Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

TV watchers — today’s NYT Connections puzzle is right up your alley. There’s also a category that might have fit well on July 4. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

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

Yellow group hint: Current happenings.

Green group hint: July 4 document.

Blue group hint: Premium TV.

Purple group hint: Not right.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: News announcement.

Green group: Nouns from a famous line in the Declaration of Independence.

Blue group: HBO shows.

Purple group: What «left» might mean.

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

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is news announcement. The four answers are bulletin, flash, report and wire.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is nouns from a famous line in the Declaration of Independence. The four answers are happiness, liberty, life and pursuit.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is HBO shows. The four answers are Entourage, Euphoria, Insecure and Succession.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is what «left» might mean. The four answers are departed, port, progressive and remaining.

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 a pretty tough one. It’s very sound-related, you’ll know it once you hear or see it, but it might not come instantly to mind. 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 no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There is one vowel in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with T.

Wordle hint No. 4: Sounds like

Today’s Wordle answer is an onomatopoeic word, meaning it was formatted from a word that sounds like what it means.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a steady rhythmic vibration.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is THRUM.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, June 21,  No. 1463 was GLADE.

Recent Wordle answers

June 17, No. 1459: PRANK

June 18, No. 1460: MUNCH

June 19, No. 1461: CURIO

June 20, No. 1462: TAUPE

The US Department of Defense has awarded ChatGPT maker OpenAI a $200 million contract to develop «prototype frontier AI capabilities,» the government and company announced on Monday. 

The deal is through the Defense Department’s chief digital and artificial intelligence office and is expected to be completed in one year. OpenAI said in its statement that its AI could help the department perform tasks ranging from «transform[ing] its administrative operations … to streamlining how they look at program and acquisition data, to supporting proactive cyber defense.» 

That’s a broad list, from automating bureaucratic processes to potentially letting OpenAI’s tech play a major role in the digital systems that safeguard every American’s personal information. It could be just the first step in a more widespread adoption by government agencies.

The contract is a pilot program and the first partnership in the new OpenAI for Government initiative, through which the company aims to put its AI tools in the hands of «public servants across the United States.» Through the initiative, OpenAI says it’s offering access to AI «models within secure and compliant environments» and also, on a limited basis, new custom AI models for national security for federal, state and local governments. 

This isn’t OpenAI’s first time dipping its toes into government operations. In January, the company launched ChatGPT Gov, a new pathway for government employees to access OpenAI’s models while still following the necessary security protocols. It also has partnerships with US National Labs⁠, the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, the National Institutes of Health and the Treasury Department. Those will all be folded into OpenAI for Government. 

This deal also builds on OpenAI’s other security work. Late last year, the company announced a partnership with Anduril, a defense contractor with a focus on AI and robotics/drones. Anduril’s statement explicitly points out OpenAI’s potential to «improve the nation’s defense systems that protect US and allied military personnel from attacks by unmanned drones and other aerial devices.» (Anduril also recently announced a new deal with Meta for VR/AR tech for the US Army.)

Many essential questions around AI, like those involving privacy and safety, are still unanswered. That takes on even greater significance as generative AI gets adopted in government operations that may involve things like sensitive personal information, legal status or law enforcement activity. That could put to the test OpenAI’s policies, which specify that its AI shouldn’t be used to compromise the privacy of real people, including to «create or expand facial recognition databases without consent» and «conduct real-time remote biometric identification in public spaces for law enforcement purposes.»  

It’s not surprising to see OpenAI cozy up to the US government. Since its original ChatGPT model spurred the generative AI rush starting in late 2022, governments here and abroad have struggled with how to implement and regulate the new tech. It’s affected every branch of the US government. There hasn’t been any substantial federal regulation around AI — to the contrary, President Trump’s «big beautiful bill» on government spending making its way through Congress would prevent states from regulating AI themselves. 

Some government departments, like the US Copyright Office, have laid out some guidelines for AI. Meanwhile in the courts, publishers and artists have filed lawsuits against AI companies alleging copyright infringement and misuse of training material. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)