Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is pretty difficult. Hope you know your sea creatures! Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Shell company.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: By the sea.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• LOCK, LOCKER, MOLLS, SOCK, TOLL, CALM, POLL, POLLS, POLE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• CLAM, CONCH, LIMPET, MUSSEL, OYSTER, ABALONE, SCALLOP

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is MOLLUSK. To find it, look for the M that’s four letters down on the farthest-left row, and wind across.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle offers a fun purple category. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Healthy food.

Green group hint: Widespread.

Blue group hint: Ebony and ivory.

Purple group hint: Cheers!

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Vegetable parts.

Green group: Prevailing.

Blue group: Parts of a piano.

Purple group: Second halves of drink names.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is vegetable parts. The four answers are bulb, leaf, root and stem.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is prevailing. The four answers are common, dominant, general and popular.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is parts of a piano. The four answers are hammer, key, pedal and string.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is second halves of drink names. The four answers are soda, stormy, tan and tonic.

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Prefer a newer model? The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is now here, and you can shop the current deals if you want the latest flagship. However, this previous-gen model still has plenty to offer, especially with this straightforward discount that doesn’t require signing up with a carrier.

The Galaxy S25 Plus is the midrange model in Samsung’s previous-gen lineup. It has a stunning 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 3,120×1,440 pixels, along with a sensible 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on the basic configuration. It’s also equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which supports tons of helpful AI features, including Circle to Search and generative photo editing. It has a 12-megapixel front camera and a 50-megapixel rear camera system for stunning photos and 8K video capture. Plus, the 4,900-mAh battery can last up to 14 hours on a single charge. It’s also fairly durable, with an IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating.

Why this deal matters

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus was previously one of our favorite phones, especially for Android fans who prefer a larger screen. If you don’t mind a slightly older model, this is a solid price. Most phone deals require a trade-in or a multiyear carrier contract, so a chance to grab yourself an unlocked model at a record-low price is an opportunity you won’t want to miss if you’re looking to upgrade. We doubt this deal will last much longer.