Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 8, #431

Think glamour and glitz. Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 431 for May 8.

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 a very decorative, elegant, sumptuous and special puzzle. Does that hint push you in the right direction? If you need more hints and the 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: Well, fancy that!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Think about the crown jewels.

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:

RULE, SLUR, SHOO, SHAVE, STERLING, SANG, SLOG, LOON, LONG, TANG, HEART, ZANY, NANNY, HAVE, SEAR, GAVE, VASE.

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 runs 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:

GAUDY, DELUXE, LAVISH, ORNATE, SNAZZY, EXTRAVAGANT

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is OOHSHINY. To find it, start with the O that’s four letters to the right on the top row and go straight down! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a spangram that followed a completely straight line before!

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

Technologies

Meta Reportedly Eyeing ‘Super Sensing’ Tech for Smart Glasses

The company is reportedly pulling back on some privacy concerns to give its smart glasses lineup a bigger AI boost.

Meta is reportedly developing what it calls a «super sensing» type of facial recognition technology to its smart glasses lineup. A new report from The Information said Meta is developing software for the glasses that has the ability to recognize people by name and keep better track of what users are doing throughout the day.

The company originally planned to include similar technology in its first wave of smart glasses, but abandoned that effort due to privacy concerns.

Now, however, the tech appears to be back on the table. Meta is reportedly working on two new pairs of smart glasses, internally known as Aperol and Bellini, and is also re-evaluating its privacy policies and potential safety risks associated with the technology, the report said.

The report also said the feature would be opt-in only.

It’s part of Meta’s larger strategy to expand its smart glasses lineup and integrate AI more deeply into the products. It follows news that rivals like Google — now developing its first smart glasses since Google Glass — are boosting their push into the category.

It’s also said to be integrating this same «sensing» recognition capability into AI-powered earphones, which are said to include embedded cameras and sensors.

A representative for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for May 9, #1420

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,420 for May 9.

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

Today’s Wordle puzzle could be tricky. It’s not a super-common word, though the letters aren’t especially unusual. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter T.

Wordle hint No. 4: Nonsense

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to something ridiculous.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to an unusual ingredient used in Mexican and other dishes.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is TRIPE.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, May 8, No. 1419, was BALMY.

Recent Wordle answers

May 4, No. 1415: TROUT

May 5, No. 1416: SHUSH

May 6, No. 1417: SUITE

May 7, No. 1418: MACHO

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 9, #698

Hints and answers for Connections for May 9, No. 698.

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 Connections puzzle has one category that might remind you of grade-school math. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now 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 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: Adjust the picture.

Green group hint: Starting to fade.

Blue group hint: Do the math.

Purple group hint: Not on the door, but…