NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Friday, October 18 (game #229)

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

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

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

NYT Strands today (game #229) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… All wrapped up

NYT Strands today (game #229) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• VIPER
• SING
• PLING
• SLOG
• MAST
• PAST

NYT Strands today (game #229) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Filler upper

NYT Strands today (game #229) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: right, 4th row

Last: left, 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 #229) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #229, are…

• GYOZA
• SAMOSA
• WONTON
• PIEROGI
• EMPANADA
• SPANGRAM: DUMPLINGS

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• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 3 hints

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These are all things that I like to eat, so you'd have thought that I'd have flown through today's Strands – but no, I needed three hints to complete it. The shame!

In my defense, the first one was required because the theme clue of 'All wrapped up' wasn't so obvious that I knew what was needed. It gave me GYOZA, at which point I was away and was able to get SAMOSA too. But there I stalled. I couldn't think of any other 'wrapped foods', so needed one hint for WONTON and one for PIEROGI. I got EMPANADA, but only after about 20 minutes of trying to make the letters assemble into an actual word. Not my finest hour.

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

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Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, 17 October, game #228)

• DRAFT
• WAIVERS
• ROSTER
• MATCHUPS
• STANDINGS
• SPANGRAM: FANTASYLEAGUE

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What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

https://ift.tt/aN7RyxD

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Thursday, October 17 (game #228)

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

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

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

NYT Strands today (game #228) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Dream teams

NYT Strands today (game #228) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SPAN
• FROWN
• FROST
• ROAST
• WAVE
• STAR

NYT Strands today (game #228) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Perfect picks

NYT Strands today (game #228) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: left, 5th row

Last: right, 3rd row

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

NYT Strands today (game #228) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #228, are…

• DRAFT
• WAIVERS
• ROSTER
• MATCHUPS
• STANDINGS
• SPANGRAM: FANTASYLEAGUE

---

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 4 hints

---

This was another Strands puzzle that I didn't really enjoy. I don't play FANTASYLEAGUE any more, because I found that it took all the joy out of sport for me. Even if I did, I wouldn't have been familiar with some of the terms here – it's very much based on football fantasy league, I think, with the likes of DRAFT, WAIVERS and ROSTER, rather than the soccer kind that I used to play. As a result, I needed four hints and was never really on top of things. Hopefully tomorrow will be more fun.

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

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Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 16 October, game #227)

• DREARY
• PONDERED
• WEARY
• MIDNIGHT
• WEAK
• NEVERMORE
• SPANGRAM: THERAVEN

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What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

https://ift.tt/bpgyk8z

Quordle today – hints and answers for Thursday, October 17 (game #997)

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

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

Quordle today (game #996) - 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 #997) - 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 1.

Quordle today (game #997) - 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 #997) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

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

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

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

Quordle today (game #997) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• B

• B

• L

• S

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

Quordle today (game #997) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #997, are…

• BUILD
• BIRTH
• LURCH
• SASSY

Quordle seems to be fond of words with multiple repeated letters in right now. After EERIE and its three Es yesterday and EMCEE on Monday, here's SASSY and its three Ss.

SASSY was a very tough Wordle when it appeared in that game last November (average score: 5.0) and is likely to cause as many problems here. The other words aren't too tricky, but I needed a guess to confirm the B in BIRTH and BUILD, then spent another on SAVVY, before completing on the final attempt.

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

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Daily Sequence today (game #997) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #997, are…

• TASTY
• TRITE
• LOATH
• ERECT

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Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #996, Wednesday 16 October: EERIE, SMIRK, HUNCH, EMBED
• Quordle #995, Tuesday 15 October: UMBRA, BRIEF, GRAVY, TORUS
• Quordle #994, Monday 14 October: ROGUE, STORY, EMCEE, AUNTY
• Quordle #993, Sunday 13 October: UNFIT, NYMPH, THUMB, PUREE
• Quordle #992, Saturday 12 October: SAUCY, UNDUE, EGRET, HELLO
• Quordle #991, Friday 11 October: RINSE, ANIME, PUSHY, ZEBRA
• Quordle #990, Thursday 10 October: UNTIL, MARSH, METAL, WINDY
• Quordle #989, Wednesday 9 October: TRIAL, HUSKY, DOWNY, TRADE
• Quordle #988, Tuesday 8 October: TROUT, HATER, BARGE, DOZEN
• Quordle #987, Monday 7 October: CAULK, HALVE, APING, HEATH
• Quordle #986, Sunday 6 October: FUDGE, TENOR, BEGAT, ROUSE
• Quordle #985, Saturday 5 October: ELECT, CROAK, FRISK, JAUNT
• Quordle #984, Friday 4 October: ELFIN, GRAIL, PATIO, RECAP
• Quordle #983, Thursday 3 October: TENTH, REMIT, CURVE, TOAST
• Quordle #982, Wednesday 2 October: ARGUE, CRANE, TOKEN, PRINT
• Quordle #981, Tuesday 1 October: FRILL, MADLY, GRANT, NYLON
• Quordle #980, Monday 30 September: CRUSH, TARDY, TEACH, STUMP
• Quordle #979, Sunday 29 September: SERIF, BORNE, WRITE, SLEEK
• Quordle #978, Saturday 28 September: BUSHY, CIVIC, SNOUT, EQUIP
• Quordle #977, Friday 27 September: GUEST, CHASM, ROOST, BASAL

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Apple's App Store is back to normal after a brief issue with downloading apps

Just a day after unveiling a new iPad mini, Apple’s App Store seems to have had an issue, specifically with not letting anyone download apps. We tracked a flurry of reported issues with downloading on social networks like Threads and X (formerly Twitter) and tested it ourselves.

The issue was all around downloading apps, either new ones or previously purchased ones. You could hit select or the cloud icon, but it would spin and then reset – at least that was the case for TechRadar’s Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff and me on our iPhones.

Down Detector saw a spike, too, with over 3,000 reported outages near 11:31AM ET, but since then, the reports have started to decline quite a bit. At the same time we’ve been able to successfully download apps once again from the App Store. 

You can see our live reporting during the main portion of this short disruption with the App Store below. The issues seem entirely resolved as of now – 12:08PM ET on October 16, 2024 – but we’ll keep an eye on it just in case this spikes again.

Here's a live look at the reported outages on Down Detector.

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

As of now, I can still browse the App Store and search for apps, but the issue arises when trying to download an entirely new app or one that I've previously purchased on my iPhone. 

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Apple's System Status page doesn't show any outage for the App store as a whole or the specific platform versions – IE: Mac App Store. The only current systems with issues are the Volume Purchase Program (declared as an Outage) and Subscription Purchase (declared as an Outage).

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Reports on Down Detector spiked to 3,283 at 11:26AM ET but now appear to be declining, with 2,750 reported outages as of 11:41AM ET.

(Image credit: Future)

Well, this might have been quick. As of shortly before 12PM ET, I am now able to download apps – either new purchases or redownloading previously bought one – via the App Store. It seems that whatever blip this might have been, Apple's squashed it and reported outages on Down Detector are still declining.  

https://ift.tt/exOd10N

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Wednesday, October 16 (game #227)

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

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

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

NYT Strands today (game #227) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… How Poe-tic

NYT Strands today (game #227) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• WEAR
• WINK
• DINNER
• MIND
• MINE
• PANG

NYT Strands today (game #227) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Black bird

NYT Strands today (game #227) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: top, 5th column

Last: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #227) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #227, are…

• DREARY
• PONDERED
• WEARY
• MIDNIGHT
• WEAK
• NEVERMORE
• SPANGRAM: THERAVEN

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• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

---

Sorry, NYT – this one gets a big fail from me. Not because I failed to solve it; I completed it without using any hints. No, the problem here is that I was forced to solve it entirely by trial and error, because I have not read Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.

Look, I'm not a philistine. I'm relatively well read, although my tastes tend more towards modern fiction than the 'classics'. But setting a puzzle that involves knowledge of one specific poem written more than 100 years ago, even one as famous as The Raven, is a bit elitist, no? Strands has form here, having previously made us all find words from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, among others. And that was stupid too.

Strands is at its best when it's inclusive, when the puzzles are those that people could have a good guess at even if they didn't know the specifics. Obviously a single game can't cater for everyone, but the answers here are impossible to get merely by thinking – you know, the process of educated guessing, which is what games like this are usually about. Words such as PONDERED and WEAK here… unless you know the poem, you don't have a chance. Well, you do – you can blindly hunt for words that might be the answer until you hit upon the right ones. But that's not my idea of fun.

Anyway, I did solve it because the theme clue put a capital P in 'How Poe-tic', so it was obviously going to be Poe-related. I looked for HEART and didn't find it, so I moved on to RAVEN and got the spangram, but everything after that was pure drudgery.

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

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Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 15 October, game #226)

• SCALE
• FEATHER
• HAIR
• HORN
• SHELL
• WING
• SPANGRAM: CREATUREFEATURE

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What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

https://ift.tt/OurqKoH

Quordle today – hints and answers for Wednesday, October 16 (game #996)

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

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

Quordle today (game #995) - 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 #996) - 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 3.

Quordle today (game #996) - 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 #996) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

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

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

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

Quordle today (game #996) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• E

• S

• H

• E

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

Quordle today (game #996) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #996, are…

• EERIE
• SMIRK
• HUNCH
• EMBED

I'm not sure today's Quordle could have been much harder, so I'm pleased with the way I solved it with one guess to go. All of the words are to some extent difficult, a couple particularly so.

EERIE is probably one of the worst words that could ever turn up here, and I dread the day it arrives in Wordle (if indeed it does). With three Es, two of them together at the start, it has an incredibly uncommon spelling format, which will likely have made it hard even for experienced Quordlers. EMBED also has a repeated E, while HUNCH is one of the worst word-traps in the game; -UNCH has five possible solutions, PUNCH, LUNCH, HUNCH, MUNCH and BUNCH, and all are common words and so equally likely to appear.

My tactic for solving it was to play HIMBO, a word which would rule in/out three of those in one go; the other two had already been ruled out. And not only did it confirm HUNCH, but it also gave me the M and B I needed for EMBED, and the M for SMIRK. After that it was simply a case of identifying EERIE – which took me a while, but I got there in the end.

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

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Daily Sequence today (game #996) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #996, are…

• STOKE
• EDIFY
• TENET
• CIVIL

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Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #995, Tuesday 15 October: UMBRA, BRIEF, GRAVY, TORUS
• Quordle #994, Monday 14 October: ROGUE, STORY, EMCEE, AUNTY
• Quordle #993, Sunday 13 October: UNFIT, NYMPH, THUMB, PUREE
• Quordle #992, Saturday 12 October: SAUCY, UNDUE, EGRET, HELLO
• Quordle #991, Friday 11 October: RINSE, ANIME, PUSHY, ZEBRA
• Quordle #990, Thursday 10 October: UNTIL, MARSH, METAL, WINDY
• Quordle #989, Wednesday 9 October: TRIAL, HUSKY, DOWNY, TRADE
• Quordle #988, Tuesday 8 October: TROUT, HATER, BARGE, DOZEN
• Quordle #987, Monday 7 October: CAULK, HALVE, APING, HEATH
• Quordle #986, Sunday 6 October: FUDGE, TENOR, BEGAT, ROUSE
• Quordle #985, Saturday 5 October: ELECT, CROAK, FRISK, JAUNT
• Quordle #984, Friday 4 October: ELFIN, GRAIL, PATIO, RECAP
• Quordle #983, Thursday 3 October: TENTH, REMIT, CURVE, TOAST
• Quordle #982, Wednesday 2 October: ARGUE, CRANE, TOKEN, PRINT
• Quordle #981, Tuesday 1 October: FRILL, MADLY, GRANT, NYLON
• Quordle #980, Monday 30 September: CRUSH, TARDY, TEACH, STUMP
• Quordle #979, Sunday 29 September: SERIF, BORNE, WRITE, SLEEK
• Quordle #978, Saturday 28 September: BUSHY, CIVIC, SNOUT, EQUIP
• Quordle #977, Friday 27 September: GUEST, CHASM, ROOST, BASAL
• Quordle #976, Thursday 26 September: STAGE, VOGUE, CLUMP, HEATH

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Instagram is making a big change in how it lets you share information about yourself

Instagram just made it a lot easier to share and perhaps grow your account with Profile Cards. These two-sided and digitally portable Instagram ID cards feature key information about you and your account and that can be shared in just about any way you can imagine.

Mine started showing up early Tuesday morning, though Instagram tells us they're rolling out globally as of 11AM ET. Featured prominently near the top of your Instagram account, next to "Edit Profile," the "Share Profile" button opens a two-sided card (you swipe to rotate the card and see the other side). There's no opting out of Profile Cards, but then people only see them if you share the cards.

On one side of the Profile card is your avatar, username, full name, pronouns, bio, and the first link that you've shared on your link list. It's essentially almost everything you've put in your Instagram profile. On the other side is your Instagram handle and a scannable QR code, which people can use to instantly find your account on Instagram. Yes, it's quite similar to Snapchat's profile cards.

You can change the background on the backside of the card (the one with the QR code) but not the front.

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

Share options are extensive. You can copy, link, and send to WhatsApp, Threads, Messenger, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and even Snapchat. You can also add the card to your story. All of this could help you grow followers as people discover who you are and how to connect to your account if they happen to stumble on your Profile Card.

If they scan the QR code with their smartphone camera, the link takes them not immediately to the full Instagram profile but to the rotating Profile Card. Once they close that, they land on your Instagram Profile page.

Instagram likens the Profile Card to sharing a business card, but this obviously has a more personal and social bent.

The goal, as Instagram sees it, is to stay connected and even grow business opportunities by sharing your Profile Card with brands and potential collaborators. It is, at least, a nice boil down of the Instagram version of you.

Profile Cards should appear on Instagram's iOS and Android versions, though I'm not yet seeing them on the desktop.

This is the first significant platform change since Instagram started allowing us to post up top 20 pictures in a gallery. However, while that one dealt with engagement and perhaps keeping people on the platform longer, this is about account- and maybe user growth. Instagram hasn't had to focus much on that since, in recent years, it's been the dominant social media platform, even beating back strong competition from Snapchat. However, TikTok, despite its troubles, continuously puts Instagram's loyal base at risk. TikTok is constantly rolling out new tools to enhance the platform's usage. Perhaps Instagram is realizing that it needs to keep pace.

You might also like

• Discord changes course and lowers free upload limit to 10GB - how will that affect you?
• The US TikTok lawsuit could change the face of social media forever, and it's about time
• Instagram will now let you post up to 20 photos or videos in a gallery – your friends should be thrilled

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