TechRadar Publishes Sept. 24 Answers for Quordle, NYT Strands and Connections

For Quordle #1704, TechRadar gave the answers as TOPIC, METRO, SCALP and FREED. The Daily Sequence answers were BLURB, KRILL, ENEMY and QUART. The hints said the puzzle contained four different standard vowels, that one answer had a repeated letter, and that Q, Z, X and J did not appear. No answer started with the same letter; the starting letters were T, M, S and F. TechRadar's Johnny wrote that he followed a hunch and guessed 'toxic' after the letter J appeared in yesterday's game, then got TOPIC, and that he nearly submitted 'retro' instead of METRO. Quordle, described by TechRadar as one of the original Wordle alternatives, is still running after more than 1,500 games.

For NYT Strands #935, the theme was 'Just outside the door.' The answers were SANDBOX, TREEHOUSE, SWINGS, POOL, TRAMPOLINE and FORT. The spangram was BACKYARD, with eight letters, touching the left side at the fifth row and the right side at the fifth row. TechRadar listed HOBO, WINK, WINGS, TRACK, FAME and TRAP as clue words that unlock the in-game hint system. The reviewer rated the puzzle Easy and recorded a Perfect score. He said the first word he saw was 'tree' but he did not combine it with 'house'; instead he spotted the spangram and gave 'a little whoop of joy.' He also said the game felt melancholy because it reminded him of clutter that used to fill his backyard and was no longer there, a sign that his children have grown up and no longer need a sandbox, swings or a trampoline. On Wednesday, Strands #934 had the answers BYGONE, ARCHAIC, ANCIENT, PRIMEVAL and TIMEWORN, with THATSOLDNEWS as the spangram.

For NYT Connections #1201, TechRadar reported four groups. The yellow group, PARTS OF A VAMPIRE COSTUME, contained CAPE, FACE PAINT, FAKE BLOOD and FANGS. The green group, THINGS WITH SPRING/S, contained BOBBLEHEAD, POGO STICK, SNAKES IN A CAN and TRAMPOLINE. The blue group, FEATURING POINTING, contained CREATION OF ADAM, FOAM FINGER, I'M WITH STUPID SHIRT and UNCLE SAM. The purple group, ANAGRAMS, contained BEER HAT, BREATHE, HERB TEA and THE BEAR. The reviewer rated the game Hard and made one mistake. He linked FOAM FINGER, FACE PAINT, BEER HAT and BOBBLEHEAD as items connected to being a sports fan, then found PARTS OF A VAMPIRE COSTUME to be the only group he felt confident in. For the spring group, he connected TRAMPOLINE and POGO STICK through bouncing and guessed the other two; for the pointing group, he initially thought of comedy T-shirts. Wednesday's Connections #1200 groups were things you grab before leaving the house, website hurdles, things that come in cans, and items ending in synonyms for 'term.'

TechRadar noted that NYT Connections and Strands are playable for free through the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile. It also linked its daily coverage of Connections, Strands, Quordle and Wordle for players seeking hints and answers.