Connect with us

Tech

NYT Strands hints, answers for April 5, 2026

Published

on

A game being played on a smartphone.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're an animal lover.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Pouch perfect

The words are related to animals.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe pouch-bearing animals.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Marsupials.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

NYT Strands word list for April 5

  • Wombat

  • Koala

  • Bilby

  • Marsupials

  • Opossum

  • Kangaroo

  • Wallaby

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tech

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 4, 2026

Published

on

By

A phone displaying the New York Times game 'Connections.'

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is for people who love college basketball.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

  • Yellow: Stats

  • Green: Running a set

  • Blue: Winners

  • Purple: Perfect season

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

  • Yellow: Basketball Stats, In Singular Form

  • Green: Basketball Offenses

  • Blue: Championship-Winning Men's College Basketball Coaches

  • Purple: Men's College Basketball Teams to Complete Undefeated Season

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #558 is…

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

  • Basketball Stats, In Singular Form – BLOCK, MINUTE, STEAL, TURNOVER

  • Basketball Offenses – MOTION, PICK AND ROLL, PRINCETON, TRIANGLE

  • Championship-Winning Men's College Basketball Coaches – DREW, FISHER, SELF, WOODEN

  • Men's College Basketball Teams to Complete Undefeated Season – INDIANA, NORTH CAROLINA, SAN FRANCISCO, UCLA

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Continue Reading

Tech

Hurdle hints and answers for April 5, 2026

Published

on

By

Hurdle game on a smartphone

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

Hurdle Word 1 hint

A spigot.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

SPOUT

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A leg exercise.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

LUNGE

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Fire.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

FLAME

Hurdle Word 4 hint

To smash into.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

CRASH

Final Hurdle hint

Gleam

Hurdle Word 5 answer

SHINE

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Continue Reading

Tech

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 5, 2026

Published

on

By

Connections game on a smartphone

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love old-school detectives.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

  • Yellow: Science terms

  • Green: Old-school detective

  • Blue: Turn over

  • Purple: Muck

Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

  • Yellow: Atomic structure terms

  • Green: Parts of a Sherlock Holmes costume

  • Blue: Things to flip

  • Purple: Starting with synonyms for "Slush"

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1029 is…

What is the answer to Connections today

  • Atomic structure terms: ELECTRON, NUCLEUS, ORBIT, SHELL

  • Parts of a Sherlock Holmes costume: DEERSTALKER, MAGNIFYING GLASS, PIPE, VIOLIN

  • Things to flip: COIN, LIGHT SWITCH, PANCAKE, THE BIRD

  • Starting with synonyms for "Slush": GOOGOL, MUSHROOM, PASTEURIZE, PULPIT

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Continue Reading

Trending