Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1619) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1619, are…

• EASEL
• OTTER
• LYRIC
• SHACK

SHACK and LYRIC came easily enough today, but both EASEL and OTTER took me a while to find.

With EASEL, I tried every available letter with A-S-E-L before using the letter E again. Sometimes the simplest solution is the hardest to see.

Daily Sequence today (game #1619) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1619, are…

• SORRY
• EXTOL
• QUEUE
• BUTTE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1618, Tuesday, 30 June: HALVE, DRYER, THERE, MINTY
• Quordle #1617, Monday, 29 June: SLURP, CRACK, CRANK, PHONY
• Quordle #1616, Sunday, 28 June: RUPEE, TOPAZ, FULLY, BEING
• Quordle #1615, Saturday, 27 June: PRINT, MARRY, SADLY, BICEP
• Quordle #1614, Friday, 26 June: JUICE, ARRAY, BONEY, SKIFF
• Quordle #1613, Thursday, 25 June: SHELF, TAWNY, HYPER, SOLVE
• Quordle #1612, Wednesday, 24 June: SOBER, ECLAT, GOOSE, NINNY
• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #850) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #850) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• NATION
• CHILD
• MINT
• DEEM
• CLOUT
• MEET

NYT Strands today (game #850) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #850) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #850) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #850, are…

• HINT
• INDICATION
• CLUE
• EVIDENCE
• INTIMATION
• SPANGRAM: TELLTALESIGN

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

I went around this board at a pace Mrs Marple would be impressed by until I reached the dastardly last word. I just could not see INTIMATION at all and it took me a few minutes before I finally linked the letters in the right order.

Fortunately, the theme was no mystery and thinking about red herrings I found TELLTALESIGN before any game or non-game words.

Meanwhile, I had to chuckle when the first word I got was HINT — frequently this is something I need to get going on Wednesday, but not today!

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, June 30, game #849)

• WRITER
• DIRECTOR
• CAST
• PRODUCER
• CREW
• EDITOR
• SPANGRAM: THATSSHOWBIZ

• WhatsApp username reservations are now open for some
• Check inside the app for your reservation invite
• You can link your new handle to Facebook and Instagram

The big WhatsApp username revolution has started — and while usernames won't fully take over until later this year, Meta is letting people reserve their handles starting from now. Open up WhatsApp on your phone, and you'll see an alert above the conversation list inviting you to reserve your name.

Earlier today I got the alert on my phone (maybe because I'm such an enthusiastic WhatsApp user). If you miss tapping the notification before it disappears, you need to head to Settings: On Android, it's the three dots (top right) then Settings; on iOS, tap the You icon (bottom right) to get to the same menu.

From Settings, select Account > Username > Create username to start selecting your WhatsApp handle. It's worth remembering you're up against three billion other users here, so your first choice might be gone — in which case WhatsApp will ask you to pick something else until you land on something unique.

You may have to deploy some numbers or special characters to get a username that hasn't already been taken — the same tricks you may well have used to get your handles on other platforms (for example, using underscores and periods). There's also a Suggest username option here you can use if you're stuck, and WhatsApp will come up with a few ideas for you.

You can also link an existing username from Instagram or Facebook, which is helpful if you've got a small business or side hustle set up on those platforms and want to be consistent in every app. Just follow the Use Instagram username or Use Facebook username links when you see them.

What you need to know

There are a few things to bear in mind when reserving your username. Firstly, this won't hide your phone number from people who already have it on WhatsApp — it only applies to new contacts you add after the username feature goes live, and it seems as though that won't happen for a few months yet.

Second, if you think that someone might guess or otherwise stumble across your username, you can add an extra layer of protection. From Account > Username, tap Contact me by username and you can generate a key code — a prospective new contact will then need to be told both this key and your username in order to connect with you.

If you have a change of heart (or identity) then you can still change your username before the feature goes live: open up Account > Username then tap Edit to pick something different. At the moment, it's not clear how username changes will be handled once the feature goes live later this year.

Fourth, you'll be wasting your time if you try and reserve something like @zendaya or @edsheeran. WhatsApp says it's fenced off usernames that relate to celebrities, politicians, and other VIPs, so you're not going to be able to use this as an opportunity to impersonate someone famous.

Finally, if you do register the same handle as you've got on Facebook or Instagram, Meta will ask you to connect your accounts. That makes them a little easier to manage together, but it also gives Meta more information about you, your devices, and your activities — which may be used for targeted ads in the future.

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #849) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #849) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• SHOWER
• CORD
• DROP
• WASTE
• PASTOR
• CRIED

NYT Strands today (game #849) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #849) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #849) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #849, are…

• WRITER
• DIRECTOR
• CAST
• PRODUCER
• CREW
• EDITOR
• SPANGRAM: THATSSHOWBIZ

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

There was no mystery about today’s search, although I was expecting to find Lights and Camera in the game somewhere.

Instead, the game ended up being a broader take, with THATSSHOWBIZ covering both stage and screen (both small and large) and the various roles that make up a production.

We could have added “audience” I suppose, as without that there is little point — although I know from a relation who works in a movie theater that even if no one turns up they still play the film the same as if it was a full house, as they are all set by a program at the start of each day.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, June 29, game #848)

• CLEFT
• REST
• NOTE
• BRACKET
• MEASURE
• ACCIDENTAL
• SPANGRAM: MUSICALSTAFF

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1618) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1618) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1618) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1618) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1618) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1618) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1618, are…

• HALVE
• DRYER
• THERE
• MINTY

I played this game without my glasses, which added a new dimension of difficulty.

The first error this caused was my using the word “ducky” instead of my starter word “duchy” and the second was missing the letter H and wasting a guess before getting HALVE.

Somehow, I managed to keep my winning streak going.

Daily Sequence today (game #1618) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1618, are…

• VIVID
• CYCLE
• CHUNK
• PLATE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1617, Monday, 29 June: SLURP, CRACK, CRANK, PHONY
• Quordle #1616, Sunday, 28 June: RUPEE, TOPAZ, FULLY, BEING
• Quordle #1615, Saturday, 27 June: PRINT, MARRY, SADLY, BICEP
• Quordle #1614, Friday, 26 June: JUICE, ARRAY, BONEY, SKIFF
• Quordle #1613, Thursday, 25 June: SHELF, TAWNY, HYPER, SOLVE
• Quordle #1612, Wednesday, 24 June: SOBER, ECLAT, GOOSE, NINNY
• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL

• Russian Intelligence are targeting Signal accounts of officials based in Ukraine
• They pose as Signal support services and ask users to submit their Backup Recovery Keys
• Using these keys, the hackers can hijack the users account and any other accounts created using the same mobile phone number

The FBI has warned Russian Intelligence Services are posing as commercial messaging application support services in order to steal Backup Recovery Keys belonging to targets of high value in the military and government of the US, Europe, and Ukraine.

In a joint warning alongside the CISA and the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the FBI outlined the new phishing campaign which seeks to access messaging accounts in order to perform intelligence gathering of secret information.

Specifically, the FBI provided sample phishing lures targeting users of the Signal messaging app. If the hackers successfully lure a victim into sharing their Backup Recovery Key, they can access the account's message history, private and group messages, and fully take over the victim's account.

Russian Intelligence pose as Signal support services

In the FBI warning, the phishing techniques are further detailed. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) are targeting government officials, military personnel, political figures, journalists, and key officials from the US and Europe located in Ukraine.

The attackers send emails that appear to be automated messages from Signal, asking users to turn on their message backup using their Backup Recovery Key. Victims are provided with false instructions that instead send the Backup Recovery Key to the attacker, who can then use the key to take over the victim’s account.

In order to establish urgency and trust that the message is legitimate, the attackers posed the phishing message as a protection against recent hacking attempts from “Iran and post-Soviet countries.” In another sample message, the attacker's message says that the victim’s account data “is at risk of permanent loss due to a sync issue.”

If a victim shares their unique Backup Recovery Key, it allows the attacker to hijack their current Signal account alongside any subsequent accounts made with the same phone number.

For users who may fear their Backup Recovery Key has been compromised, users are instructed to use Signal settings to create a new Backup Recovery Key. This new key will invalidate all previous Backup Recovery Keys and prevent account takeover if the previous key was leaked.

In order to avoid falling victim to phishing messages, there are several ways to stay safe:

• Support services will generally only communicate with users via an official company email address. Always carefully check communications from the legitimate email address.
• Customer support will never request that you supply your Backup Recovery Key via the application
• You will never be asked to verify or restore your account via an automated customer support message

In order to further protect your Signal account, or other accounts, against phishing, users should consider the following:

• Use a passkey wherever possible. This will use your device’s built in biometric verification methods to authenticate your login.
• Use phishing resistant multi-factor authentication where possible
• Always double check messages and emails are legitimate, and are using an official company email
• Never supply your Backup Recovery Keys unless you are actively attempting to regain access to your account via a legitimate service

• Tens of millions of credentials may have been leaked following an attack on one of Japan's largest ISPs
• The attack leveraged a vulnerability in a third-party software used by KDDI
• Five other ISPs were also affected in the attack

A data breach that has potentially exposed the email and password combinations for over 14 million customers across six internet service providers (ISPs) has been disclosed by Japanese telecoms provider KDDI Corporation.

According to the company, hackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party software to access the database of credentials. KDDI said that it immediately blocked the hackers' access after discovering the intrusion on June 17, 2026.

“Although technical defensive measures have already been implemented for the system, there remains a possibility that customers' email addresses and passwords were obtained by unauthorized third parties as a result of the incident,” the company said in a statement.

Millions of credentials exposed

Unfortunately, the breach was not confined to just KDDI. The email services of five other ISPs were also affected by the breach:

• STNet, Inc.
• JCOM Co., Ltd.
• Chubu Telecommunications C., Inc.
• NIFTY Corporation
• BIGLOBE Inc.

KDDI is yet to finish a formal investigation into the attack, but said that the hacker may have gained access to the emails addresses and passwords for 14.22 million current and former customers. The company also said that some of the passwords were stored in an encrypted format, and so will be inaccessible for the hackers, but the company did not say how many were stored in this manner.

Since discovering the breach, KDDI has also been working alongside the affected ISPs to secure systems and put in place mitigation measures to counter the abuse of exposed account credentials.

In order to stay protected, customers have been advised to change their account passwords and implement two-factor authentication.

Breaches such as these are particularly dangerous because they expose email and password combinations. As most people will have either one or two email addresses across their accounts, it increases the likelihood that hackers can attempt to use the exposed email and password combinations to try and access other accounts created with the same email.

This is especially true if the same password (or a variant thereof) is used across multiple accounts. Hackers can use brute force techniques to try hundreds of password combinations in a very short amount of time in order to crack weak or reused passwords.

When creating or updating a password for any account, no matter how infrequently it is used, always create a strong unique password. Password managers can create and suggest strong passwords, securely store them, and automatically fill login forms to take the hassle out of remembering passwords.

Alternatively, some services offer the ability to login using a passkey, which utilizes the built-in biometric authentication mechanisms of your device such as a facial scan or fingerprint. These login methods not only remove the need to type in passwords, but also reduce the possibility of hackers accessing your account through phishing attacks.

Via BleepingComputer

Like a vestige of a bygone era, my Hotmail email address still exists and works, even if the domain resolves to Microsoft's far less sexy Outlook online mail system. The continued utility of my Hotmail email address is a reminder that, 30 years after its launch, Hotmail played a valuable role in the early days of the Internet, even if its current existence is ephemeral at best.

It's easy to forget that Hotmail, which was founded by a former Apple Engineer, Sabeer Bhatia, and FirePower Systems engineer, Jack Smith, was the first free online email provider and was something of a sensation (the name was then quite apt). Also lost to history is its somewhat peripatetic journey from a platform used by millions (at its height around 130M) to a service that was deplatformed, derided, revived, and eventually abandoned.

Back in 1996, I was an editor at PC Magazine, then the world's most popular computing magazine, and I vaguely recall hearing about Hotmail and signing up for it. Microsoft, ever on the hunt for technology and companies that could fill its substantial online gaps (it licensed Spyglass Mosaic browser code to build Internet Explorer in 1994), purchased Hotmail in late 1996. Bhatia stuck around to run the platform for a year or two, and Smith appears to have left shortly after the acquisition.

Suddenly, 9 million or so early adopters were being quickly integrated into the burgeoning Microsoft ecosystem, with the Microsoft Network (MSN) in particular. To this day, my Hotmail address is tied to my Windows identity.

Hot until it's not

It was a good enough email system that I put my wife on it more than 20 years ago, but in 2006 or so, Microsoft, perhaps feeling the threat of the exploding Google Gmail userbase (launching in 2004, it was free and, at the time, with unlimited storage), decided to rebrand most of its services udner "Live" and the Hotmail service and domain was effectively retired.

But not dead. Our Hotmail address continued to work, but we were opening Windows Live inboxes instead. I hated it and teased Microsoft that if they thought Windows is "live" now, was it dead before?

I also wasn't thrilled that Microsoft had "put a pillow over Hotmail's face". It was a service I loved and used and served as the centerpiece for not just Microsoft's services, but other platforms where it was my login identity. The switch to a "@live.com" email address was just confusing.

In fact, Microsoft's entire email corpus at the time was a hot mess. We had Outlook addresses, Live addresses, Hotmail Addresses, MSN addresses. At one time, I may have had all of them.

A few years later, Microsoft reversed course, revived the Hotmail brand, and gave me the lovely cup you see above. All was forgiven, but, to be honest, by then I had moved on. My Hotmail email account became a resting place for forgotten and discarded subscriptions, as well as quite a few reminders about people's birthdays.

Don't email me

Hotmail as an email platform never really recovered, and eventually, Microsoft moved to put everyone on the Outlook email brand, which was almost as old as Hotmail and used, though not always loved, by millions of people who also use Microsoft Office.

My Hotmail account remains active to access Windows (though I mostly log in with biometrics or PIN codes now) and to access Outlook mail, where I can find emails going back 26 years (not as interesting as you might think).

The truth is, though, while that email account will probably live on, the most concrete reminder that Hotmail was once a thing (much like your old AOL email was once a thing) is that orange coffee cup.

• WhatsApp is rolling out the option of reserving unique usernames
• Username reservations are coming to users worldwide from this week
• They're designed to make communicating through WhatsApp "even more private"

WhatsApp has become one of the world's most popular messaging apps, but not everyone is comfortable with handing out their phone number to a stranger to start a chat. Fortunately, Meta is rolling out a new feature to help change that.

Today (June 29), Meta announced the arrival of WhatsApp usernames, which the company says will be rolling out to over three billion users. From this week, you’ll be able to reserve a username that you can then use when the tool rolls out fully over the coming months.

Since there are a lot of users on WhatsApp, Meta is opening up reservations in advance so you can claim one that’s unique to you before it’s taken by someone else. Meta is also making it easier for organizations and small businesses to claim theirs, and owners will have the option to claim their existing Facebook and Instagram username for their WhatsApp account.

Adding new contacts to WhatsApp is fairly straightforward already — all you have to do is simply enter their number and a pop-up saying ‘this person is using WhatsApp’ will appear. But the addition of usernames paves a way for an even more convenient and private way of adding new contacts — aligning with how other social media platforms work.

Meta added that “usernames are [our] latest step to make WhatsApp even more private” in its announcement. For one, Meta says that there’s no search function that allows you to find anyone via username like you can on Instagram — there’s no directory for browsing, or suggestions and results.

If someone wants to add you as a contact, they’ll need to know your exact username if you want to add you. Additionally, Meta has also integrated an optional four-digit key which you can enable, which others will need to enter if they want to add you.

How to reserve your username

The first step is to make sure your WhatsApp app is updated. Then, once username reservations have been rolled out in your region, head to Settings > Account > Username.

Meta says it'll alert you in the WhatsApp app when usernames are available in your country. It added that "we'll be rolling out usernames gradually over the coming months", so you may need to be patient to see the option.

Usernames have been in the works for WhatsApp for a while. Username reservations were first spotted back in October 2025, and in April users spotted a tool in the service’s beta that allowed them to create their own username, but was only available to a very limited number of users.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1617) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1617) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1617) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1617) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1617) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1617) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1617, are…

• SLURP
• CRACK
• CRANK
• PHONY

After a spell of very difficult games it feels as if we are being given an easy ride.

This is the first time in ages I can remember two words as similar as CRACK and CRANK.

After my bad run I am not complaining.

Daily Sequence today (game #1617) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1617, are…

• DANCE
• SPELT
• SPEAR
• GREET

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1616, Sunday, 28 June: RUPEE, TOPAZ, FULLY, BEING
• Quordle #1615, Saturday, 27 June: PRINT, MARRY, SADLY, BICEP
• Quordle #1614, Friday, 26 June: JUICE, ARRAY, BONEY, SKIFF
• Quordle #1613, Thursday, 25 June: SHELF, TAWNY, HYPER, SOLVE
• Quordle #1612, Wednesday, 24 June: SOBER, ECLAT, GOOSE, NINNY
• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #848) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #848) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• CRAB
• TRAM
• BALD
• FELON
• ARABIC
• CRANK

NYT Strands today (game #848) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #848) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #848) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #848, are…

• CLEFT
• REST
• NOTE
• BRACKET
• MEASURE
• ACCIDENTAL
• SPANGRAM: MUSICALSTAFF

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

The theme was initially confusing — were we searching for composers like Mozart? — and even spotting the spangram MUSICSTAFF didn’t make any difference.

Musical staff? Is that a posh way to describe an orchestra? 

However, after a hint, I realized we were searching for words associated with the composer’s craft of writing music.

That said, ACCIDENTAL was a new one for me, as I did not know this was a musical term and it took me ages to connect — it is a symbol placed immediately before a note that alters its pitch, temporarily raising or lowering it.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, June 28, game #847)

• PARADE
• RAINBOW
• DRAG
• RALLY
• FLAGS
• CELEBRATION
• SPANGRAM: PRIDEMONTH

Over the years, there's been one iPhone app that keeps drawing me back. It’s called GarageBand, and since its iOS release in 2011, it has consistently managed to keep its claws stuck into me. There’s something about being able to generate good-sounding music with just a few loops that keeps me dreaming of being a music creator!

But, as good as GarageBand is, it’s not the only kid on the block, and I’ve recently been wondering what the alternatives are. There’s Splash, WalkBand, and FL Studio Mobile, to name only a few, but I’ve recently landed on BandLab as my favorite GarageBand alternative.

BandLab is a free music-making app and one of the quickest ways to turn ideas into release-ready tracks. It’s feature-rich, comprehensive, and easy-to-use, all with a nifty (albeit ad-heavy) interface, and it's simple and intuitive to use.

The BandLab app has enough depth to deliver professional results while also being playful enough to have that GarageBand experimental feel. And as you’d imagine, there are a host of AI music generation tools to get your teeth stuck into as well. This is 2026 after all!

Creating music is a breeze

The first step involves creating music. This can be done by uploading an audio file or adding a track. I started from scratch and laid down a drum beat, which I subsequently edited. Creation and editing tools are fast, intuitive, and easy to find, so even though I was new to BandLab, I was able to find my way around without any problem at all.

From there, I entered Studio mode and started laying down multiple tracks, including voice, drum, bass, and guitar. Each instrument comes with its own interface, but with enough consistency between them to not overcomplicate navigation.

Without any formal training, I was able to add effects, crop clips, and perform auto-pitching. With over 300 sound presets, premade drum kits, and 100K+ loop and layer sounds, I effortlessly created a professional-sounding mix.

If at any time I needed to change the settings of my project, I could do so using the Project Settings tab. It's possible to change the tempo, time signature, and project key. Underneath these, there are the app's studio settings, such as changing the input device, which is your phone by default, or whether or not you want a count-in not.

From there, the library of projects becomes your friend. With it, you can manage albums, bands, playlists, and more. It’s also the easiest way to duplicate tracks for creating multiple edits of the same song.

Collaborate and share

One of the best collaboration tools centers around creating music as a band rather than individually. Any project you’ve already created can be assigned to a band, or if you create a new project, then it can be done at the point of creation. Either way, sharing your project lets other band members contribute to the creation process.

With your music created, it’s time to share it. With BandLab, publishing, sharing, and social media tools are built into the very heart of the app experience. Through it, you can easily connect and collaborate with like-minded creators on the BandLab social music platform.

BandLab is much bigger than just your world of music. The Home tab provides access to a vibrant feed of music and videos from other artists. This helped me discover new artists as well as genres of music that I never considered exploring.

Go big with BandLab Premium

Getting a BandLab membership unlocks exclusive creation features with AI tools. One premium feature that is well worth the monthly cost is AutoMix, which instantly adjusts a track’s volume and panning for a clean, polished mix. All you have to do is pick a genre, and you get a balanced, polished mix in seconds.

BandLab Pro is available for $180 / £149 per year, or if you want the complete unlocked experience, then you’ll need a BandLab Max membership, which costs $360 / £199 per year.

Download BandLab and get creating on iOS and Android.

Apps are the lifeblood of smartphones, and with so many to choose from, we inevitably each have our favorites. As such, the apps I'm about to suggest might not be essential for everyone, but they are for me — and you never know, you might just fall in love with them too.

These are five of the iPhone apps I use most throughout my day, so they essentially define how I use my phone. For the most part, they’re also apps that I actively enjoy spending time in.

So, if they sound interesting to you, then they’re worth a download — especially as they all have free versions.

1. StoryGraph

For a long time, Goodreads was my go-to app for logging what I’m reading, making lists of what I want to read, and finding new books, but recently I’ve largely switched over to StoryGraph.

It's a very similar concept to Goodreads but with an arguably more attractive, modern interface, and without the baggage of it being owned by Amazon — a brand I’m trying to interact with less.

But on top of that, StoryGraph also has far more stats and book details built into it, showing you things like the pace of a book, how plot-driven it is, whether it has strong character development, and more, all based on what readers have said.

You can also see how many books and pages you’ve read, how many books of each genre, what moods your books most commonly feature, how your reading has changed over time, and more. So, if you like stats, there’s a lot to dig into here.

Some features are hidden behind a StoryGraph Plus subscription, but the majority of the app is available for free.

2. Letterboxd

Unlike StoryGraph, Letterboxd is something I’ve been using for a very long time, and it’s a similar idea but for movies — so just as StoryGraph is an alternative to the bigger name Goodreads, Letterboxd is an alternative to IMDb.

But it’s more social and community-driven than IMDb, with user reviews very much being front and center of the Letterboxd experience. And as with StoryGraph, there is a wealth of stats available (though some of these are hidden behind a paywall).

You can see how many films you’ve watched, how many hours you’ve spent watching, the number of directors and countries you’ve watched films from, your most watched genres, your highest rated films from each decade, your most watched themes, and many, many other things.

Plus, of course, you can make lists, view lists created by other users, add films to your watchlist, and even rent movies — including sometimes films that aren’t available anywhere else.

3. Pocket Casts

Podcasts are the soundtrack to much of my day, and Pocket Casts is my player of choice. I won’t pretend this is the only great podcast app, but if you’re unhappy with your current player, then it’s well worth giving this one a try.

Pocket Casts has been around for a long time, and it’s gradually gotten better and better, to the point where now, I can’t think of much that could improve it.

It has an attractive interface with good discovery tools, the option to sort podcasts into folders, both dark and light themes, playlist support, the option to change the speed, boost the volume, and trim the silence, a sleep timer, videos (where available), and more.

Plus, Pocket Casts works not just on iPhone but also on Android, Apple Watch, Mac, Windows, the web, and Sonos; it also supports CarPlay, Chromecast, and AirPlay, so you can listen to your podcasts just about anywhere.

4. Proton VPN

VPNs have always been advisable from a privacy perspective, but never more so than now, when countries like the UK are increasingly requiring you to hand over identification to access large parts of the internet — often outsourcing the data collection to companies that may or may not be responsible with it.

So, VPNs are one way to avoid that risk, but they also have other benefits beyond security and general privacy, such as letting you access streaming platforms that might either not operate in your region or have a different selection of content elsewhere.

As for why I’m recommending Proton VPN in particular, I’m a big fan of Proton in general and also use some of their other services. They take privacy more seriously than some VPN companies, and their VPN has over 17,000 servers in over 120 countries, so it’s a good, reliable service, and I don’t notice significant speed drops when connected to Proton VPN either.

That said, there are plenty of other great VPN providers to consider (check out our best VPNs guide for our full list of recommendations), so while I stand by Proton VPN, my suggestion is more just to make use of VPNs in general.

5. Google Photos

Yes, Apple has its own Photos app built into iPhones, and it’s not bad. But for me, Google Photos is the superior option.

Part of that is because it works across various operating systems, so if I ever switch back to Android, I’ll still have ready access to all my photos. But even if you’re a lifelong Apple user, there are still advantages to Google Photos.

While both apps have a decent search function for finding photos through keywords, Google Photos does this best in my experience, and it comes with far more free cloud storage. So, if you want to back up a lot of photos, then Google’s offering is the clear winner there.

Ultimately, I find myself using both apps, but it’s Google Photos that I’m more passionate about — and that I’ll take with me to non-Apple devices.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1616) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1616) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1616) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1616) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1616) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1616) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1616, are…

• RUPEE
• TOPAZ
• FULLY
• BEING

I’m classing today as a return to form, as it’s the first time in a while where my hunches have paid off.

My wild guess was TOPAZ, but having decided that the word had to begin T-O the other options “total” and “today” were ruled out, so I took the leap.

Daily Sequence today (game #1616) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1616, are…

• DEBUT
• AGING
• WHOSE
• VIOLA

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1615, Saturday, 27 June: PRINT, MARRY, SADLY, BICEP
• Quordle #1614, Friday, 26 June: JUICE, ARRAY, BONEY, SKIFF
• Quordle #1613, Thursday, 25 June: SHELF, TAWNY, HYPER, SOLVE
• Quordle #1612, Wednesday, 24 June: SOBER, ECLAT, GOOSE, NINNY
• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #847) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #847) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• MADE
• DOGS
• BRAT
• PRONE
• MINDER
• WIDEN

NYT Strands today (game #847) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #847) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #847) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #847, are…

• PARADE
• RAINBOW
• DRAG
• RALLY
• FLAGS
• CELEBRATION
• SPANGRAM: PRIDEMONTH

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

March in June initially threw me, as I was thinking of the month of March, then I realized that the March in question must be a parade and, of course June has become synonymous with Pride, so PRIDEMONTH and PARADE appeared as if by magic.

I got RAINBOW next, a little tricky as it involved reading backwards, before slowly making my way around the board.

Pride marches began in 1970 to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in New York, but it was another 20 years before Bill Clinton declared June “gay and lesbian month”. 36 years on, it feels more important than ever.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, June 27, game #846)

• PENTHOUSE
• STUDIO
• LOFT
• FLAT
• CONDO
• EFFICIENCY
• SPANGRAM: APARTMENTS

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1615) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1615) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1615) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1615) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1615) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1615) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1615, are…

• PRINT
• MARRY
• SADLY
• BICEP

An easier game for me today and my third consecutive win after a bad run.

I guessed MARRY yesterday and it was wrong but today I felt more confident with it thanks to the position of the letter A.

Daily Sequence today (game #1615) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1615, are…

• FROCK
• PAUSE
• WALTZ
• COUCH

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1614, Friday, 26 June: JUICE, ARRAY, BONEY, SKIFF
• Quordle #1613, Thursday, 25 June: SHELF, TAWNY, HYPER, SOLVE
• Quordle #1612, Wednesday, 24 June: SOBER, ECLAT, GOOSE, NINNY
• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #846) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #846) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• TRACE
• FATAL
• DICE
• STONE
• TENT
• CONFUSE

NYT Strands today (game #846) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #846) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #846) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #846, are…

• PENTHOUSE
• STUDIO
• LOFT
• FLAT
• CONDO
• EFFICIENCY
• SPANGRAM: APARTMENTS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I was able to breeze around this board after spotting PENTHOUSE almost immediately — this isn’t strictly true, I spotted “house” first then saw the “pent” attached to it.

This game also featured some nice non-game words including an alternative form of accommodation for people who cannot afford APARTMENTS.

The only place I struggled was with EFFICIENCY — a term I wasn’t familiar with, as this type of small one-person apartment is called a “bedsit” in the UK, as featured in the superb 1981 synth pop hit Bedsitter by Soft Cell, which superbly sums up the single life of Bedsit Land.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, June 26, game #845)

• PASS
• HORNS
• THREE
• BROTHERS
• TROLL
• BRIDGE
• SPANGRAM: BILLYGOATSGRUFF

• FCC Chairman seeks public consultation regarding E-Rate program
• Introduced in 1997, it offers schools 20-90% discounts on internet
• School bus Wi-Fi has already been pulled amid educational impact concerns

The FCC is considering ending the long-running E-Rate program in the US, which currently provides around $2 billion annually to help public facilities like schools and libraries pay for internet connections and networking infrastructure.

Chairman Brendan Carr has ordered a review of the scheme to determine whether it still fulfils its original purpose.

It launched in 1997 as a way to democratize access to internet during the web's infancy, but rising screen time is now being slated for impacting education.

FCC worries about internet's impact on schoolchildren

Carr referenced research that linked excessive screen use with lower reading performance, declining math scores, poorer cognitive development and more distraction.

"More than half of students now use a computer for up to four hours a day, and a quarter of them spend more than four hours on screens," he said.

A notice now asks whether the E-Rate program should be limited or sunset entirely, and the FCC is now seeking public consultation. Some potential measures could include new safeguards around educational use, a reduction in funding or even ending the program entirely.

The FCC already pulled funding for Wi-Fi on school buses in a bid to reassert the program's position as one to support educational internet use – not one to provide schoolchildren with Wi-Fi for personal use.

Current discounts for schools and libraries range from 20-90%, with lower-income and rural locations typically receiving more support. Pulling the funding could impact these regions more.

Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass) warned it could reverse nearly three decades of work.

As for now, the future of E-Rate remains unconfirmed.

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #845) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #845) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BEER
• HEAP
• GYRO
• GOAT
• ROAST
• PRIDE

NYT Strands today (game #845) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #845) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #845) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #845, are…

• PASS
• HORNS
• THREE
• BROTHERS
• TROLL
• BRIDGE
• SPANGRAM: BILLYGOATSGRUFF

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

Today I had to resist the temptation to go in search of things I might “gobble” up, like pizza, peanuts or chocolate (this was after spotting “beer” and “gyro”).

I tried to recall the children’s story that featured the phrase “I’ll gobble you up!” but completely failed due to the fact that virtually all of them do.

It is of course BILLYGOATSGRUFF, as I discovered after two hints gave me PASS and HORNS; a typically horrific tale where the phrase “I’ll gobble you up” is followed by “and put your bones in a sack!” Sleep well, kids!

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, June 25, game #844)

• FACIAL
• AROMATHERAPY
• ACUPUNCTURE
• MASSAGE
• SPANGRAM: SPATREATMENT

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1614) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1614) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1614) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1614) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1614) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1614) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1614, are…

• JUICE
• ARRAY
• BONEY
• SKIFF

Is Quordle getting harder? It certainly feels like it has in the past couple of weeks.

Today was another tricky game, with the appearance of the rarest of letters, J, five vowels and a very difficult to get word in SKIFF.

Daily Sequence today (game #1614) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1614, are…

• MOODY
• VIRAL
• TOKEN
• DIARY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1613, Thursday, 25 June: SHELF, TAWNY, HYPER, SOLVE
• Quordle #1612, Wednesday, 24 June: SOBER, ECLAT, GOOSE, NINNY
• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD

In the current climate where tech devices seem to be rocketing in price due to the global memory shortage (Apple just annouced some pretty brutal hikes, as has Xbox), buying a new Wi-Fi router has now become one of the most affordable - and impactful - ways to upgrade the devices in your home, and for Prime Day, Amazon has cut the price on a number of its eero routers, including the three-pack eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi system, which is now $194.99 (down from $299.99).

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Mesh routers are fantastic devices for ensuring every device in your home can access your Wi-Fi. Unlike single routers, mesh routers consist of several units that wirelessly connect to one another and help spread their Wi-Fi signal throughout your home.

Because so many devices in our homes need internet connections these days, making sure you have fast, reliable Wi-Fi can boost the performance of a wide range of devices in your home.

And while the likes of laptops, tablets, graphics cards, and other memory-dependent devices are seeing price hikes, mesh routers aren't as affected. So, rather than despairing over constantly rising prices, check out these eero router deals below and upgrade your entire home's internet instead.

Today's best eero router deals

All of these eero systems benefit from an easy, app-based installation process, automatic updates to keep your home secure, and they also act as an Alexa smart home hub, allowing your smart devices to be controlled by an Alexa-capable smart speaker.

Not in the US? Check out these eero deals where you are:

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
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Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1613) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1613) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1613) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1613) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1613) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1613) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1613, are…

• SHELF
• TAWNY
• HYPER
• SOLVE

My AI-provided starter words covered a lot of probabilities, but I am not sure if I’ll stick with them.

Despite the help — and two words beginning with the same letter — both TAWNY and HYPER took me a while to find and commit to. Success, then, but slow.

Daily Sequence today (game #1613) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1613, are…

• DRIED
• BUDGE
• NICHE
• CRESS

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1612, Wednesday, 24 June: SOBER, ECLAT, GOOSE, NINNY
• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #844) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #844) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• SPACIAL
• HEART
• TRUE
• PAGE
• MATES
• GAPPY

NYT Strands today (game #844) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #844) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #844) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #844, are…

• FACIAL
• AROMATHERAPY
• ACUPUNCTURE
• MASSAGE
• SPANGRAM: SPATREATMENT

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

Yesterday we were chilling, today we’re relaxing. I wonder if someone at Strands Towers wants a break?

Fortunately, after congratulating myself for getting “spacial” as a non-game word I realized that FACIAL was hiding in plain sight and that our search was all about words connected to SPATREATMENT.

When I was training for the London Marathon about a decade ago I was in a permanent state of pain and would get massages from someone whose technique veered closer to the brutal than the relaxing – in fact, many of his clients called him “the massage terrorist”.

To be honest, it put me off any kind of treatment, but the knots I tied myself in trying to unravel today’s search had me daydreaming of some rejuvenating therapy.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, June 24, game #843)

• BEER
• SELTZER
• KOMBUCHA
• JUICE
• WATER
• SODA
• SPANGRAM: BEVERAGECOOLERS

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #843) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #843) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• STEEL
• MOVE
• ZERO
• MUCH
• TEAR
• BARD

NYT Strands today (game #843) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #843) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #843) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #843, are…

• BEER
• SELTZER
• KOMBUCHA
• JUICE
• WATER
• SODA
• SPANGRAM: BEVERAGECOOLERS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

The weather is scorching hot in the UK, so my mind automatically went to words connected with staying cool. 

However, I realized after spotting BEER that we were instead looking for cooling beverages — or BEVERAGECOOLERS according to the lengthy spangram.

My cooling beverage of choice — iced tea — didn’t make the cut, but as a second best I’d go with a KOMBUCHA, which is a bit of an upgrade on a regular tea drink but part of the same family, like a distant fancy auntie.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, June 23, game #842)

• FOOD
• BLOCK
• ARMOR
• BUILDING
• PORTAL
• STORAGE
• TOOL
• SPANGRAM: MINECRAFT

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1612) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1612) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1612) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1612) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1612) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1612) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1612, are…

• SOBER
• ECLAT
• GOOSE
• NINNY

After a year-long win streak I’ve been having a really rough time of Quordle recently and lost again today — another case of having too many options and picking the wrong words.

I think after a successful run I might have to change my start words again. I’ll consult Claude and see what it suggests, seeing as it knows everything!

Daily Sequence today (game #1612) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1612, are…

• CRIER
• SCUBA
• PLAIN
• HUTCH

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1611) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1611) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1611) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1611) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1611) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1611) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1611, are…

• ARDOR
• DADDY
• SERVE
• SHEAR

This game could not have been easier, with just three vowels and two words beginning with the same letter, but I still came close to making it three losses in a row.

I should have solved DADDY earlier, but I lacked confidence and went with “madly” instead.

A messy game, but I’m relieved to be back on track.

Daily Sequence today (game #1611) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1611, are…

• SMOKY
• ROBOT
• SLEEK
• CLIFF

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD
• Quordle #1592, Thursday, 4 June: ENSUE, YACHT, CURRY, NASTY

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #842) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #842) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• FOOT
• LOCKER
• TABLE
• GEAR
• ROAR
• BRAT

NYT Strands today (game #842) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #842) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #842) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #842, are…

• FOOD
• BLOCK
• ARMOR
• BUILDING
• PORTAL
• STORAGE
• TOOL
• SPANGRAM: MINECRAFT

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Typically, Aladdin and the version of A Whole New World performed by the late, great Peabo Bryson dominated my first thoughts when tackling today’s puzzle.

However, instead of a “a magic carpet ride” our search was focused on the created worlds of MINECRAFT, something I learned after spotting the spangram immediately.

From here it was a case of trying to remember all of the terminology connected with the game, nearly all of which I’ve forgotten after a brief interest courtesy of two obsessed-with-Minecraft nephews; FOOD was my first spot, of course.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, June 22, game #841)

• CREEPS
• JITTERS
• SHIVERS
• WILLIES
• BUTTERFLIES
• SPANGRAM: GOOSEBUMPS

• The country of Georgia has finally arrived on Google Street View
• Google has highlighted several major sights worth seeing
• The imagery is available in Google Maps and Google Earth

Street View is still expanding, almost 20 years after Google first launched it, and the East European country of Georgia is the latest to be added to the platform — with some spectacular sites and landmarks included, besides all the roads and highways.

"Georgia is a country defined by the scale of its history and the dramatic diversity of its landscapes," says Google, who worked with the Georgian government to get the country on the Street View map.

Some 13,000 kilometers (8,078 miles) of roads have been added, and can be found in Google Maps and Google Earth. You can check out the Jvari Monastery (part of an UNESCO World Heritage Site), the medieval stone towers of Ushguli, and the Bridge of Peace that crosses the Kura River in the capital Tbilisi.

There's also Telavi in the Kakheti region, the center of a wine-making tradition in Georgia that goes back 8,000 years. Grapes from these vineyards are still fermented in traditional clay jars called qvevri, which are buried underground.

Another GeoGuessr level

Another sight worth seeing: the Jvari Pass, high up in the mountains, part of the Greater Caucasus range. Spend a few minutes clicking around on the new Street View images and you'll find plenty of fantastic views.

Of course, you don't have to check out the biggest tourist spots or the most well-known roads. In Google Maps on the web, just drag the little yellow pegman (lower right) into the map somewhere — as you hover with your mouse cursor, Street View roads will turn blue, and that now includes Georgia.

As well as checking out potential spots to travel to, the new imagery is also a boon for GeoGuessr players trying to name the country from a Street View picture. One poster calls it a "beautiful country" that's a "great addition".

While many of us will be well used to Street View imagery in our part of the world, it isn't everywhere yet. Countries including Cyprus and Paraguay were only added last year, while it's missing in China and many African and Middle Eastern nations.

• Cloudflare and web browsers to develop new internet protocol
• PACT protocol will help to verify legitimate web access from human and bots
• Users will be given an anonymized "personhood" token to show they have a real reason to access a website

Now that bot traffic on the internet has officially surpassed human HTTP requests, both web browsers and web infrastructure providers agree something needs to be done, especially as AI agents enter the fray.

Today, Cloudflare has announced a joint initiative with Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge to launch a new internet protocol designed to verify if web access is legitimate or malicious - without intruding on user privacy.

Private Access Control Tokens (PACT) will act as anonymous tokens that verify legitimate access by both humans and authorized agents without the need for user logins or CAPTCHAs that cause friction and harm the browsing experience.

Cloudflare establishes PACT with web browsers

To start, PACT won’t deny access to automated traffic completely. According to Cloudflare, the protocol is designed to recognize legitimate access from certain bots. As consumers and businesses turn to new automations provided by AI agents, there is still a legitimate case for allowing certain bots to access websites.

For many AI agents, there is still a human at some point in the loop with a real reason for accessing a website. PACT offers an anonymous “personhood” token that is attached to the user’s browser. This token uses “trusted information from contexts that have authentic relationships with people” to verify legitimate access “while keeping that information private.”

StatCounter places the combined market share of Chrome, Firefox, and Edge at around 77%, meaning that the PACT protocol will likely roll out to the majority of internet users.

“PACT will further empower businesses to identify genuine visitors, ensuring they can focus their resources on the traffic that matters to them,” Cloudflare said in the announcement. “Using PACT on Cloudflare’s network raises the bar for trustworthiness and integrity online without the traditional costs.”

“In commerce, every extra challenge, delay, or false positive can turn a purchase into an abandoned cart. Merchants need effective protections against automated abuse, but buyers shouldn’t have to pay for them with unnecessary friction or invasive tracking,” said Ilya Grigorik, Distinguished Engineer at Shopify.

“Shopify is proud to help develop PACT as an open, privacy-preserving standard that can help the millions of businesses on our platform distinguish legitimate shoppers and authorized agents from abusive traffic while preserving buyer privacy."

If you've been having trouble with Reddit and X today, you're far from alone — but Downdetector now suggests that their issues are fixed, or at least close to recovery.

X and Reddit were the biggest hit by what appeared to be cloud infrastructure issues, according to Downdetector — with over 30,000 and 2,700 reports at their peak respectively.

Several other apps and services, from Zoom to Canva and Fortnite, also saw spikes in reports earlier today, but similarly seem to have recovered.

No official cause for the issues was reported or announced, but here's how they played out...

A series of big spikes

Right now, X is seemingly the worst hit by today's issues, with almost 36,000 reports on Downdetector. But Reddit is also seemingly struggling for many in the US, with over 3,000 reports.

This may well be a cloud infrastructure outage or issue, because we're seeing more minor spikes across a range of services, from Zoom to Fortnite and Canva. Is this related to a service Cloudflare or AWS? It isn't clear yet, but we'll find out soon.

Is this cloud related?

Given how many services are showing spikes in reported problems right now, there's a good chance this is all related to cloud infrastructure issues.

We're currently seeing smaller spikes on Downdetector for Cloudflare and AWS, though there's no official confirmation that either are having major issues.

However, Cloudflare is now experiencing "increased error rates" as of 10.20am ET / 3.20pm BST, so that could be a potential cause given the likes of X and Reddit are known to use it for their cloud-based content delivery.

X is still struggling for many

X appears to be on the mend, but it definitely isn't its usual self. We're currently able to see the Trends section, but have no feed.

Reddit seems to be faring better, with reports on Downdetector now down to around 365 in the US (down from just over 3,000 half an hour ago).

Those are promising signs, but hopefully they aren't a false dawn — and a number of other services like Zoom and Fortnite continue to show a significant number of reported problems.

William Shatner captures the mood

When in doubt, turn to William Shatner — the actor has captured what many have been experiencing with a post on X showing the "posts aren't loading right now" error message.

But how did he post his reaction when X is down? Well, the site is seemingly recovering from its wobble, with reports now down below 10,000 in the US, so I'm feeling confident that normal Shatner service will resume soon.

A return to normality...

Good news, it looks like the issues that hit X, Reddit, Zoom and more today were just a minor blip — and this isn't going to be a repeat of a major outage like the big Cloudflare incident of November 2025.

We don't know for certain if the large spike in reported issues today was Cloudflare-related, but the cloud infrastructure giant did confirm it was investigating a problem earlier — and now says "a fix is being implemented".

That fix seems to be doing the trick for many services, according Downdetector — but I'll continue to keep an eye on them, just in case.

Cloudflare says it isn't to blame

Cloudflare has told us it isn't at fault for today's issues on X, Reddit, Zoom and more.

"We don’t see any Cloudflare global outage currently. The only issue we’re aware of is that Zayo, a network provider, is experiencing an outage on some of its network routes," a spokesperson told us.

"That may cause some sites using Zayo exclusively to be unreachable, whether they use Cloudflare or not. We are seeing evidence Zayo’s network is recovering and expect any errors to be short lived," they added.

The mystery continues, then, but fortunately all of the reports on Downdetector for those sites are back down to baseline levels, so everything appears to be back to normal.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1610) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1610) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1610) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1610) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1610) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1610) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1610, are…

• WAXEN
• APNEA
• CHIME
• WAVER

I am seriously out of form with two defeats in a row.

To be fair to myself, WAXEN is not the easiest of words to get — especially with one guess left. Kudos if you got it.

Daily Sequence today (game #1610) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1610, are…

• ANGEL
• VOMIT
• STOOL
• ANGER

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD
• Quordle #1592, Thursday, 4 June: ENSUE, YACHT, CURRY, NASTY
• Quordle #1591, Wednesday, 3 June: MOODY, JEWEL, BLEAT, SOAPY

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #841) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #841) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BUST
• SOOT
• BEST
• LETTERS
• SHIRE
• CHIVE

NYT Strands today (game #841) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #841) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #841) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #841, are…

• CREEPS
• JITTERS
• SHIVERS
• WILLIES
• BUTTERFLIES
• SPANGRAM: GOOSEBUMPS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I am not very good at watching horror movies as I am so easily spooked. It’s led to a few embarrassing moments of me falling off chairs during jump scares — even the false jump scare that’s intended to lull you into a false sense of security has me on the verge of trauma.

Perhaps if I’d have read the GOOSEBUMPS series of books when I was a kid I would be better acclimatized to shocks and gore.

Anyway, I digress. That spangram really opened up today's game and fortunately I spotted it early after getting CREEPS. The only word I struggled with was BUTTERFLIES, which doesn’t quite fit with the others.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, June 21, game #840)

• SAFE
• INTERNET
• FRIDGE
• BREAKFAST
• LAUNDRY
• SPANGRAM: HOTELAMENITIES

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1609) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1609) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1609) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1609) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1609) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1609) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1609, are…

• ABBOT
• NOTCH
• DREAD
• LURID

I lost this game, but my minor victory was that I at least got three words right with ABBOT on my final guess of the game.

My downfall was too many options for what became DREAD.

Hope your experience wasn’t as lousy as mine.

Daily Sequence today (game #1609) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1609, are…

• YOUNG
• HUMAN
• SHIFT
• LOAMY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD
• Quordle #1592, Thursday, 4 June: ENSUE, YACHT, CURRY, NASTY
• Quordle #1591, Wednesday, 3 June: MOODY, JEWEL, BLEAT, SOAPY
• Quordle #1590, Tuesday, 2 June: GRAIL, STRUT, SHALE, SORRY

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #840) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #840) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• HATS
• FATE
• FREE
• FIND
• DRIFT
• THAT

NYT Strands today (game #840) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #840) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #840) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #840, are…

• SAFE
• INTERNET
• FRIDGE
• BREAKFAST
• LAUNDRY
• SPANGRAM: HOTELAMENITIES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

“That’s included!” That must mean batteries, surely? After all, not having batteries included in something you’ve just purchased is really annoying and a consumer crisis that needs highlighting.

Instead, after getting SAFE and INTERNET, I decided it was things (or HOTEL AMENITIES, as the spangram puts it) included in your hotel bill — or more often not included in your hotel bill unless you’d like to pay extra.

The most terrifying “free thing” in a hotel room is, of course, the mini bar — an amenity that can lead to financial ruin and that is definitely never “included”.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, June 20, game #839)

• CHANT
• MARQUEE
• RAFTERS
• BLEACHERS
• COURTSIDE
• SPANGRAM: GARDENPARTY

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1608) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1608) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1608) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1608) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1608) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1608) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1608, are…

• SLAIN
• TAMER
• VIPER
• FALSE

My short-lived win streak is over already as I struggled with both E-R words.

With one guess left I had three possibilities — “taxer”, “taker” or TAMER. I picked what I thought was the most likely and failed. Oh well, onwards and upwards.

Daily Sequence today (game #1608) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1608, are…

• SPEED
• BLIMP
• MOLDY
• REVEL

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD
• Quordle #1592, Thursday, 4 June: ENSUE, YACHT, CURRY, NASTY
• Quordle #1591, Wednesday, 3 June: MOODY, JEWEL, BLEAT, SOAPY
• Quordle #1590, Tuesday, 2 June: GRAIL, STRUT, SHALE, SORRY
• Quordle #1589, Monday, 1 June: STOOD, FROND, REMIT, VOWEL

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #839) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #839) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• GRADE
• MASTER
• FATE
• SAME
• HEART
• TRACE
• DOUR

NYT Strands today (game #839) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #839) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #839) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #839, are…

• CHANT
• MARQUEE
• RAFTERS
• BLEACHERS
• COURTSIDE
• SPANGRAM: GARDENPARTY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

“Knicks knack”? Surely this game has to be about the magnificent New York Knicks, right? 

For players outside of the US this immediately made this a more difficult game than usual as, although the NBA and the post-victory after party made news around the world, the words associated with it are less ingrained in our consciousness. Having said that, if Jerry Seinfeld is happy then I’m happy, so I’m not complaining.

Fortunately a plethora of non-game words helped me get home with the use of two hints and some guesswork.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, June 19, game #838)

• BOOTS
• CHAPS
• SPURS
• SADDLE
• JEANS
• BANDANA
• STETSON
• SPANGRAM: COWPOKES

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1607) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1607) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1607) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1607) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1607) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1607) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1607, are…

• ALOUD
• POINT
• GLOBE
• GROIN

Sometimes when you enter a word you are so certain it’s right and so convinced that there are no other possibilities that it’s a shock when it turns out wrong.

I experienced this today after guessing “glove”, wondering to myself how I was blind to GLOBE.

Daily Sequence today (game #1607) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1607, are…

• WHELP
• GLOAT
• POESY
• PERIL

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD
• Quordle #1592, Thursday, 4 June: ENSUE, YACHT, CURRY, NASTY
• Quordle #1591, Wednesday, 3 June: MOODY, JEWEL, BLEAT, SOAPY
• Quordle #1590, Tuesday, 2 June: GRAIL, STRUT, SHALE, SORRY
• Quordle #1589, Monday, 1 June: STOOD, FROND, REMIT, VOWEL
• Quordle #1588, Sunday, 31 May: WRYLY, MOUNT, OVERT, CACAO

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #838) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #838) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BANANA
• TEASE
• SPOKES
• BAND
• STONE
• SOUP

NYT Strands today (game #838) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #838) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #838) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #838, are…

• BOOTS
• CHAPS
• SPURS
• SADDLE
• JEANS
• BANDANA
• STETSON
• SPANGRAM: COWPOKES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

A game collecting some, but by no means all, of the many accessories connected to the hired hands of cattle ranching.

The clothing worn by COWPOKES has had an unusually significant and enduring impact on western fashion tastes. It’s quite odd when you think that the sort of pants you’d wear to lasso a bull are the same as you’d wear to put together a spreadsheet or serve a cappuccino.

Anyway, I digress. An easy game to close out the week. Only BANDANA slowed me down, but that was just because I wanted to see if I could connect “banana” first.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, June 18, game #837)

• CRAB
• SEAWEED
• SHARK
• FISH
• PLANKTON
• URCHIN
• ALGAE
• SPANGRAM: CORALREEF

If you're having trouble with the Facebook app today, you're far from alone — hundreds of people are reporting that the mobile app is closing down unexpectedly.

According to Downdetector, the problems started at around 6am ET / 11am BST, when large spikes in reports appeared from both the UK and US. Those numbers aren't yet huge — around 1,000 in the US and 500 in the UK at the time of writing — but they are growing rapidly.

There's been no official comment from Meta yet about the issues, but you can follow all the latest news in this live report...

What's wrong with the Facebook app?

Right now, hundreds of people are reporting that the Facebook app isn't working properly — with the most common complaint being that it simply closes when they open it.

We haven't been able to replicate the issues here on TechRadar, but the comments on Downdetector and social media point to similar issues. Some say it simply "keeps closing down when I open it", while other are reporting that that a pop-up box says that there's a known bug.

The reports are growing

Today's reports of issues with the Facebook app are continuing to move in the wrong direction — we're now at 1,175 reports on Downdetector in the US and counting, while the UK isn't far behind with 580 reports.

These issues seem to be specific to the mobile app, with over 80% of reports on Downdetector related to the app rather than the website or login issues. There's still no official comment from Meta, but I'll be expecting one soon if these reports continue to grow.

Is this an Android issue?

So far, it isn't clear what's causing today's Facebook app issues — but it seems to be hitting Android users a bit harder than those on iPhones.

Many of the comments on Downdetector and social media are related to Android devices, with one reporting that Facebook "keeps crashing on Android, but is fine on my iOS device".

The fact that the number of reports is relatively low for a Facebook outage suggests this could be related to problems with one particular app version. But I'm working to get a more official explanation.

The app crashes continue

The most common reported issue by far with the Facebook app today is it keeps closing or crashing upon opening.

Those complaints are increasing on X (like the above) and in the comments section of Downdetector, and the most likely culprit so far seems to be a buggy app update.

It's still not clear whether this is cross-platform or restricted to Android, so vote in our poll above if you're experiencing the same issues.

It's looking like an Android issue

The results of our poll above at the top of this page are pretty telling — 99% of the people who've voted to say they're having problems with the Facebook app are on Android.

According to the Play Store, Facebook's Android app was also updated yesterday on June 17, so that could well be the culprit — although that still isn't official. Still, if the problem is a buggy app update, Meta should be able to push out a fix pretty sharp-ish...

On the mend?

Today's Facebook app issues appear to be improving rapidly — with reports on Downdetector back down to near-baseline levels in the US and UK.

It isn't clear whether Meta has pushed out a fix for the Android app and there's been no official response to the crashing problems that many have experienced, but we're close to calling this one over four hours on from when it started.

It’s been just over a month since NBN Co confirmed that it would be increasing wholesale prices on its entire plan lineup at the turn of the new financial year — which starts July 1 — and that means your NBN plan will likely receive an unwelcome hike as a result.

In fact, I’ve already spotted a few providers revealing that select plans will indeed go up in price from July 1. Superloop has announced that all plans except for its NBN 100, NBN 500 and NBN 750 options will increase by up to AU$6 a month. Aussie Broadband is following suit, with select plans increasing by as much as AU$4 a month.

To put it simply, there’s a very good chance that your current NBN plan will also increase in price when your first post-July billing cycle comes due. The best way to avoid any changes (at least for the next six months) is to switch your NBN plan to a new provider that’s offering an introductory discount.

Coincidentally, now’s a great time to be shopping for an NBN bargain, with the June EOFY sales revealing plenty of deals from a wide range of internet service providers (ISPs), including total discounts of AU$240 and some that run a full 12 months. You’ll need to hurry to take advantage though, as many of these deals expire at the end of the month. If you need some direction, below are my current top plan picks.

If you want to view more options, check out my guides to the best NBN plans and the fastest NBN plans, while also checking out the latest internet deals.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1606) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1606) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1606) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1606) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1606) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1606) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1606, are…

• LATCH
• BRAWL
• STEEL
• CRUSH

A tricky game, with my survival coming down to a fishing expedition.

With lots of options left for a word ending A-T-C-H, I gambled on guessing BRAWL which would eliminate “watch” and LATCH from my enquiries. This time it paid off.

Daily Sequence today (game #1606) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1606, are…

• MEATY
• THINK
• CLACK
• SNAKE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD
• Quordle #1592, Thursday, 4 June: ENSUE, YACHT, CURRY, NASTY
• Quordle #1591, Wednesday, 3 June: MOODY, JEWEL, BLEAT, SOAPY
• Quordle #1590, Tuesday, 2 June: GRAIL, STRUT, SHALE, SORRY
• Quordle #1589, Monday, 1 June: STOOD, FROND, REMIT, VOWEL
• Quordle #1588, Sunday, 31 May: WRYLY, MOUNT, OVERT, CACAO
• Quordle #1587, Saturday, 30 May: WHILE, TAPER, BRAWL, REPLY

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #837) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #837) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• SLAP
• RULES
• SEEK
• SALE
• SPARE
• CLAG

NYT Strands today (game #837) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #837) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #837) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #837, are…

• CRAB
• SEAWEED
• SHARK
• FISH
• PLANKTON
• URCHIN
• ALGAE
• SPANGRAM: CORALREEF

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

I didn’t need any hints in this game, but I did waste a lot of time getting parts of words as non-game words before realizing what we were actually searching for: “chin” before I saw URCHIN, “weed” before SEAWEED and “reef” long before I put together the Spangram.

I spent a few years living by the ocean and would regularly go swimming along the shoreline, but I don’t think I ever thought about what was beneath my feet on the seabed.

However, on TikTok recently I saw some underwater footage of exactly where I used to go swimming and was shocked to see thousands upon thousands of starfish — it was quite a strange sensation thinking they were likely there the whole time.

Anyway, I digress. Due to its marine nature, which as you can no doubt tell sent me off daydreaming, I thoroughly enjoyed this game despite finding it tricky.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, June 17, game #836)

• BUCKET
• TRACTOR
• SAWHORSE
• PITCHFORK
• WHEELBARROW
• SPANGRAM: FARMING

Superloop, one of our favourite internet service providers (ISP) here at TechRadar — and recipient of our Best High-Speed NBN Provider Award — has recently made a couple of announcements that could have a major impact on how much you pay for internet over the next 24 months.

Firstly, the telco has announced that it will be increasing prices on the majority of its NBN plan lineup from July 1, as a direct response to the wholesale price hikes being introduced by NBN Co. We already knew the wholesale price increases were coming, so it’s not a huge surprise to learn Superloop is passing the cost onto consumers. We fully expect most other NBN providers to follow suit.

The slight saving grace is that Superloop isn’t increasing the cost of its NBN 100, NBN 500 or NBN 750 plans, at least not for the upcoming financial year. What it chooses to do for FY27 is anyone’s guess right now.

That means price hikes are only being applied to NBN 25, NBN 50, NBN 250, NBN 1000 and NBN 2000 plans. Prices will go up from as low as AU$3 per month and up to AU$6 per month. The biggest increase will apply to the NBN 25 plan, which will set you back AU$78p/m after any introductory costs.

For context, the NBN 50 plan (with double the speed) will retail for AU$89p/m, while the faster NBN 100 and NBN 500 plans will cost AU$95 (no change).

It’s clear, then, that upgrading to a faster plan will make more economical sense than ever, with a AU$17 gap between a 25Mbps plan and one that offers up to 500Mbps download speeds (if you have the right connection type to support them).

The full table of Superloop NBN plan price increases from July 1 is below.

How to avoid the price increases

While the planned price hikes don’t come as too much of a surprise, they’re undoubtedly going to be hard to stomach for many customers — both those already signed with Superloop, and any potential customers who were thinking of switching to the well-rated telco.

Fortunately, Superloop is offering a way to avoid them, at least for the next 24 months, with a feature called PriceLock.

PriceLock does exactly what it suggests; it lets you lock in a monthly fee for two years, for a one-off fee of AU$25. If you were to sign up with Superloop today and activate PriceLock, you would effectively avoid the July increases.

However, the amount you actually stand to save with PriceLock firstly depends on which NBN plan you have. Considering the NBN 100, NBN 500 and NBN 750 plans aren’t receiving a price increase from July 1 means there’s no real point in activating PriceLock.

Having said that, Superloop could increase the cost in 2027, in which case locking in the current price would be worth it. For a one-off fee of AU$25, it would still be worth activating the feature in our opinion. At the very least, it would provide peace of mind knowing how much your monthly NBN bill will be for the next two years.

• View the latest internet deals

A prime time to sign

Removing PriceLock from the equation, now is still a great time to consider switching to Superloop. The telco is offering a few EOFY deals on its NBN plans, and giving you the chance to buy an Eero 7 modem and receive a second absolutely free — ideal for building a mesh Wi-Fi system for greater network coverage at home.

What’s more, all Superloop NBN plans have a six-month introductory price, which would also help you avoid the planned price hikes for a short time. When the introductory offer ends, you will pay the new price, assuming you choose one of the plans that will go up.

I’ve picked my two favourite Superloop plans below, but make sure to check out the full lineup in the price comparison tool.

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #836) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #836) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• CRATE
• WORK
• TOTE
• ROCK
• BUCK 
• GREET
• MAIN

NYT Strands today (game #836) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #836) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #836) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #836, are…

• BUCKET
• TRACTOR
• SAWHORSE
• PITCHFORK
• WHEELBARROW
• SPANGRAM: FARMING

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

I was completely thrown when “horse” and “horses” both came up as non-game words, as I’d assumed that we were looking for the names of animals who might reside “in the barnyard”.

Fortunately, there were dozens of non-game words on the board so I opted to take a couple of hints to ease my bafflement, with BUCKET and TRACTOR confirming that we were looking for barnyard equipment, rather than barnyard animals. 

It took me a while to labor around the board, sighing inwardly as I got SAWHORSE and experiencing some mild childlike pleasure at the circular WHEELBARROW. I hope you had a better time.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, June 16, game #835)

• WRAP
• SANDWICH
• GYRO
• RAMEN
• SALAD
• SOUP
• TACOS
• SPANGRAM: WHATSFORLUNCH

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1605) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1605) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1605) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1605) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1605) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1605) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1605, are…

• HOIST
• PLUSH
• GROUP
• LEMUR

This was another game where getting the words in the correct sequence helped me get through without any mistakes, as HOIST helped narrow down the possibilities for PLUSH, and PLUSH revealed the letter P in GROUP.

For the final word I did a lot of sounding out with the letter I had left before arriving at LEMUR.

Daily Sequence today (game #1605) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1605, are…

• MUSTY
• PINKY
• DEBAR
• BIRTH

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD
• Quordle #1592, Thursday, 4 June: ENSUE, YACHT, CURRY, NASTY
• Quordle #1591, Wednesday, 3 June: MOODY, JEWEL, BLEAT, SOAPY
• Quordle #1590, Tuesday, 2 June: GRAIL, STRUT, SHALE, SORRY
• Quordle #1589, Monday, 1 June: STOOD, FROND, REMIT, VOWEL
• Quordle #1588, Sunday, 31 May: WRYLY, MOUNT, OVERT, CACAO
• Quordle #1587, Saturday, 30 May: WHILE, TAPER, BRAWL, REPLY
• Quordle #1586, Friday, 29 May: DRIFT, CREPT, ETHOS, DECAY

If you had problems with DoorDash or Spotify today, you weren't alone — both apps experienced major issues that were later confirmed and resolved.

The problems on both apps appeared to start at around the same time, 9.30am ET / 2.30pm BST. However, there was no confirmed related issue between the two, despite small simultaneous reports of issues on AWS and Cloudflare.

At the peak of the problems, there was a massive 35,000 reports for DoorDash on Downdetector, with users reporting that they were locked out from the app and from making orders. Spotify's issues were slightly more minor, with a peak of 4,800 reports in the US.

You can follow what happened during both outages in this live report...

A huge spike for both

Welcome to this liveblog for the issues thousands are experiencing right now on both Doordash and Spotify.

Right now, it isn't clear what the connection (if any) there is between the two, but we'll be getting to the bottom of it in this liveblog, and bringing you all of the latest official information.

As you can see, the spikes on both Doordash and Spotify on Downdetector are considerable. Let's hope they're both short-lived, unlike the Google Gemini outage we saw last week...

A widespread outage for DoorDash

DoorDash down? Or am I the only one? from r/doordash

This Reddit thread shows that the DoorDash issues are pretty widespread across the US right now, with reports from Tampa to Michigan, and also in Australia too.

It appears to be down for both users and drivers, which is causing widespread worry for those who need their hit of energy drinks and snacks. Most are seeing an error message like "the data couldn't be read because it's missing", and logging out seemingly isn't helping.

Spotify joins the outage party

Today's Spotify issues don't seem to be as widespread as those on DoorDash — the app is working fine for me and many here at TechRadar, but there are thousands of reports on Downdetector and social media platforms like X.

Many are experiencing the classic "something went wrong" message when trying to play tracks that haven't been saved for offline listening, while others are seeing "Spotify can't play this right now" or "That didn't work right" messages.

It's definitely intriguing that both the Spotify and DoorDash issues seemingly started simultaneously, but so far there's been no confirmed cloud connection between the two.

DoorDash confirms a problem

Well, that's a slight relief at least — DoorDash has just officially confirmed that it's experiencing issues, which explains the thousands of reports we're seeing across the US and Australia.

There's no real explanation in the post on X (above) about what's causing the outage, but DoorDash promises it's "working urgently to resolve it".

Lots of questions for DoorDash

This is the problem facing most DoorDash users and drivers right now — they can't log into their accounts, which is leaving many stranded mid-order.

As many have asked in response to the DoorDash post on X, this raises many questions — most urgently, what happens to orders that are already en route? This necessarily a major problem if the Dasher driver already has the address, but that's not the case for everyone.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to cancel the order or request a refund while the app's down, but drivers can call this number for assistance: ​​855-431-0459.

Spotify is "aware of the situation"

Unlike DoorDash, there's been no confirmation of a Spotify outage on X via the SpotifyStatus account on X, although this thread has started on the Spotify forums.

On there, an official moderator says "we're receiving reports where the app is showing different errors (103, something went wrong) mostly on the desktop but other clients seem to be affected as well".

It adds that "the relevant teams are aware of this situation and working on a fix", so that's promising news — and the reports appear to be dropping slightly on Downdetector (above).

Could AWS or Cloudflare be the problem?

There are no official AWS (Amazon Web Services) issues reported today on Amazon's dashboard, so that seemingly isn't the cause of today's problems on both DoorDash and Spotify. Similarly, Cloudflare only has a reported issue with its Workers AI platform.

However, DoorDash and Spotify are known to use AWS for some of their cloud infrastructure — and both AWS and Cloudflare have experienced small spikes on Downdetector today. Still, those may simply be the knock-on effect of today's other outages, so there's still no single official cause for the DoorDash and Spotify problems (or a connection between the two).

Spotify is "all clear now"

Is Spotify fixed? It's looking that way, according to Downdetector — the reports of issues have fallen as quickly as they started just under two hours ago.

And now Spotify has confirmed on X that it should be "all clear now". If you have any more issues, you can check out the Community thread — but according to a few users on there, the problems now seem to be resolved. Phew.

Things are also now looking up for DoorDash too...

No official DoorDash fix — but it's back for many

DoorDash hasn't yet given us an update since its last post on X, where it confirmed an "issue affecting our platform", but Downdetector suggests it's well on the way to being fixed.

The reports have plummeted to just over 4,000, down from their peak of just over 35,000, and many on social media are expressing their relief that the app is working for them again. Let's hope that continues...

DoorDash is officially fixed

Good news for both DoorDash fans and DoorDasher drivers — the app is now officially fixed, according to the company.

DoorDash has added that it's still "working hard to correct any impacted Dashers and orders ASAP". So if you were hit today, stay patient and your frustrations should soon be ironed out.

Following on from Australia banning social media access for under-16s, a ruling which came into force in December 2025, the UK government has announced its own restrictions for children — and they look set to be even stricter that those put in place by the authorities in Australia.

Announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the move will "give kids their childhood back" according to Downing Street. "The plans will set a new normal for future generations, kickstarting a cultural shift and driving forward the government’s fight to give every child the best start in life."

These are sweeping regulations and are likely to genuinely transform digital device use for young people — and quite possibly everyone else in the UK too — but there are some big questions remaining about how all of this is actually going to work.

Here's what you need to know based on what's been made official so far.

1. Which apps are affected?

The UK government says it's still evaluating this, but that it's going to target "user-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms". The qualifying apps that have been mentioned specifically so far are:

• Snapchat
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Facebook
• X

However, more apps will likely join that list. Liz Kendall (Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology) recently confirmed that Bluesky will be included, as it's on the list of apps affected by Australia's social media ban.

Australia's list of age-restricted apps also contains Reddit, Threads and Twitch. Messaging services, including WhatsApp and Signal, are excluded. There will also be a "narrowly defined list of exemptions" that's regularly reviewed. Livestreaming for under-16s is also going to be banned, across all platforms.

For gaming, the official line is that communications with "strangers" will be restricted, but children will still have access to multiplayer online games. AI chatbots are affected as well: bots built to offer companionship will be out of bounds for anyone under the age of 18 (not just 16), while more general-purpose bots have to set limits in terms of "intimate functionalities" for under-18s as well. Apps such as ChatGPT already have some robust parental controls in place.

2. When will the ban start?

Everything has now been set in motion after the official announcement, but there's still quite a way to go. The timetable put forward by Downing Street suggests that spring 2027 (so March, April, or May) is when the restrictions will actually come into place.

Before that, there's work to do. More detailed proposals will be put before Parliament by the end of 2026, although it's worth noting that both the Commons and the Lords have already decided that the government must take action on this issue — so this stage will be more of a formality than a debate.

It's worth bearing in mind that these measures come as a follow-up to the Online Safety Act, which came into force in 2025. That required apps and sites featuring adult content to put in some form of age verification — so really the social media ban for under-16s is an extension of these obligations, rather than something completely new.

3. How will the rules be enforced?

This is the biggest unknown right now, and the cause of most controversy. The government line is that regulator Ofcom will now conduct a "rapid study" into the best way to go about age verification, and that officials will be taking a close look at how Australia enforces its own ban.

In Australia, the duty falls on the platforms to make sure appropriate age checks are in place. The methods used for this vary, but include selfies and a lot of AI detection methods. Signals such as how long someone has had an account, and what they use it for, are also factored in to flag up the accounts of children under the age of 16.

Meta says it's booted hundreds of thousands of kids off Facebook and Instagram in Australia, though the company still argues that age verification should be handled at the device level so that platforms don't have to apply checks. We'll have to wait and see exactly how the UK government decides to implement this.

4. How will this affect adults?

Critics of the new legislation argue that it will mean the end to anonymity online — that anyone, of any age, will need to verify their identity to use websites and apps. The truth is that this is already happening, because of the Online Safety Act.

Earlier this year Apple rolled out age verification for iPhone owners in the UK, in order to comply with the Online Safety Act and preempt any further restrictions that are put in place. Registering a credit card or uploading a driving license are a couple of the ways this works for iOS, and we'll be seeing more of this over the next year.

Other verification methods we've seen include selfie age estimations, and registering email addresses that are verified as being run by an adult. If you're 16 or over and you've already worked through one of these processes, you shouldn't have to do it again.

5. What happens next?

The UK government says it will be publishing further details about its plans in July 2026, so we should get more clarity on some of these issues then. We'll also be hearing from Ofcom about how it plans to put in restrictions that kids will find it difficult to get around.

If you're a parent of someone under 16, or indeed you're under 16 yourself, you don't have to do anything else right now except wait. We don't yet know when the cut-off date will be, or what will happen to the existing accounts of kids kicked off these platforms.

What might also happen next is an increase in searches from tech-savvy children looking to get around the incoming regulations — but the signs are that age checks will be needed for privacy tools like VPNs as well.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1604) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1604) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1604) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1604) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1604) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1604) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1604, are…

• SLAIN
• PLUCK
• PINTO
• SLICE

I usually struggle with five-vowel games, but dusted this one off in no time.

Of course it helped that Quordle was kind to us with the repeated starting letters and a very familiar word, with PINTO making its second appearance in six weeks.

Daily Sequence today (game #1604) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1604, are…

• DENSE
• GNASH
• GRAPE
• DECRY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY
• Quordle #1599, Thursday, 11 June: GAMMA, SPILL, SALVE, RURAL
• Quordle #1598, Wednesday, 10 June: BELIE, TEACH, GUEST, NOOSE
• Quordle #1597, Tuesday, 9 June: VENOM, UNITE, SHIRT, ANGER
• Quordle #1596, Monday, 8 June: CURSE, DROVE, SNOWY, DEBUG
• Quordle #1595, Sunday, 7 June: QUERY, AXION, LILAC, SWORD
• Quordle #1594, Saturday, 6 June: SIEVE, PHONY, GIVER, KNOWN
• Quordle #1593, Friday, 5 June: RECUR, SCOUT, SCOWL, CHORD
• Quordle #1592, Thursday, 4 June: ENSUE, YACHT, CURRY, NASTY
• Quordle #1591, Wednesday, 3 June: MOODY, JEWEL, BLEAT, SOAPY
• Quordle #1590, Tuesday, 2 June: GRAIL, STRUT, SHALE, SORRY
• Quordle #1589, Monday, 1 June: STOOD, FROND, REMIT, VOWEL
• Quordle #1588, Sunday, 31 May: WRYLY, MOUNT, OVERT, CACAO
• Quordle #1587, Saturday, 30 May: WHILE, TAPER, BRAWL, REPLY
• Quordle #1586, Friday, 29 May: DRIFT, CREPT, ETHOS, DECAY
• Quordle #1585, Thursday, 28 May: GRAPE, VALUE, YEARN, INFER

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.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #835) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #835) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• SHAME
• WORLD
• PUNCH
• HAND
• PASTA
• COAST

NYT Strands today (game #835) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #835) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #835) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #835, are…

• WRAP
• SANDWICH
• GYRO
• RAMEN
• SALAD
• SOUP
• TACOS
• SPANGRAM: WHATSFORLUNCH

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I thought that all our lunch options were going to be bread-based after finding WRAP, SANDWICH and GYRO first.

Then, after spotting RAMEN I found all the healthier and less bread-heavy choices — although why anyone would choose to have SOUP I will never know.

Of all the words here, only TACOS caused me a bit of doubt; initially, I tapped out “oats”, which would be an even worse choice than SOUP to be honest.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, June 15, game #834)

• QUASH
• CONQUER
• VANQUISH
• SURMOUNT
• OVERCOME
• SPANGRAM: YOUVEGOTTHIS

• Experts say more evidence is needed on kids' phone use
• They were speaking in a House of Commons Select Committee
• Right now "almost everything is correlational"

The UK government has now put in motion a plan to ban under-16s from accessing social media content in apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok — but elsewhere in the corridors of Westminster, experts are advising politicians that there's not much in the way of solid evidence when it comes to phone use and the childhood brain.

Speaking at the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee this week in the House of Commons (via The Register), academics said that there just isn't enough data to show how social media and phone use might be shaping young minds as they develop.

"There is very little, if any, causal research in the early years," said Professor Denis Mareschal, who is the director of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck College. "Almost everything is correlational."

Those views were echoed by University of Cambridge Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, who said that the impact of "digital devices or social media" on adolescent brains amounted to "almost nothing". "There are a few small studies, but they haven't been replicated, and they're purely correlational," she said.

No precise age cut-off

However, while it's a case of more research needed, the experts certainly didn't dismiss concerns over child safety either. The panel acknowledged that reward and self-control systems in the brain are still forming during childhood and adolescence, and that even adults find phone use and social media addictive.

Dr Dusana Dorjee, from the University of York, made the point that time spent on a device is time not spent playing or interacting with others. A lack of that kind of multi-sensory input could be having an impact, she suggested.

As you would expect, there were questions about suitable age for letting children have phones and use social media, but according to Blakemore "what neuroscience can't do is pinpoint a precise age" — there's just too much variation between individuals.

AI chatbots were brought up too, but the answer was the same: we urgently need more evidence for their effects on kids and how they are relating to tools like ChatGPT. While there are a lot of worries and stories around these child safety issues, we're still waiting for the large-scale studies that can provide some definitive, data-led answers.