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 might be tricky. I couldn’t really make the connection between all the words until I read the spangram. 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: That’s quite a (tasty) mouthful.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Long food words.

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:

• FOUR, FLOW, WOLF, FATE, LABEL, LABELS, WEAR, WARE, WARES, CARE, FILL, ABLE

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’ve got 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:

• ARUGULA, AVOCADO, WATERMELON, CAULIFLOWER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is FOURSYLLABLES.  To find it, start with the F that’s three letters down on the far left column, and wind down, up and over.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT. 

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

Looking for the most recent regular 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 and Strands puzzles.

My father-in-law was almost a pro golfer, but I can barely hit a ball straight. So for me, the blue group of today’s Connections: Sports Edition was a toughie — especially one name I had never heard before. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

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

Yellow group hint: Light the cauldron.

Green group hint: It’ll get you into a game.

Blue group hint: Fore!

Purple group hint: College towns.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Summer Olympic sports.

Green group: Information on a ticket.

Blue group: First words of notable golf courses.

Purple group: Big 12 school locations.

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

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is summer Olympic sports. The four answers are archery, equestrian, judo and sport climbing.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is information on a ticket. The four answers are date, row, seat number and section.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is first words of notable golf courses. The four answers are Augusta, Bethpage, Pebble and Torrey.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Big 12 school locations. The four answers are Ames, Boulder, Manhattan and Stillwater.

Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.

That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing recently.

#1: Series A Clubs, Jan. 11. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.

#2: WNBA MVPs, Jan. 21. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.

#3: Premier League team nicknames, Jan. 17. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.

#4: Homophones of NBA player names, Jan. 26. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ space outfit Blue Origin is planning to make history in less than a week by sending an all-female crew on a spaceflight. The American spacecraft company’s 11th human mission, NS-31, is made up of NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, CBS host Gayle King, Bezos’ fiancé and former journalist Lauren Sánchez, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyễn and pop singer Katy Perry.

The company is eyeing a liftoff date of April 14, with the launch window opening at 8:30 a.m. CDT, depending on weather and other factors. According to the Blue Origin website, the astronauts will ascend toward space at more than three times the speed of sound. Once they pass the Kármán line, the crew can unbuckle and float weightless before returning to Earth.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard program has flown 52 people above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space about 62 miles above Earth. 

First all-female crew since a Russian solo space flight

The flight will mark the first all-female crew since Russian engineer Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight in 1963.

Bowe told Elle magazine in an interview published this week that she’s «been training for and waiting for this moment my entire life.» Nguyen agreed, calling it «a dream come true.»

Reactions among the others varied:

«I have wanted to go to space for almost 20 years,» Perry said during the interview with Elle.

«I had a lot of trepidation — I still do — but I also know it’s very interesting to be terrified and excited at the same time,» King told Elle. «I can honestly say it has never been a dream of mine.»

Blue Origin has taken many notable names up above the Earth before, including actor William Shatner, Good Morning America host and retired NFL player Michael Strahan and Bezos.