Technology

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 Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Sunday, July 6 (game #1259).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 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 #1260) - hint #1 - VowelsHow 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 #1260) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1260) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo 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 #1260) - 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 #1260) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• D

• T

• T

• S

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

Quordle today (game #1260) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1260, are…

• DROLL
• TRUCE
• TWIRL
• SINCE

TWIRL aside this was quite an easy round for me, with all the heavy lifting done with my start words, leaving me anagrams for SINCE and TRUCE and nearly all of DROLL.

Not much thinking was required, to be honest – and that's a welcome change from how it is on some days with this game.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1260) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1260, are…

• MERRY
• PROSE
• CURLY
• HORSE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1259, Sunday, 6 July: AMPLY, SPAWN, EXTOL, RIDGE
• Quordle #1258, Saturday, 5 July: HAVEN, SNAKE, DREAM, TORUS
• Quordle #1257, Friday, 4 July: FAVOR, SKUNK, GAWKY, FLUFF
• Quordle #1256, Thursday, 3 July: DANCE, EYING, GLAZE, EGRET
• Quordle #1255, Wednesday, 2 July: INANE, SCOUR, ELITE, ULCER
• Quordle #1254, Tuesday, 1 July: REBAR, YEARN, FORTH, CROWD
• Quordle #1253, Monday, 30 June: INGOT, INFER, TAPIR, CLUED
• Quordle #1252, Sunday, 29 June: MIRTH, APTLY, SCRUB, SMACK
• Quordle #1251, Saturday, 28 June: AWOKE, SMOKY, DEVIL, SWING
• Quordle #1250, Friday, 27 June: SPEAK, EAGLE, AVERT, SUING
• Quordle #1249, Thursday, 26 June: SLUMP, REBUS, GUAVA, MONEY
• Quordle #1248, Wednesday, 25 June: SOGGY, CLASH, MODEM, SQUAD
• Quordle #1247, Tuesday, 24 June: QUALM, SQUIB, AXIAL, FLACK
• Quordle #1246, Monday, 23 June: PIXEL, FJORD, STEAL, EXIST
• Quordle #1245, Sunday, 22 June: WREST, CRAZE, PAPAL, SCION
• Quordle #1244, Saturday, 21 June: BUDDY, GROUT, BEGIN, MADAM
• Quordle #1243, Friday, 20 June: BRAID, DULLY, HASTE, LURID
• Quordle #1242, Thursday, 19 June: BRUSH, ISLET, FRUIT, PRIVY
• Quordle #1241, Wednesday, 18 June: MEDIA, SHARK, GUPPY, MOURN

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, July 6 (game #756).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

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

NYT Connections today (game #757) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DOG
• DRIBBLE
• SECRET
• FOOTPRINT
• RAT
• SHOOT
• LEAK
• SPLASH
• BANANA
• SOURCE
• CANARY
• BLOCK
• MARK
• PASS
• HAT
• IMPACT

NYT Connections today (game #757) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Also a grass
• GREEN: You were here
• BLUE: Leave nothing on the court
• PURPLE: Add the opposite of bottom

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #757) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: INFORMANT 
• GREEN: BIG IMPRESSION 
• BLUE: BASKETBALL MOVES 
• PURPLE: TOP___ 

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

NYT Connections today (game #757) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #757, are…

• YELLOW: INFORMANT CANARY, LEAK, RAT, SOURCE
• GREEN: BIG IMPRESSION FOOTPRINT, IMPACT, MARK, SPLASH
• BLUE: BASKETBALL MOVES BLOCK, DRIBBLE, PASS, SHOOT
• PURPLE: TOP___ BANANA, DOG, HAT, SECRET

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

I got the yellow group last today, but that’s mainly because I abandoned it after making a mistake and concentrated on other linked words.

My first thought was that there was a group connected to whistleblowing, so I had LEAK and SOURCE but also SECRET and MARK. Before I could pursue that blind alley further I put together BASKETBALL MOVES, thinking it was something to do with soccer.

I was really pleased to get the purple group, although the absence of cat in place of DOG rankles. I am speaking here as someone who has used a picture of Benny the Ball as my internet pic for the past decade. How could they miss out TC?

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, July 6, game #756)

• YELLOW: FIRED OBJECTS CERAMICS, CHINA, POTTERY, WARE
• GREEN: PARTICLE CRUMB, GRAIN, MORSEL, SHRED
• BLUE: DRS DRE, EVIL, PEPPER, SEUSS
• PURPLE: ENDING WITH HOMOPHONES OF PARTS OF THE LEG CRYPTO, DECAF, DISNEY, PRUSSIAN

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

Protect your online privacy and unlock geo-blocked content from your home country with the best VPNs for Japan.

• Netflix's new AV1 Film Grain Synthesis tech boosts image quality
• It also reduces file size and improves streaming performance
• The tech has been rolling out to movies and TV shows since March 2025

Film grain is something of a 'secret sauce' that makes movies look, well, like movies. Go to the cinema and, while you’ll hardly notice them, these dotty imperfections flickering across the image lend it a depth that’s tricky to recreate digitally.

Well, now Netflix has revealed in a Techblog post that it's found a better way to do it, with a new technique that also handily improves playback stability, while reducing errors and rebuffering. It's been rolling out globally since March, with FGS-enabled streams available now on supported devices.

So what exactly has Netflix done? Movies filmed on digital cameras can appear too clean and perfect, and even digitized versions of analog films can struggle to properly retain the grain. This is particularly true for movies on services like Netflix, which require compression to reduce file size for smooth streaming performance.

In its efforts to keep things efficient, the compression process will remove grain from the original video file, meaning the viewer gets a nice steady stream but an image that lacks that true movie look.

Not anymore. Netflix has revealed that it's rolled out a technology called “AV1 Film Grain Synthesis” (FGS), which delivers a pleasingly grainy image without increasing file size.

It’s clever stuff: FGS analyses the source video to determine its specific grain pattern and shape, estimating it by comparing the original video with a de-noised version – the difference being the grain.

It then scales the grain intensity for different scenes, adjusting it for lighting and color. This information is then streamed alongside the compressed, grain-free video file, and used to recreate the grain effect on your device.

Better picture quality, greater efficiency

(Image credit: Netflix)

This means movies and TV shows on Netflix will now offer that desirable analog film look, boosting image quality and giving users a more enjoyable streaming experience.

Interestingly, during A/B testing of the feature Netflix also found that FGS significantly reduced bitrate and network bandwidth requirements, decreased playback errors and rebuffering, and reduced start-up delay, all of which result in a more stable overall streaming experience. Double win.

If you’re excited to see FGS in action for yourself, you’ll need a playback device that supports it. Unfortunately, it isn't yet clear exactly which shows and movies will benefit from the tech, nor what the hardware requirements are – we've contacted Netflix to find out and will update this story when we hear back.

However, Netflix’s blog post detailing the roll-out suggests They Cloned Tyrone and Dept. Q are good places to start. The streaming giant says you may need to toggle off HDR from the settings menu to see those FGS streams.

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• We've got more details on the upcoming Galaxy Watches
• Three models are likely to launch on July 9
• Find out the specs and the sizes that have been predicted

The next big Samsung Galaxy Unpacked launch show is happening on Wednesday, July 9 – here's how to watch online – and we have a new, comprehensive leak for one of the devices we're expecting to see: the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8.

This leak comes from Dealabs (via 9to5Google), and covers just about everything you could want to know about the upcoming wearable and its associates (although we're relying somewhat on Google Translate to make sense of it).

Apparently, we're getting three smartwatch models from Samsung this year. They are the Galaxy Watch 8, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. There was no Classic last year, but we did get the Galaxy Watch 7 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra.

The leak says the Galaxy Watch 8 sticks to 32GB of internal storage, but that the two higher-end models get bumped to 64GB. When it comes to sizes, the Galaxy Watch 8 is said to be coming in 40 mm and 44 mm sizes, with the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic at 46 mm and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 at 47 mm.

Accessories and pricing

We could see another Galaxy Watch Ultra this week (Image credit: Future / Matt Evans)

All these watches are going to come with 2GB of RAM, and will be running Samsung's own Exynos W1000 processor. That's the same processor used in last year's models, so these new devices aren't going to run after faster – though when it comes to wearables, that's perhaps not a priority anyway.

The Galaxy Watch 8 will come with a "silicone sports bracelet", the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic has a "premium hybrid strap" in the box, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is bundled with an "extreme sport bracelet", according to this leak.

Pricing in France is said to be set at €379.99 (40 mm Watch 8), €429.99 (40 mm Watch 8 with LTE), €409.99 (44 mm Watch 8), €459.99 (44 mm Watch 8 with LTE), €529.99 (Watch 8 Classic), €579.99 (Watch 8 Classic with LTE, and €699.99 (Galaxy Watch Ultra 2).

There's not much point giving you currency conversions, as they won't match, but it looks like the base model is going to cost a little more (the Galaxy Watch 7 started at $299.99 / £289 / AU$549), while the Ultra model will stick at the same price ($649 / £599 / AU$1,299).

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Baseball unlike anything you've ever seen will be streaming for free.

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 6.

Both sides come into the quarter-final clash fatigued but fired up after tough last-round victories.

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 6, No. 286.

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Sunday, July 6, No. 756.

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 6, No. 490.

Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for July 6, No. 1,478.

XO, Kitty season 3: key information

- Officially renewed in February
- Filming rumored to have begun
- Main cast expected to return
- No official trailer released yet
- Plot details remain under wraps
- No news on future seasons

XO, Kitty season 3 is officially on the way.

Over two seasons of Kitty Song Covey's adventures at the Korean Independent School of Seoul, we've watched her chase her dreams, explore relationships and retrace her mother's steps. And now, we're heading back to KISS for senior year.

A spin-off from To All The Boys I've Loved Before, a trilogy of movies on Netflix based on Jenny Han's novels of the same name, it's an exciting standalone (with surprise crossover guest stars) on one of the best streaming services. So, it's time for some more Seoul searching!

Here's what we know so far about XO, Kitty season 3's plot rumors, predicted cast and more.

XO, Kitty season 3: is there a release date?

A post shared by Netflix US (@netflix)

A photo posted by on

There's no XO, Kitty season 3 release date yet, but I can confirm that the show has officially been renewed.

The announcement was made on Valentine's Day 2025 on Instagram, with Anna Cathcart – who plays Kitty – seen answering the door to some Valentine's Day gifts in an official post. Though she says: "Last time I checked, I was very single."

Via a note on the flowers, Anna reads: "Roses are red, violets are blue, there's a third season of XO, Kitty in store for you". And from her gift bag, she pulls out the script for the next season wrapped up nicely in a pink ribbon ready for more drama and romance at KISS.

And it appears the cast and crew may already have commenced filming. On May 18, Joshua Lee who plays Jin, posted a video on TikTok of him dancing with Regan Aliyah (Julianna) with Sasha Bhasin (Praveena) in the background. He captioned it: "Reunited w/ @regan aliyah @Sasha Bhasin in Korea for no reason at all!!" Hint, hint.

There was a two-year wait between seasons 1 and 2, but something makes me think that with such a swift renewal and filming potentially in progress, we won't have to wait that long for XO, Kitty season 3. We may even be lucky enough to get it next year... Watch this space!

XO, Kitty season 3: has a trailer been released?

With no official release date for XO, Kitty season 3, we'll have to wait for a trailer (Image credit: Netflix)

There's no XO, Kitty season 3 trailer to share just yet. For season 2, the trailer dropped a month before the show hit Netflix. So, until we have a release date, it's hard to say when we'll get a trailer.

But, keep an eye out here and I'll be sure to update as soon there's any whispers of news from KISS.

XO, Kitty season 3: predicted cast

The main cast of XO, Kitty are expected to return (Image credit: Netflix)

While XO, Kitty season 2 was full of dramatic moments, none of those involved the explosive departure of any big characters. So, I'd expect all of the main cast to return for season 3:

• Anna Cathcart as Kitty
• Gia Kim as Yuri
• Sang Heon Lee as Min Ho
• Choi Min-yeong as Dae
• Anthony Keyvan as Q
• Peter Thurnwald as Alex Finnerty
• Regan Aliyah as Julianna
• Sunny Oh as Mihee
• Sasha Bhasin as Praveena
• Joshua Hyunho Lee as Jin Lee
• Jocelyn Shelfo as Madison
• Ryu Hanbi as Eunice

Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) from To All The Boys I've Loved Before has made crossover appearances in both XO, Kitty seasons 1 and 2. So, I'd predict we'll see him once again in season 3.

Plus, XO, Kitty season 2 saw Kitty reconnecting with her family in a bid to fulfil her late mother's wishes. And while it took her to new places to meet with new people, it also reunited her with her sister, Margot (Janel Parrish), who features in the Netflix movies.

And whether Audrey Huynh will return as Stella after her plan was finally exposed, we'll have to wait and see.

XO, Kitty season 3: story synopsis and rumors

Will Kitty and Min Ho spend the summer together? (Image credit: Netflix)

Full spoilers for XO, Kitty seasons 1 and 2 to follow.

XO, Kitty is notoriously dramatic (and that's one of the reasons I love it). Season 2 was full of twists, turns and when it came down to the final moments before KISS went on summer break, Kitty finally admitted her feelings for her ex-boyfriend, Dae's, best friend, Min Ho. Phew.

Yes, Kitty is at KISS for reasons that reach far beyond finding love, but what's moving halfway across the world without a bit of relationship drama? Similarly to season 1, when it comes to Kitty's love life, the season 2 finale ended on quite the cliffhanger.

This time though, Kitty found herself admitting her own feelings for Min Ho (rather than the other way around) and boldly asking to accompany him and his family on their summer adventures – a music tour. Whether he took her with him though, we don't know the answer... yet.

I imagine when it comes to the XO, Kitty season 3 plot, it'll pick up right where we left off. And fortunately, we also know that Kitty got her scholarship renewed, meaning she'll be returning alongside her friends after summer for her senior year.

Showrunner Jessica O'Toole told Tudum: "I'm so excited to head back to Seoul for another season with our incredible cast and crew. If you thought junior year at KISS brought the drama, just wait."

She added: "I know we left fans on a cliffhanger at the end of season 2, but I can promise season 3 will be worth the wait, including our first summer episode – not to mention plenty of romance, friendship, adventure... and kissing. Lots of kissing".

Kitty's not the only one falling in love (Image credit: Netflix)

And all that kissing might have a lot to do with all the new relationships from XO, Kitty season 2.

There's Jin and Q, who will find themselves spending summer apart after Q got accepted in the USC summer training program. Then, there's Dae and Eunice, who started a romance during the talent show. However, Eunice eventually won the competition – meaning she's also heading off for the summer, but this time as an opener for Min Ho's K-pop star brother.

Plus, Yuri learned a couple of hard truths as season 2 drew to a close. One, that Juliana had officially moved on with Praveena (both of whom are seemingly filming for XO, Kitty season 3). And then, finding out her family assets have been frozen due to a class action lawsuit that threatens all of Yuri's wealth.

For Yuri then, life is a lot more complicated than just romance. And to further add to that drama, she also found out she had a brother, Alex, who will no doubt have a part to play in season 3.

There's a lot to unpack, but in true XO, Kitty fashion I'm sure it'll be tackled with drama, crossed wires and a whole lot of love.

Will there be more seasons of XO, Kitty?

Will Kitty return for season 4? (Image credit: Netflix)

There's no news on XO, Kitty season 4 to share just now. Why? Well, given that season 3 doesn't even have a release date, it's hard to look further beyond that.

But, there is speculation that they have to give Kitty a chance to finish her final year of KISS. And that means, another season.

With the focus picking up on the summer of XO, Kitty season 3, there's even a chance viewer won't even see out the full school year in the upcoming episodes. In which case, there's scope for even more than one more season.

For more Netflix-based coverage, read our guides to Nobody Wants This season 2, Stranger Things season 5, The Four Seasons season 2, and One Piece season 2.

• Seagate’s 30TB Exos M is helium-filled and built for data centers, not home PCs
• 2.5 million hours MTBF sounds great until you realize how specific this use case is
• The IronWolf Pro HDD targets NAS users, not hyperscale cloud infrastructure like Exos M

A new listing for Seagate’s 30TB Exos M hard disk drive has appeared online, offering what is currently the largest HDD available for under $620.

ServerSupply lists the drive at $650, but applying the site’s 5% discount brings the price down to $617.50.

Seagate’s Exos M (model ST30000NM004K) is a helium-sealed 3.5-inch internal hard drive built around conventional magnetic recording (CMR) technology.

Enterprise-grade capacity at an unexpectedly low price

With a 7200 RPM spindle speed and a 512MB multi-segmented cache, it delivers a sustained data transfer rate of up to 275MB/s.

The drive supports a SATA interface and is hot-plug capable. According to Seagate, it is designed for high-capacity use cases including hyperscale data centers, enterprise backup systems, and distributed file storage frameworks like Hadoop and Ceph.

The manufacturer also reports a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 2.5 million hours and an annualized failure rate of just 0.35%, suggesting this model is meant for non-stop, 24/7 operation.

Additional features include PowerBalance and PowerChoice technologies for more efficient energy management, and RSA 3072 firmware verification for security.

These specifications strongly indicate that the Exos M is tailored toward enterprise infrastructure, not the typical desktop setup.

Another Seagate 30TB drive also appears in listings and shares many of the same core specifications. Provantage lists the IronWolf Pro ST300000NT011 HDD for a slightly higher $669.69, still an affordable price for a drive of this capacity.

Although they share similarities (30TB, CMR, 7200 RPM), their firmware, vibration tolerance, and workload optimizations will likely differ because Exos is tuned for hyperscale environments, while IronWolf Pro is optimized for NAS workloads.

Despite the attention-grabbing capacity, calling Seagate Exos M the best HDD depends entirely on context.

For cloud infrastructure and archival storage, it may represent strong value, particularly at this price.

But for everyday users, its 3.5-inch form factor, 7200 RPM speed, and enterprise-oriented feature set make it impractical.

Ultimately, the Seagate Exos M is a highly specialized product, but its pricing makes it look accessible.

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• Flash memory now doubles as secure key storage using conceal-and-reveal method
• Encryption keys hidden in plain sight in standard commercial 3D NAND memory
• Machine learning attacks failed to guess the keys, showing true randomness and security

As digital data volume continues to grow with the rise of AI, cloud services, and connected devices, securing that data has become increasingly difficult.

Traditional password-based protections are no longer enough, and while hardware security solutions like Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) offer stronger protection, they have struggled with real-world deployment.

Most PUFs require custom hardware and lack the ability to hide keys when not in use, leaving systems exposed.

Unique and unpredictable

A research team at Seoul National University has introduced a new hardware security approach called Concealable PUF. This method uses commercial 3D NAND flash memory, typically found in mainstream storage devices, to create a secure method of storing and hiding encryption keys.

What sets this apart is its ability to hide a key beneath user data and reveal it only when needed. The technique was recently published in Nature Communications.

The key innovation involves a weak application of the GIDL (Gate-Induced Drain Leakage) erase process. This boosts variation between memory cells, making each chip's characteristics unique and unpredictable.

These variations can be used to generate the PUF data that serves as a secure, unclonable key.

With this approach, no structural or circuit changes are required. The method works directly with standard V-NAND flash memory, making it easier to scale.

This could potentially allow hardware-level security to be implemented in everyday consumer electronics without added cost or complexity.

The university says Concealable PUF passed stress tests which included wide temperature ranges and over 10 million read cycles. It also withstood machine learning-based attacks, which could not predict the key beyond random guessing levels.

Impressively, the key was able be concealed and revealed over 100 times without any errors, showcasing the system’s stability.

Professor Jong-Ho Lee, who led the project, said, “Concealable PUF stands out for its creativity and practicality, as it utilizes mass-produced vertical NAND flash memory technology without modifications.”

Lead author Sung-Ho Park added, "This research is significant because it demonstrates how PUFs can be implemented using the erase operation of existing V-NAND flash memory without altering the circuitry or design. By enabling selective exposure of the security key, our method opens up new possibilities for enhancing both security and memory efficiency."

The team plans to extend this technology into other security-focused hardware solutions, targeting industries like IoT, mobile, and automotive electronics.

Via TechXplore

Concealable PUF using GIDL erase on V-NAND flash memory. (a) Schematic of the concealable PUF using V-NAND flash memory.(b) Circuit diagram of V-NAND flash memory.(c) Description of the GIDL erase method (Image credit: Nature Communications)You might also like

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Bundesliga giants look to avenge their 2024 Champions League final heartbreak as they face Los Blancos in New Jersey.

European heavyweights clash in Atlanta for a place in the semifinals.

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 Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, July 5 (game #489).

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 #490) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… My hero!

NYT Strands today (game #490) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SPORE
• GIRL
• PROW
• SWILL 
• BILL
• FEUD

NYT Strands today (game #490) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #490) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: bottom, 4th column

Last side: top, 5th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #490) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #490, are…

• STRENGTH
• SPEED
• FLIGHT
• INVISIBILITY
• HEALING
• SPANGRAM: SUPERPOWER

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

All those "I"s made INVISIBILITY very, erm, visible today. Although, to be fair, all of today’s words were hiding in plain sight and didn’t need much of a puzzling SUPERPOWER to reveal.

That said, the very first word I saw on the grid was “girl” right beside “power”, so I did briefly flirt with this being something to do with the Spice Girls.

Asking someone what superpower they’d like is a great conversation starter that can reveal a lot about a person, especially if it comes with the caveat that you don’t actually have to do good things with it – like fight evil geniuses and their henchmen and henchwomen.

FLIGHT would be interesting and STRENGTH would be nice, and being invisible would mean a lifetime of free sports and concerts, but I like the idea of SPEED – although I’d need to find someone with the HEALING superpower first, so they could sort my knees out.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, July 5, game #489)

• CLOCK
• WATCH
• CHRONOMETER
• HOURGLASS
• SUNDIAL
• SPANGRAM: TIMEKEEPERS

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.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, July 5 (game #755).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

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

NYT Connections today (game #756) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SEUSS
• CHINA
• DISNEY
• DECAF
• CRUMB
• PRUSSIAN
• PEPPER
• WARE
• EVIL
• CRYPTO
• POTTERY
• GRAIN
• MORSEL
• DRE
• SHRED
• CERAMICS

NYT Connections today (game #756) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Stick them in the kiln
• GREEN: Bits
• BLUE: What’s up d….?
• PURPLE: Sounds like body part

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #756) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: FIRED OBJECTS
• GREEN: PARTICLE
• BLUE: DRS
• PURPLE: ENDING WITH HOMOPHONES OF PARTS OF THE LEG

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

NYT Connections today (game #756) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #756, are…

• YELLOW: FIRED OBJECTS CERAMICS, CHINA, POTTERY, WARE
• GREEN: PARTICLE CRUMB, GRAIN, MORSEL, SHRED
• BLUE: DRS DRE, EVIL, PEPPER, SEUSS
• PURPLE: ENDING WITH HOMOPHONES OF PARTS OF THE LEG CRYPTO, DECAF, DISNEY, PRUSSIAN

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I am sure there will be indignation around the English-speaking world about today’s purple group.

Yes, CRYPTO and DISNEY both work as words ENDING WITH HOMOPHONES OF PARTS OF THE LEG – but DECAF? And PRUSSIAN? Maybe, it’s a New York thing.

Thankfully, such quibbling didn’t matter to me, because the other three groups were relatively easy to put together.

DRS I saw immediately and included four examples of non-practising doctors – although having said that, Dr Pepper is named after a real person.

Meanwhile, Green Eggs and Ham author Dr Seuss did get an honorary doctorate years after adding his fake honorific – and he, I am sure, could tell a shin from a shun.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, July 5, game #755)

• YELLOW: CON GAME HUSTLE, RACKET, SCHEME, STING
• GREEN: COMBINE, AS BAKING INGREDIENTS BEAT, BLEND, FOLD, STIR
• BLUE: YEARN BURN, ITCH, LONG, PINE
• PURPLE: KINDS OF LISTS BUCKET, LAUNDRY, SHORT, TO-DO

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

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 Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Saturday, July 5 (game #1258).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 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 #1259) - hint #1 - VowelsHow 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 #1259) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #1259) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo 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 #1259) - 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 #1259) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• S

• E

• R

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

Quordle today (game #1259) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1259, are…

• AMPLY
• SPAWN
• EXTOL
• RIDGE

This felt like a particularly tricky edition of Quordle, and not just because of the sneaky rare letter, which took me an age to commit to.

I felt confident entering “psalm” and was convinced it would be correct; when that failed, I was forced into making up words that sound a bit like words which, well, can drag on a bit.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1259) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1259, are…

• WEAVE
• CRASS
• RUDDY
• FIBER

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1258, Saturday, 5 July: HAVEN, SNAKE, DREAM, TORUS
• Quordle #1257, Friday, 4 July: FAVOR, SKUNK, GAWKY, FLUFF
• Quordle #1256, Thursday, 3 July: DANCE, EYING, GLAZE, EGRET
• Quordle #1255, Wednesday, 2 July: INANE, SCOUR, ELITE, ULCER
• Quordle #1254, Tuesday, 1 July: REBAR, YEARN, FORTH, CROWD
• Quordle #1253, Monday, 30 June: INGOT, INFER, TAPIR, CLUED
• Quordle #1252, Sunday, 29 June: MIRTH, APTLY, SCRUB, SMACK
• Quordle #1251, Saturday, 28 June: AWOKE, SMOKY, DEVIL, SWING
• Quordle #1250, Friday, 27 June: SPEAK, EAGLE, AVERT, SUING
• Quordle #1249, Thursday, 26 June: SLUMP, REBUS, GUAVA, MONEY
• Quordle #1248, Wednesday, 25 June: SOGGY, CLASH, MODEM, SQUAD
• Quordle #1247, Tuesday, 24 June: QUALM, SQUIB, AXIAL, FLACK
• Quordle #1246, Monday, 23 June: PIXEL, FJORD, STEAL, EXIST
• Quordle #1245, Sunday, 22 June: WREST, CRAZE, PAPAL, SCION
• Quordle #1244, Saturday, 21 June: BUDDY, GROUT, BEGIN, MADAM
• Quordle #1243, Friday, 20 June: BRAID, DULLY, HASTE, LURID
• Quordle #1242, Thursday, 19 June: BRUSH, ISLET, FRUIT, PRIVY
• Quordle #1241, Wednesday, 18 June: MEDIA, SHARK, GUPPY, MOURN
• Quordle #1240, Tuesday, 17 June: LEAPT, PRISM, ADMIN, WHINE