Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 20 #688

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 20, No. 688.

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 could be tough. I guess I don’t know that much about the sections of a certain clothing item I wear every single day. 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: Sneak-ing around.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: On your feet.

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:

LOGS, SLOG, SLOGS, HOLE, SLOT, TAME, TAMES, FAME, KICK, KICKS, STAMP, LACE

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:

HEEL, LOGO, SOLE, SHOELACE, VAMP, TONGUE, EYELET

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUSTFORKICKS. To find it, start with the J that’s the farthest-left letter on the top row, and wind straight down and straight over.

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Technologies

First ChatGPT Device Coming This Year, and It Might Sit Right Behind Your Ear

OpenAI executive says the company is on schedule to launch device in late 2026

ChatGPT that you wear behind your ear? Maybe. OpenAI is reportedly developing its first AI-powered device and will unveil it in the second half of the year, Axios reported on Monday.

Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, said at Axios House Davos that the devices will be «among the big coming attractions for OpenAI in 2026,» the site reported. Lehane said the company hopes to introduce the new products in the latter part of the year, but did not provide any details about the device or when it would be available for purchase.

A representative for OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

(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.)

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If an earlier leak also proves true, the ChatGPT-powered device will be worn right behind your ear.

According to a leak earlier this month from @zhihuipikachu, a consumer-electronics blogger, the OpenAI device coming later this year will be a rival to Apple’s AirPods and will consist of two pill-shaped gadgets that rest behind the ear. They will be metallic and stored inside an egg-shaped case. The leak said to expect the initial launch around September 2026, but also said there would be a total of five devices (released) by the fourth quarter of 2028.

Whatever the new device is, it will be the inevitable creation of a company that set its sights on developing AI-powered hardware from the moment it bought tech design company IO for $6.5 billion in May 2025. IO was founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and others to develop hardware products heavily integrated with AI. At the time, speculation was that OpenAI and former IO designers would collaborate to create an AI-powered smartphone.

In November, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive said they had developed a prototype for a screenless device that could filter out «digital noise» and avoid sending constant notifications and alerts. This device would rely on ambient intelligence, learn from its surroundings and provide spatial awareness, all while operating quietly in the background.

Altman said the device would be «simple, beautiful and playful,» but did not offer details about what it would be.

ChatGPT, launched in 2022 by OpenAI, is an AI assistant designed to accomplish a wide variety of tasks, such as creating documents, translating languages, answering questions and more. It and similar products are rapidly moving into a wide range of tech products and everyday devices, including smart earbuds and wearables. Companies are racing to embed conversational AI into products of all kinds, sparking both excitement and controversy over privacy, data security and other issues.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 21, #955

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 21 #955

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 has some fun categories. I especially liked the purple group, which made me think of the tribute I wrote when Adam West died back in 2017. RIP, Bright Knight. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times 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.

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: Don’t throw that out!

Green group hint: Zzzzz…

Blue group hint: Eyes on your own paper.

Purple group hint: Caped Crusader’s items.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Items to recycle.

Green group: Bedding.

Blue group: Plagiarize.

Purple group: Batman’s «Bat» things.

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is items to recycle. The four answers are bottle, can, cardboard box and newspaper.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is bedding. The four answers are blanket, sham, sheet and throw.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is plagiarize. The four answers are copy, crib, lift and pirate.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Batman’s «Bat» things. The four answers are cave, mobile, signal and suit.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 21, #485

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 21, No. 485.

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.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one, featuring a lot of clues that begin with W. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

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: Don’t lose!

Green group hint: Double you.

Blue group hint: Slang for certain sports teams.

Purple group hint: Meet at the quarterback.