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Here’s your NYT Strands hint for today, plus the spangram and all of today’s Strands answers for puzzle No. 959 on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. Today’s Strands theme was tricky. It helps to be a runner. Read on for all the answers.

A supply-chain attack involving ConnectWise’s cloud services has exposed Microsoft 365 customers to unauthorized application access, with researchers reporting successful sign-ins across 173 partner and customer tenants. The incident centres on credentials associated with ConnectWise Cloud Backup, formerly SkyKick, and raises concerns about attackers exploiting permissions already entrusted to business software. ConnectWise has confirmed unauthorized access to application identities within its Cloud Backup environment. In an October 17 update on its service-status page, the company said it was shutting off application access, interrupting customer backups while investigation and remediation continued.

You once played Basil Fawlty in an amateur student production of Fawlty Towers at Queen’s College in Melbourne. How amateur was your Basil Fawlty moustache? It was terrible. It was real but it was definitely coloured in – I still have holes in my beard. I’d also shaved my head, so if you look at the early promo posters, you can clearly see I’m wearing a wig. Our theatre was closed so we had to perform in a circus tent in the middle of winter, on an oval in the university grounds, which was all very Fawlty Towers. I’ve always loved comedy. I didn’t really do anything serious until drama school. I always thought there might be a good spin-off with Sauron and Celebrimbor as an odd-couple situation. You play Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Tolkien wrote that Sauron “represents as near an approach to the wholly evil will as is possible”. What do you consider wholly evil? A complete disregard for the feelings and wellbeing of other people, to put it simply. It’s the intention, I think. I have horrible flashbacks to playing Aussie rules when I was about 17. I thought people were being quite evil to me at the time.

For most iPhone owners the better buy is the AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case at $149, because it brings noise cancellation, IP57 durability and Apple’s newest software features to an open-fit earbud for $100 less than the AirPods Pro 3. The AirPods Pro 3 at $249 still win on noise cancellation, battery life, bass and health features, and the gap matters less than it looks once the Pro 3 is discounted, since Memeburn’s calculation shows the Pro 3 become the cheaper source of noise-cancelled listening time at any price below about $238. The choice comes down to whether you can wear silicone ear tips comfortably and how far below $249 the AirPods Pro 3 are selling on the day you buy. ModelUS list priceBest forAirPods 5$129The lowest price with noise cancellationAirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case$149Most buyers who dislike ear tipsAirPods Pro 3$249Travel, long listening and fitnessAirPods 5 vs AirPods Pro 3 Specs Compared Best Choice Apple AirPods 5 4.3/5OverviewACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATIONHEAR THE WORLD AROUND YOUNEW SIRI AIThe figures below come from Apple’s AirPods comparison page and its AirPods Pro 3 tech specs.