Technologies

AI Can Now Help You Create Top-Grade Word Documents and Excel Spreadsheets

Microsoft adds a whole new vibe to its 1980s-era software pioneers.

I’m not a wizard with Word and Excel. Are you? Do we know what to do with all those many menus at the top? Now, thanks to AI, maybe we don’t need to.

Microsoft has added AI to those software programs of yesteryear with Agent Mode for both Word and Excel. Powered by Microsoft 365 Copilot, Agent Mode can help anyone — even those with little experience — create high-quality, professional-grade documents and spreadsheets. Microsoft will add Agent Mode to PowerPoint at a future date.

Microsoft has also added Office Agent to Copilot chat to help create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. Functionality for Excel will be added later.

Vibe coding

It’s a new take on the vibe coding wave, whereby developers can create software with natural language prompts instead of writing lines of code by hand, said Sumit Chauhan, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Office product group.

«Get started with a simple prompt and then work iteratively with Copilot — steering it as it orchestrates multi-step tasks to deliver high-quality Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations,» Chauhan said in a statement. «It’s the new pattern of work for human-agent collaboration.»

How Agent Mode works

Say you want to create a household budget in Excel. Tell Agent Mode to create budget categories such as rent or mortgage, groceries, utilities, gas and entertainment. You can have Agent Mode create formulas to let you know if you’re over and under budget, among other tasks. Agent Mode in Excel could also help you create a financial analysis for a business.

In Word, Agent Mode can help you create or refine a limitless number of documents, such as revising and cleaning up your resume, composing a holiday letter, or writing a progress report or executive summary for a business.

Microsoft says Agent Mode for Word «handles the heavy lifting: drafting content, suggesting refinements, and asking clarifying questions. » The consumer works with Agent Mode to keep refining and honing the document to the finished product.

Office Agent in Copilot chat 

You can start creating a PowerPoint from Copilot chat, using a prompt such as «Create a 10-slide PowerPoint deck of the most popular tech products in the US.» The Office Agent will then work with you to clarify intent, such as visual theme and target audience, refine the presentation, and determine how much research is needed.

How to begin

Agent Mode in Copilot for Excel and Word is now available in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed customers and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers.

Agent Mode is available in Excel on the web and will be coming soon to the desktop. To try it, install the Excel Labs add-in and choose Agent Mode. Agent Mode works in Word on the web, with desktop coming soon. Get started here.

Office Agent is available in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers in the US. Office Agent works in Microsoft 365 Copilot on the web in English. Get started here.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 16, #889

Here are some hints — and the answers — for the NYT Connections puzzle for Nov. 16, #889.

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.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a fun one. As a pop-culture junkie and game lover, I enjoyed the purple category. If you need help sorting the answers into groups, you’re in the right place. 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 the 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: Different strokes for different folks.

Green group hint: Ho-hum.

Blue group hint: Flags often qualify.

Purple group hint: Do not pass Go.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Technique.

Green group: Run-of-the-mill.

Blue group: Stripy things.

Purple group: Words on Monopoly squares.

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 technique. The four answers are approach, method, philosophy and school.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is run-of-the-mill. The four answers are banal, everday, humdrum and pedestrian.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is stripy things.The four answers are barcode, IBM logo, rugby shirt and zebra.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is words on Monopoly squares. The four answers are avenue, parking, railroad and tax.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 16 #623

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle for Nov. 16, No. 623.

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

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is tough. It’s a weird theme, and some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Around it goes.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: They’re often on a roll.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

CARE, SCARE, CRASS, SWAT, PELL, HELL, SCAR, HALT, STENT, HALTS, TENT, POLL, LOTS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

FOIL, SCARF, SHAWL, STOLE, FLATBREAD, CELLOPHANE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THATSAWRAP. To find it, start with the T that’s three letters up from the bottom of the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.