NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, April 11 (game #769)

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 Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, April 10 (game #768).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… You’re putting me on

NYT Strands today (game #769) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• RUDE
• QUOTE
• FADE
• PAGE
• TOWER
• ERODE

NYT Strands today (game #769) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 7 letters

NYT Strands today (game #769) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First side: left, 5th row

Last side: 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 #769) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #769, are…

• BERET
• SOMBRERO
• DERBY
• BOWLER
• FEDORA
• BEANIE
• TOQUE
• SPANGRAM: TOPGEAR

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• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

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The theme “you’re putting me on” had me briefly searching for the phrase 'just kidding', which would have made the perfect spangram — but there wasn’t even a letter K.

It was at this point that I decided it must be something to do with clothes instead and after spotting BERET it appeared the clothes in question were hats.

I managed to spot most of the TOPGEAR in our search, but TOQUE I would not have found unless it was last — though I now know it's a variant of the humble BEANIE.

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Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, April 10, game #768)

• WILY
• CANNY
• SHREWD
• SLICK
• CRAFTY
• CUNNING
• SPANGRAM: LIKEAFOX

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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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iPhone owners urged to change this key privacy setting after FBI recovers suspect’s deleted Signal messages

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• The FBI has managed to retrieve Signal messages from someone's phone, even with the app deleted
• There's a setting you can enable to prevent this from being possible
• In other messaging app news, Telegram's founder has called WhatsApp's encryption "the biggest consumer fraud in history"

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If you care about privacy, then there’s a good chance you already use Signal for messaging, and you might have assumed that this was enough to keep your messages private. But the FBI has just shown that’s not the case.

As reported by 404 Media, the FBI was able to retrieve Signal messages from someone’s iPhone, even though the person had deleted the app. Given that Signal messages have end-to-end encryption, you’d probably assume that the only way someone could read them was with access to the sender or recipient’s Signal account, which isn’t what happened here.

Instead, the FBI was able to access incoming Signal messages via the iPhone’s push notification database, which still received incoming Signal messages despite the app’s removal. They weren’t able to access messages sent by the defendant, but they still had access to the other side of conversations.

Fortunately, there is a way to prevent this from happening, as Signal has a toggle that stops content from appearing in notifications. To enable this, open the app and head to Settings > Notifications > Notification Content, and then select either ‘No Name or Content’ for maximum privacy, or ‘No Content’ if you’re happy for the sender’s name to be retrievable.

Of course, this also means your Signal notifications will cease to show message content and potentially the sender’s name too, which could be inconvenient, so you’ve got to weigh up how much security you think you need.

It’s also worth noting that this vulnerability presumably isn’t exclusive to Signal, so you might want to turn off similar settings in other apps where possible.

Is WhatsApp's encryption a fraud?

WhatsApp’s “encryption” may be the biggest consumer fraud in history — deceiving billions of users. Despite its claims, it reads users’ messages and shares them with third parties. Telegram has never done this — and never will 🤝 pic.twitter.com/2DYguybgoUApril 9, 2026

And this isn’t the only news about security issues with messaging apps today, as Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov has posted on X that “WhatsApp’s ‘encryption’ may be the biggest consumer fraud in history,” citing a lawsuit that claims a backdoor allows WhatsApp and Meta employees along with third-parties to “circumvent encryption in order to view users’ private messages.”

It’s a troubling claim, but it’s one that WhatsApp has rejected, calling it “categorically false and absurd.” So, for now, it’s unclear whether WhatsApp’s encryption is secure or not, but given that it has been called into question, you might want to consider an alternative such as Signal if you’re not already using that.

Telegram itself is another possible alternative, though that’s had its own security issues, with, for example, a flaw recently being found that can expose user IP addresses.

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Quordle hints and answers for Friday, April 10 (game #1537)

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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Thursday, April 9 (game #1536).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 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 #1537) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* 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 #1537) - 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 #1537) - 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 #1537) - 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 #1537) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• P

• T

• B

• K

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

Quordle today (game #1537) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1537, are…

• PUPPY
• TRADE
• BRAND
• KNOCK

I had two moments during this game where things could have gone in a different direction — guessing PUPPY instead of “pulpy” and BRAND instead of “grand”.

By the time I got to my final word I had enough guesses left to risk KNOCK but happily I didn’t need another.

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Daily Sequence today (game #1537) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1537, are…

• FROWN
• BLIMP
• THREE
• MIGHT

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Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1536, Thursday, 9 April: SKIMP, BAWDY, WHERE, DECOR
• Quordle #1535, Wednesday, 8 April: IDEAL, PULPY, HUMPH, RETCH
• Quordle #1534, Tuesday, 7 April: FIFTY, SHUSH, HELLO, ZEBRA
• Quordle #1533, Monday, 6 April: CHIEF, IDLER, PASTA, BRIAR
• Quordle #1532, Sunday, 5 April: PLUSH, GRATE, DEALT, LABEL
• Quordle #1531, Saturday, 4 April: MOTEL, COVEN, DRIER, SCOLD
• Quordle #1530, Friday, 3 April: PINEY, TRUSS, HALVE, SPOOF
• Quordle #1529, Thursday, 2 April: LEAPT, MECCA, TRAIT, REFER
• Quordle #1528, Wednesday, 1 April: SEVEN, PRIOR, ADAGE, AUDIO
• Quordle #1527, Tuesday, 31 March: SMACK, HAPPY, LYING, PULPY
• Quordle #1526, Monday, 30 March: CHESS, ALLOT, SCONE, DITTY
• Quordle #1525, Sunday, 29 March: DELAY, STONY, MONTH, PARTY
• Quordle #1524, Saturday, 28 March: BRAWN, FELLA, SCALY, BRUNT
• Quordle #1523, Friday, 27 March: GROIN, WRONG, SKUNK, SHALL
• Quordle #1522, Thursday, 26 March: HOBBY, COULD, MORPH, LEDGE
• Quordle #1521, Wednesday, 25 March: BLUSH, GRIND, AWASH, SCALP
• Quordle #1520, Tuesday, 24 March: MADAM, BLACK, USING, VOICE
• Quordle #1519, Monday, 23 March: BAGEL, HOARD, AUGUR, TANGY
• Quordle #1518, Sunday, 22 March: SPLAT, BACON, CAIRN, AWFUL
• Quordle #1517, Saturday, 21 March: LEVEL, MAPLE, BRAID, CORAL

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, April 9 (game #767)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, April 8 (game #766).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… In the paint

NYT Strands today (game #767) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• TRAM
• STAND
• LACE
• TREE
• CLAM
• MODE

NYT Strands today (game #767) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 6 letters

NYT Strands today (game #767) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 4th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #767) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #767, are…

• ENAMEL
• PASTEL
• FRESCO
• ACRYLIC
• WATERCOLOR
• TEMPERA
• SPANGRAM: MEDIUM

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• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

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Judging by the theme, this search was either going to be about basketball or paint, but I hadn’t anticipated that it would actually be about art.

The incredibly basic left-to-right spangram didn’t change things much, but spotting ENAMEL, and then quickly afterwards PASTEL, did — and from here it was a case of finding different types of painting mediums.

All was going well until the brakes went on with the final word. I had never heard of TEMPERA (tempura, yes) and it took a few abortive attempts before I finally made the word (for the record, tempera is a permanent, fast-drying, water-based painting medium historically created by mixing pigments with a binder, typically egg yolk).

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Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, April 8, game #766)

• BLANKET
• QUILT
• AFGHAN
• THROW
• SPREAD
• COMFORTER
• SPANGRAM: BEDCLOTHES

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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.

https://ift.tt/t37gqQ4

WhatsApp’s latest beta lets you set up a username, so you don’t have to share your phone number

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• WhatsApp is now letting some users set up usernames
• So far, this feature is only available to a limited number of beta users
• With it, you can share your username rather than your phone number

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We’ve been hearing that WhatsApp will be getting usernames for a while now, and they’ve finally arrived — though so far, they're only in the latest beta versions of WhatsApp, and only for a “limited” number of users in a phased rollout, according to WABetaInfo.

In other words, you need to be running a beta version of WhatsApp to benefit from the new feature right now, and even then, you might not get access just yet. But the very fact that usernames are in beta suggests they'll hopefully roll out more widely soon.

When you do get access to the new feature, you can head to Settings > Profile within the WhatsApp app, and from there, you’ll be able to create a username. The feature is live in both iOS and Android WhatsApp betas, and rather than creating a new username, you can choose to use your Facebook or Instagram username instead, if you prefer.

(Image credit: WABetaInfo)

If you do create one, then there are various restrictions, including that it must be a username that isn’t currently being used by someone else on any of Meta’s platforms, that it must be at least three characters long, and that it must start with a letter — though it can also include numbers, periods, and underscores.

Other restrictions include that it can’t start with www., end with a domain, or exceed 35 characters in length.

A privacy perk

In any case, this is a feature I’ve been waiting a long time for — I’m not keen on sharing my phone number any more than necessary, so usernames allow for a bit more privacy.

And WhatsApp is also allowing you to optionally set up a four-digit ‘username key’, which anyone who wants to message you would then need to know, as well as your username, adding another layer of security and privacy.

This is all good news, though the other potential advantage of a username — that being the ability to use a messaging app without linking your phone number to it at all — seemingly isn’t currently possible here. You still need to link your number to WhatsApp; you just don’t need to share it with the people you message on there.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, April 8 (game #766)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 7 (game #765).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… We’re going under cover

NYT Strands today (game #766) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• PEAR
• BATH
• FREE
• BEER
• QUEST
• SPORT

NYT Strands today (game #766) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #766) - 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 #766) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #766, are…

• BLANKET
• QUILT
• AFGHAN
• THROW
• SPREAD
• COMFORTER
• SPANGRAM: BEDCLOTHES

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• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

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“We’re going under cover” must be about spies, I thought, so I went in search of words connected to covert operations like mole, agent and mission. Then I found the word BLANKET and realized I was looking for the wrong type of under cover.

Next up, the letter Q helped me find QUILT — although I admit that I found the non-game word “quest” first.

Today’s spangram was obvious, but it still took me a while to go from “cloth” to “bedcloth” to finally BEDCLOTHES, all of which has made me feel a bit sleepy.

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Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, April 7, game #765)

• KNOT
• MARK
• FATHOM
• COURSE
• WAYPOINT
• BEARING
• SPANGRAM: SMOOTHSAILING

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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.

https://ift.tt/b71Jt4S

Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, April 7 (game #1534)

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, April 6 (game #1533).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 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 #1534) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* 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 #1534) - 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 #1534) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

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

• Yes. One of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1534) - 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 #1534) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• F

• S

• H

• Z

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

Quordle today (game #1534) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1534, are…

• FIFTY
• SHUSH
• HELLO
• ZEBRA

Oh my gosh this was a tricky game. Coping with the five vowels and double letters was hard enough without the added difficulty of a rare letter.

For me it all came down to a choice between “debar” and ZEBRA. Fortunately my gamble paid off.

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Daily Sequence today (game #1534) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1534, are…

• RETRY
• DODGE
• OPERA
• ABATE

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Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1533, Monday, 6 April: CHIEF, IDLER, PASTA, BRIAR
• Quordle #1532, Sunday, 5 April: PLUSH, GRATE, DEALT, LABEL
• Quordle #1531, Saturday, 4 April: MOTEL, COVEN, DRIER, SCOLD
• Quordle #1530, Friday, 3 April: PINEY, TRUSS, HALVE, SPOOF
• Quordle #1529, Thursday, 2 April: LEAPT, MECCA, TRAIT, REFER
• Quordle #1528, Wednesday, 1 April: SEVEN, PRIOR, ADAGE, AUDIO
• Quordle #1527, Tuesday, 31 March: SMACK, HAPPY, LYING, PULPY
• Quordle #1526, Monday, 30 March: CHESS, ALLOT, SCONE, DITTY
• Quordle #1525, Sunday, 29 March: DELAY, STONY, MONTH, PARTY
• Quordle #1524, Saturday, 28 March: BRAWN, FELLA, SCALY, BRUNT
• Quordle #1523, Friday, 27 March: GROIN, WRONG, SKUNK, SHALL
• Quordle #1522, Thursday, 26 March: HOBBY, COULD, MORPH, LEDGE
• Quordle #1521, Wednesday, 25 March: BLUSH, GRIND, AWASH, SCALP
• Quordle #1520, Tuesday, 24 March: MADAM, BLACK, USING, VOICE
• Quordle #1519, Monday, 23 March: BAGEL, HOARD, AUGUR, TANGY
• Quordle #1518, Sunday, 22 March: SPLAT, BACON, CAIRN, AWFUL
• Quordle #1517, Saturday, 21 March: LEVEL, MAPLE, BRAID, CORAL
• Quordle #1516, Friday, 20 March: BUSED, FRONT, JEWEL, TRIPE
• Quordle #1515, Thursday, 19 March: DIRGE, VERVE, MAKER, FROZE
• Quordle #1514, Wednesday, 18 March: CLIFF, EXPEL, PRIZE, FROCK

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