Tea, a women’s safety dating app that surged to the top of the free iOS App Store listings, suffered a major security breach last week. The company confirmed Friday that it «identified authorized access to one of our systems» that exposed thousands of user images. And now we know that DMs were accessed during the breach, too.

Tea’s preliminary findings from the end of last week showed the data breach exposed approximately 72,000 images: 13,000 images of selfies and photo identification that people had submitted during account verification, and 59,000 images that were publicly viewable in the app from posts, comments and direct messages.

Those images had been stored in a «legacy data system» that contained information from more than two years ago, the company said in statement. «At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that current or additional user data was affected.» 

Earlier Friday, posts on Reddit and 404 Media reported that Tea app users’ faces and IDs had been posted on anonymous online message board 4chan. Tea requires users to verify their identities with selfies or IDs, which is why driver’s licenses and pictures of people’s faces are in the leaked data.

And on Monday, a Tea spokesperson confirmed to CNET that it additionally «recently learned that some direct messages (DMs) were accessed as part of the initial incident.» Tea has also taken that affected system offline. That confirmation followed a report by 404 Media on Monday that an independent security researcher discovered it would have been possible for hackers to gain access to DMs between Tea users, affecting messages sent up to last week on the Tea app.

Tea said it has launched a full investigation to assess the scope and impact of the breach.

What is Tea?

The premise of Tea is to provide women with a space to report negative interactions they’ve had while encountering men in the dating pool, with the intention of keeping other women safe. 

The app is currently sitting at the No. 2 spot for free apps on Apple’s US App Store, right after ChatGPT, drawing international attention and sparking a debate about whether the app violates men’s privacy. Following the news of the data breach, it also plays into the wider ongoing debate around whether online identity and age verification pose an inherent security risk to internet users.

In the privacy section on its website, Tea says: «Tea Dating Advice takes reasonable security measures to protect your Personal Information to prevent loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. Please be aware, however, that despite our efforts, no security measures are impenetrable.»

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is exceptionally tough, I thought. It’s a word I don’t ever use, and it has some repeated letters and unusual letter placement. If there’s any day when you shouldn’t feel at all bad about needing some hints, today is that day. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has two separate repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel that is repeated, so you will see it twice, plus one sometimes vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with A.

Wordle hint No. 4: Ending

Today’s Wordle answer ends with a sometimes vowel.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to testing metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is ASSAY.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 29, No. 1501 was OMEGA.

Recent Wordle answers

July 25, No. 1497: GOFER

July 26: No. 1498: HAUNT

July 27, No. 1499: WHOLE

July 28, No. 1500: SAVVY

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

The purple category for Connections: Sports Edition was extra sneaky today. The theme went right over my head, but made sense once it was revealed. Read on for hints and the answers if you run into problems like I did.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Your ticket off the field.

Green group hint: Links groups.

Blue group hint: Georgia on my mind.

Purple group hint: Hoops groups.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Types of outs in baseball/softball.

Green group: Professional golf tours.

Blue group: First names of Atlanta sports stars.

Purple group: Starts of NBA team names.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is types of outs in baseball/softball. The four answers are fly, force, strike and tag.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is professional golf tours. The four answers are Korn Ferry, LIV, LPGA and PGA.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is first names of Atlanta sports stars. The four answers are Bijan, Rhyne, Ronald and Trae.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is starts of NBA team names. The four answers are Kin, Pac, Tim and Wiz.