, BACON, LETTUCE, TOMATO.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is OBSTRUCT and the words are: BLOCK, CLOG, JAM, STOP.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is BASEBALL STATS and the words are: DOUBLE, HIT, RUN, WALK.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is SMALL ____ and the words are: FRY, TALK, WONDER, WORLD.

How I solved today’s Connections

CLOG and JAM stood out to me first, so I got that group easily. 🟩 Then I saw RUN and WALK, but what could go with them? Aha—they’re baseball terms. 🟦 

Down to the last eight, I clearly had a bunch of foods, so what do the outliers have in common? WONDER woman, TALK woman? No. Small WONDER, small TALK? That’s it! And that left me humming small FRY. 🟪 What was left? Just the ingredients for a B.L.T. 🟨

Connections 
Puzzle #205
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday, January 1, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for January 1, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle was a toughie for me, needing five guesses; but there’s nothing about it that should make it particularly hard. So maybe you’ll have better luck. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 1, Wordle #926! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of them are common letters today. The remaining letter is medium-ish.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Think of beautiful artwork on a wall. Not hanging on a wall, though.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Nope, not today!

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels in today’s word.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with M.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with L.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is MURAL.

How I solved today’s Wordle

This one was annoyingly tough for me. After my first two guesses, I had R, A, and U, all yellow. I couldn’t think of anything that fit until I hit on GUARD, which I was sure had to be it, but nope. I had another “aha!” moment with RURAL, but the first letter was wrong. Took me a good long time to remember that MURAL exists.

Wordle 926 5/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Monday, January 1, 2024

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Monday, January 1, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 1, NYT Connections #204! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

NYT Connections board for January 1, 2024: WAY, WEED, WHEEL, WEDGE, WATER, WEE, GREEN, FEUD, WHY, PYRAMID, SEED, GREEK, MILLIONAIRE, WHOA, CAESAR, PLANT.

Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

There are some more TV references today!

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category – How to take care of a vegetable.

  • Green category – How to eat a vegetable.

  • Blue category – Ways you can win money (or watch someone win money)

  • Purple category – Alliterative sounds.

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

The purple category is based on the words’ construction, but if you just leave this category for last it will be pretty obvious. The yellow category also has a wordplay bonus: the words can each be more than one part of speech. (You don’t need to know that to pick them out, though.) 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • A WEED can be in your lawn or something you smoke; it’s also a verb for a gardening chore. 

  • A WEDGE is not a type of shoe today, nor a metaphorical device for a political argument. Today we celebrate the WEDGE salad, a thing that looks delicious but that I am never sure how to actually eat.

  • A WHEEL can be made of cheese, it can help a car to roll, or it can be that thing you spin on TV to make Vanna White (documented friend of Lifehacker) turn the letters. 

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: GARDENING NOUNS/VERBS

  • Green: KINDS OF SALADS

  • Blue: CLASSIC GAME SHOWS, FAMILIARLY

  • Purple: W + VOWEL SOUND

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is GARDENING NOUNS/VERBS and the words are: PLANT, SEED, WATER, WEED.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is KINDS OF SALADS and the words are: CAESAR, GREEK, GREEN, WEDGE.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is CLASSIC GAME SHOWS, FAMILIARLY and the words are: FEUD, PYRAMID, MILLIONAIRE, WHEEL.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is W + VOWEL SOUND and the words are: WAY, WEE, WHY, WHOA.

How I solved today’s Connections

I wanted a Las Vegas connection with PYRAMID and CAESAR, but for some reason FEUD and MILLIONAIRE stuck out to me. They reminded me of game shows, and somewhere in the back of my memory I recalled watching a $64,000 PYRAMID at my Grandma’s house. (I was mixing up the $64,000 Question with the $100,000 Pyramid, but close enough.) 🟦 

CAESAR and GREEK next to each other made me think of salads 🟩 and I picked out the gardening words pretty quickly after that. 🟨 The remaining “W” words seemed like a strange group, but they’re pretty much all what they look like—syllables starting with W. 🟪

Connections 
Puzzle #204
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, December 31, 2023

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for December 31, 2023 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficulty; there’s nothing too hard about it, but it uses an often-overlooked letter. I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 31, Wordle #925! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of them are common letters today! 

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

It will remind you of seasonings, or perhaps negative emotions.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Nope, not today.

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one regular vowel today, and one sometimes-vowel.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with Y.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SALTY.

How I solved today’s Wordle

ARISE and TOUCH got me a few yellows; I figured putting the S and T together would be a good bet, so I went with STAMP. But that wasn’t it, and I still had a ton of options. I considered different places the T and A might go, and settled on SALTY when I recalled that a lot of stumpers turn out to end in Y.

Wordle 925 4/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, December 31, 2023

Happy New Year’s Eve! If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, December 31, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 31, NYT Connections #203! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

NYT Connections board for December 31, 2023: COUNTDOWN, KISS, NICE, DETAIL, BALL, CLUB, RESOLUTION, CHAMPAGNE, GROUP, TOURS, FIREWORKS, PARTY, DIJON, DEFINITION, TEAM, CLARITY.

Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

Yes, but if you know why champagne is called champagne, you’re halfway there.  

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category – A bunch of people working together.

  • Green category – I can see clearly now…

  • Blue category – Time for a European vacation.

  • Purple category – Hooray!

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

Only the ambiguity we’ve come to know and love! 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • CHAMPAGNE can be a sparkling wine, or the name of the region in France where it’s produced.

  • A RESOLUTION can be a pronouncement we make about our lives going forward; or it can be the pixel count of, say, a TV screen.

  • A PARTY can be an event where you get dressed up and dance with friends, or it can be a group, as in “PARTY of Five” or, for that matter, the Donner PARTY.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: ORGANIZATION

  • Green: SHARPNESS, AS OF AN IMAGE

  • Blue: PLACES IN FRANCE

  • Purple: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is ORGANIZATION and the words are: CLUB, GROUP, PARTY, TEAM.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is SHARPNESS, AS OF AN IMAGE and the words are: CLARITY, DEFINITION, DETAIL, RESOLUTION.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is PLACES IN FRANCE and the words are: CHAMPAGNE, DIJON, NICE, TOURS.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is HAPPY NEW YEAR! and the words are: BALL, COUNTDOWN, FIREWORKS, KISS.

How I solved today’s Connections

So many New Year-themed words! But obviously they can’t all be in a New Year’s Day category. 

I started with RESOLUTION, which goes with CLARITY and other words relating to DETAIL. 🟩 DIJON in the same board as CHAMPAGNE was a dead giveaway that it meant the other Champagne, the place in France. 🟦 

CLUB, TEAM, GROUP stood out, but it took me a minute to link them with PARTY. 🟨 And then finally we’re left with what we thought we had at the start–a COUNTDOWN to a BALL drop, followed by a KISS amid the FIREWORKS. 🟪 

Connections 
Puzzle #203
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, December 30, 2023

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for December 30, 2023 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is on the easier side; I got it in four but it probably should have been three. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 30, Wordle #924! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They’re all common letters today!

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

It’s numerical. 

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Yes, there is a letter that is doubled up. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is only one vowel, but it appears twice.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with T.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is THREE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

ARISE and TOUCH were enough to tell me the answer had to be TH⬜⬜E, with an R in one of the spots. I guessed THERE. It was THREE. 

Wordle 924 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, December 30, 2023

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, December 30, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 30, NYT Connections #202! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

NYT Connections board for December 30, 2023: PANDA, BEAR, SAND, STRING, SPEED, TRAIN, DESERT, WIND, ORCA, DOVE, SKUNK, BASS, TOURIST, CHAIN, ZEBRA, SERIES.

Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

Not really! There’s a technical term used in one of the categories, but you’ll understand it even if you never learned the word for it. 

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category – The only category today where all the animal-looking words really are animals.

  • Green category – One right after the other.

  • Blue category – Secret doubles.

  • Purple category – Watch out, it’s a…!

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

Yes. There’s a fill-in-the-blank for purple, and the blue category features words that are in a quirky linguistic grouping. 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • A BASS can be an instrument if you pronounce it “base,” or a fish if you pronounce it, uh, “bass.” (You know what I mean.) Your big hint here is that you do not have to choose.

  • A BEAR is an animal (or an unpleasant situation) but this one goes in a fill-in-the-blank category today, alongside several non-animals. 

  • A TRAIN does not have to be a locomotive; it refers to a CHAIN of things, like the boxcars that are linked together behind the locomotive.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: BLACK-AND-WHITE ANIMALS

  • Green: SEQUENCE

  • Blue: HETERONYMS

  • Purple: ____ TRAP

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is BLACK-AND-WHITE ANIMALS and the words are: ORCA, PANDA, SKUNK, ZEBRA.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is SEQUENCE and the words are: CHAIN, SERIES, STRING, TRAIN.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is HETERONYMS (that is, differently-pronounced words that are spelled the same) and the words are: BASS, DESERT, DOVE, WIND.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is ____ TRAP and the words are: BEAR, SAND, SPEED, TOURIST.

How I solved today’s Connections

So many animals—but why is TOURIST here? It must be a trap! 🟪 I kept looking for non-animal words and settled on SERIES, which must go with CHAIN and TRAIN. 🟩

Unable to figure out what DESERT or WIND went with, I realized that four of my animals are black and white: ORCA, PANDA, SKUNK, and ZEBRA. 🟨 Finally, I was trying to figure out the last four, and getting annoyed that I didn’t know how to pronounce them in my head—is that BASS like the fish, or like the musical instrument? That’s when I realized all the remaining words had two pronunciations. 🟦

Connections 
Puzzle #202
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!