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.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
Your Strands expert
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Your Strands expert
Marc McLaren
NYT Strands today (game #254) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Spell it out
NYT Strands today (game #254) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
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CHORE
ROOT
BAND
TALE
HAND
CHART
NYT Strands today (game #254) – hint #3 – spangram
What is a hint for today’s spangram?
• It’s phonetic
NYT Strands today (game #254) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First: left, 5th row
Last: right, 6th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #254) – the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today’s Strands, game #254, are…
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ECHO
VICTOR
DELTA
FOXTROT
GOLF
TANGO
BRAVO
SPANGRAM: NATOALPHABET
My rating: Moderate
My score: 1 hint
I’ve used the NATOALPHABET so many times over the past month or so that those code words should be seared into my brain. I had some work done on my car, and spent seemingly hours speaking to people on the phone (garage, insurance, hire car firm etc) to give them my license plate number, my address, postal code and so on. The phonetic alphabet was the obvious way I could guarantee they got down my information properly, but I always struggled to remember some of the specifics. What was K again? KING? KITTEN? Was P PEPPER or PETER or PIGGY or PUPIL? None of them, of course – K is KILO and P is PAPA, but hey, I was never in the military…
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Fortunately all of the answers in today’s Strands were ones I knew, but I did need a hint to get started. I also struggled with the spangram – finding ALPHABET early on, but not realizing it needed the NATO bit at the start until I’d completed most of the other answers. Anyway, SIERRA ECHO ECHO YANKEE OSCAR UNIFORM TANGO OSCAR MIKE OSCAR ROMEO ROMEO OSCAR WHISKEY!
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Monday, 11 November, game #253)
NURSE
DOCTOR
SURGEON
PHARMACIST
DENTIST
SPANGRAM: MEDICALCAREER
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.
Sony Afeela might be just what this sleeping self-driving EV industry needs. There, I said it, and it’s a change of heart that comes from finally sitting inside the prototype collaboration between Sony and Honda. Sony Afeela, the EV with the silliest name, may offer everything you want, including AI, in a next-level self-driving electric automobile.
It’s been a long road for Sony Honda Mobility’s Afeela EV prototype self-driving car. We first heard about it years ago when it was still called Sony Vision S. The rebrand introduced two years ago at CES 2023 was met with some head-scratching, though.
Vision S was cool. Afeela is a softball for wordplay mockery. Part of the problem is that Sony, for the most part, kept the media at arm‘s length. That changed this week when Sony started inviting the press to a Classic Car Club hanger on Manhanttan’s West side.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Afeela is a joint project between Sony and Honda, and company reps insist that it’s a 50-50 endeavor. Honda did not simply build an EV and ask Sony for its branding consent. Instead, the fingerprints of both companies are all over the car.
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In hindsight, the Classic Car Club might not have been the best place to showcase Afeela’s relatively low-key design. Outside the building, a collection of pricey, eye-popping sports and classic cars sat. The gray Afeela sat lonely in the cavernous hanger, looking much the same as it did when I saw it at CES last year and the year before that. Sony did tell me that other color options will be available when the EV goes on pre-order next year and ships in 2026.
Step inside
Sony’s intention this time, though, was not just to antiseptically tout Afeela’s capabilities. I was almost immediately invited to sit in the mostly white interior.
First, though, I had to figure out hope to open one of the sedan’s four doors. While most EVs have recessed handles, the Afeela has none. I was quickly shown how the car could communicate with the companion app on your phone and swing the door open as you approached the car. If app control is not your thing, small buttons are hidden near each window. One press and the door swung open on its own. There’s another button inside the door that I used to open and close the car door.
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As I settled into the comfortable bucket seat, the chair shifted forward, and the yoke-style steering wheel lowered toward my lap. My gaze was instantly drawn to the virtually full dashboard touchscreen. We swiped it to see various content options. It supports customization, gaming (there was somewhat incongruously a PlayStation controller sitting just below the dash, but we never got it to work with the car), and even movies. You can slide content toward or away from the driver. There will be a method for assuring that a movie playing on the far right of the screen does not distract the driver, though Sony could not describe the technology that will make this possible.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
My favorite use of this display was as a giant navigation map. We pinched and zoomed in and out on it and swept up to transform it into a 3D, 360-degree rendering view.
The dash right in front of me, which is also customizable, has an image of the car and the Fortnite logo above it. I never got to drive the EV, and Sony Honda Mobility has been mum about certain key specs, such as range. However, this screen offered a clue.
I noticed the 0 MPH readout and a “Range” readout to the far left. The bar appeared to be 84% full and promised 234 miles remaining. That could mean Afeela will be in the 250 or even 275mph range, which would more or less match the base range of a rear-wheel motor Tesla Model 3.
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(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
This being a prototype, there were many things I couldn’t experience (like a test drive) or examine, like the trunk and frunk. Even the 360 spatial audio sound system was incomplete, but they were willing to let me listen. It played music. but also sonic soundscapes that were ear and cabin-filling. The EV will include sound-suppressing features that should mean even if we blasted the music, people outside the car might not be able to hear it.
Afeela uses a combination of cameras (they would not tell me how many) and Lidar sensors for autonomy and to deliver information about surroundings, other cars, and pedestrians to the driver. Along with a standard side view and a rearview mirror, a pair of screens can show you a more complete view from each side of the car (Sony never turned these on in my demo). The rearview can switch between a standard mirror and a rear camera feed.
I also slipped into the spacious rear seats and was confronted by what looked like a 12-inch touchscreen (there was one on the back of each front seat). They showed maps but could be used to display movies, play games, access music, and more.
The EV is big on themes, and depending on which one you choose (or even create), the ambient lighting embedded throughout the car will adjust, as will the sounds. I like the Fortnite blue hue we ended up with.
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(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
A rolling computer
Afeela is a smart car. While Sony Honda Mobility wouldn’t detail the manufacturer, they claim the EV has a powerful system on a chip (SoC) capable of 800 ToPs (Trillions of Operations Per Second) and that supports on-board machine learning AI that, in combination with all the cameras and sensors, should deliver Sony Honda Mobility’s goal of Level 3 and Level 2+ autonomy.
That means the car will be able to drive itself, but it’ll still require the driver to maintain contact with the steering wheel as a backup. Company representatives told me the system is well-equipped to handle nighttime driving and bad weather. The car will also get regular over-the-air system updates.
Afeela uses these smarts to get to know you and make adjustments, like switching up the morning commute routine if it knows – via access to your calendar – that you have a meeting this morning and offers faster routes to ensure you make it on time.
The app-connected bumper displays is kind of cool. It can show off special messages and, as seen here, even tell you how much battery is left. I wonder if they would consider letting drivers rent out the space to advertisers. (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Even though Sony Honda Mobility is promising pre-orders next year and delivery by 2026, it still has nothing to say about the price. While the car and its technology-crammed interior are exciting, and the exterior is pleasantly attractive, the Afeela adds up to a big question mark in the EV space.
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No one outside the company knows how it will drive, exactly how far it can go, what its 0-to-60mph capabilities are, or how all those in-cabin capabilities will work for the driver and passengers in the real world.
What we do know, though, is what Afeela means. Here’s how one Sony Honda Mobility representative described it to me:
At the center of the mobility experience is to create a feeling. Take that idea of creating a feeling, sandwich in augmentation, economy, and affinity, and you get A Feel A, and that’s where Afeela comes from.”
Students and work-from-home professionals who are looking at laptop deals for a reliable device to carry out heavy workloads should consider taking advantage of Lenovo’s offer for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11. From its original price of $3,559, the machine is down to a more reasonable $1,673 following a 53% discount. We’re not sure how much time is remaining before you miss out on these huge savings of $1,886 though, so if you’re interested, you’re going to have to complete your purchase of this laptop as soon as possible.
Why you should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11
The ThinkPad line of laptops, which Lenovo inherited from IBM, offers iconic looks, sturdy designs, and helpful business features, according to our explainer on the different Lenovo brands. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is a perfect example, and it holds up as a dependable and powerful machine to this day despite the launch of its successor, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12. With its 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor and integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics, alongside 32GB of RAM that our guide on how much RAM do you need says is the sweet spot for professionals, you won’t find the performance of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 lacking. It’s more than enough to handle multitasking between several apps, as well as more demanding processes such as editing videos and building multimedia reports.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 maintains portability with its 14-inch screen with WUXGA resolution, and it’s pretty easy to carry at just 2.5 pounds. The laptop ships with a 1TB SSD for ample storage space for your software and files, and it comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-loaded for access to the popular operating system’s more advanced features.
In one of the most interesting Lenovo laptop deals that you can shop today, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is down to less than half-price after a 53% discount. You can currently buy it from Lenovo for only $1,673, for $1,886 in savings on its sticker price of $3,559, but you’ll need to hurry because the offer may expire at any moment. If you think the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is the perfect laptop for your needs, push forward with your transaction right now to make sure you get it for a more affordable price than usual.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets: Stocks lost some momentum in afternoon trading after the S & P 500 had mounted a rally back above 6,000. The broad index was roughly flat around 2:45 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average held on to minor gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was slightly lower. The bond market is a thorn in the side of the equity market, just as it was in Tuesday’s session . Initially, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped after the October consumer price index report was exactly in line with economist expectations. But the pullback was short-lived as yields are now up in the session. Coterra update: Investors seem like to Coterra Energy’s acquisition splash announced earlier Wednesday. Shares of the oil-and-gas producer are up more than 2% in the session and outperforming the S & P 500’s energy sector. Coterra is paying $3.95 billion ($2.95 billion in cash and $1.0 billion in stock) to acquire a pair of privately held firms: Franklin Mountain Energy and Avant Natural Resources. The deals beef up Coterra’s presence in the Permian Basin by adding acreage in New Mexico that is adjacent to its current land. The Franklin and Avant acreage has a higher mix of oil than natural gas, which is better for margins and cash-flow generation. Importantly, Coterra believes these deals will be highly accretive without “stretching” its balance sheet — much to the relief of investors. On Coterra’s third-quarter earnings call Nov. 1, CEO Tom Jorden made an unprompted comment about what would motivate the company to engage in a transformative merger or acquisition. The market didn’t like it at all, and the stock sunk in response. But Wednesday’s deals are being well-received because they are so-called bolt-on acquisitions that keeps Coterra’s pristine balance sheet intact. Plus, the market likes how management is focused on the Permian Basin, which stretches between New Mexico and West Texas. Some had feared the company would look elsewhere to add inventory. Job cuts: Advanced Micro Devices is laying off 4% of its global workforce . “As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps that will unfortunately result in reducing our global workforce by approximately 4 percent,” an AMD spokesperson said in a statement. Later, Bloomberg News reported that the job cuts are focused on sales and marketing positions in areas like consumer and gaming PCs. The layoffs come at a time when AMD’s margins and expenses have been scrutinized as the company tries to quickly ramp up its AI chip business. AMD has made two acquisitions this year to boost its AI talent, buying Silo AI for $665 million and ZT Systems for $4.9 billion in what is more of an “acqui-hire” transaction . It is a good thing that AMD is focusing its resources on artificial intelligence because it’s the fastest-growing part of the business and the biggest market opportunity. AMD shares are off about 2% Wednesday in what continues to be a soft tape for semiconductor stocks outside of fellow Club name Nvidia . The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index, commonly called the SOX, is down roughly 4.5% this week. Up next: After the closing bell, we’ll hear from Cisco Systems . The company’s results and orders will be closely monitored by the market because some consider it to be a bellwether of tech spending. Club holding Disney is set to report before the bell Thursday. The market understands by now that Disney’s theme parks are going through a soft stretch, so we will be focusing on improving the profitability of its direct-to-consumer streaming unit and the movie studio business. On the data side, the October producer price index could move the bond market. As a reminder, our November Monthly Meeting kicks off at noon ET Thursday. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.
Google has confirmed that the Pixel Watch’s next update will not arrive until March 2025, a departure from its usual monthly release schedule. The announcement came after the company skipped an October update, releasing the November 2024 update on Tuesday for all three generations of Pixel Watches.
Update schedule change for Pixel Watch
The delay marks a significant shift in Google’s approach to updates for its smartwatch. The Pixel Watch 3, which received its first post-launch update, along with the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2, saw the continuation of the Wear OS 5 rollout. However, the tech giant clarified that the next update would not be available until March 2025, a three-month gap.
While monthly updates have been the norm for the Pixel Watch, the upcoming delay does not drastically affect user experience. Most of the updates released so far have focused on bumping the security patch level, with minimal new features introduced through system updates. Users can expect new features to arrive via the Play Store in the interim, as the smartwatch’s update cadence has traditionally offered fewer features compared to Pixel phones.
Why the delay?
Google’s decision to delay the next update could be part of a larger strategy to better allocate engineering resources. The company might be aiming to provide more substantial updates on a quarterly basis, allowing for more polished and well-tested features. While this is a departure from the usual rapid update cycle, it could also signal a shift toward more refined and larger-scale upgrades in the future.
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The shift will likely allow Google to focus on improving the quality of updates, rather than merely maintaining a fast release schedule. The next update is now expected to arrive in March 2025, with more details to follow closer to the release.
Google is conducting a “test” that will omit results from EU-based news publishers. The company says the time-limited trial will only affect a small portion of users in nine EU countries and will help “assess how results from EU news publishers impact the search experience for our users and traffic to publishers.” But given the fragile state of the news media — and the company’s history of threatening to pull its services in the face of news-related regulations — it’s tempting to view it as the equivalent of a mob boss conducting a “little test” to see how the corner laundromat fares without its protection.
Google describes the experiment (viaThe Verge) as a “small, time-limited test” to omit EU results from search, Google News and the personalized Discover feed. It will only affect one percent of users in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. Those users will still see results from other websites, including non-EU news publications.
The company says news results will reappear as usual once the test concludes. (It didn’t list a specific timeframe.) Google stresses that the experiment won’t impact the publisher payments it makes under the European Copyright Directive (EUCD), under which the company has inked deals with over 4,000 EU publishers.
Google does have a history of using the potential withdrawal of its visibility as a negotiating stick in similar situations. In some cases, the tactic has helped it draw concessions.
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Last year, Google pulled its news links from Canada in response to Bill C-18 (the Online News Act), which required tech companies to negotiate compensation with online publishers for linked content. After months of negotiations, Google said Canada had addressed its concerns and given it a path to an exemption. Canada said it granted one to Google last month, with the company agreeing to pay $100 million annually to news organizations.
In April of this year, Google briefly removed links to California news outlets in response to the proposed California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), which would require Google to pay news publishers in exchange for continuing to link to their websites. Although the bill’s fate is still up in the air, Google struck a deal with state lawmakers this summer, committing tens of millions of dollars to a fund supporting local news.
In 2021, the company threatened to remove its entire search engine from Australia in response to a then-proposed law requiring tech companies to share royalties with news publishers. The nation’s then-Prime Minister stood firm. “Let me be clear. Australia makes our rules for things you can do in Australia,” Scott Morrison said. After the bill was passed and enacted, Google struck deals with Australian media companies to license content.
Google says it hopes the data analysis tools it provides publishers will help them use the EU test to “understand traffic patterns.”
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