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.

Todays NYT Strands puzzle might be easy for car buffs and animal lovers — there’s a mix of the two themes in this puzzle. 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: Animal drives.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Barracuda is another one.

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:

• COAT, GRUB, MOPE, GLEE, BEAT, GNAT, BRAT, ROAM, TIME, PEEL, TOMB, MILE, BILE.

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:

• BEETLE, BRONCO, IMPALA, JAGUAR, RABBIT, MUSTANG

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is AUTOMOBILES.  To find it, start with the A that’s three letters down on the second row from the left, and wind down and around.

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

You can’t beat a pair of noise-canceling headphones, whether you’re rocking out or just want to be able to hear your audiobook in a noisy office. You don’t always have to spend a lot to get a pair, either, and this Sony WH-CH720N headphones deal is a perfect example of that.

They’d normally sell for around $150, but an Amazon deal has slashed that to just $88 if you choose the black finish. Don’t worry if you don’t see the discount initially, the new price will be reflected when you add your new headphones to your cart. This is a limited-time deal though, so order soon before you risk missing out.

These headphones don’t have as many features as the more powerful WH-1000XM5 headphones from Sony, but they do have a lot going for them, especially at their more affordable price. In addition to good sound quality, these headphones have 30mm drivers and come equipped with Sony’s V1 chip for solid active noise cancellation. They also have an ambient sound mode and robust EQ settings, which you can customize to your taste. 

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

Another feature these headphones offer is multipoint connectivity, which means you can connect to your computer or phone at the same time. They’re a good option for making voice calls as well. Additionally, Alexa is built-in, making it easy to ask for a specific song, control compatible smart home devices and more. As for battery life, you should get up to 35 hours per charge or as much as 50 hours if you have noise cancellation turned off. 

In his review, CNET’s David Carnoy noted that Sony’s WH-CH720N offers «the appealing combination of a lightweight, comfortable design with respectable performance,» which makes this sale perfect for people who don’t want to splurge on a premium headset costing upwards of $300.

For other budget-friendly listening options, be sure to check out our roundup of the best headphone and earbud deals currently available.

Why this deal matters

We’re big fans of ANC headphones because they can be so handy in a variety of ways. Whether you’re commuting and want to block out the noise or you need to focus in a noisy office, ANC headphones can drown out the din of sound wherever you’re using them. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive headphones with similar features to Sony’s WH-CH720N, but few are from a brand that’s so well-known for the quality of its personal audio gear.

A limitation on exports of AI processors made in the US that was set to go into effect on May 15 has now been rescinded after an order from the Department of Commerce (PDF).

The AI Diffusion Rule was set in motion at the end of the Biden administration and would have limited the number of AI processors that could be sold to foreign countries. It was meant to give the US an edge in the race for global AI technology, but critics, including tech companies, said it would hurt the companies making the processors by capping their sales.

The Trump administration’s move now lifts restrictions on companies such as Nvidia from selling processors meant for AI applications to other countries, including Mexico, China and Russia.

«These new requirements would have stifled American innovation and saddled companies with burdensome new regulatory requirements,» the Department of Commerce said in a statement. «The AI Diffusion Rule also would have undermined US diplomatic relations with dozens of countries by downgrading them to second-tier status.»

The Department of Commerce said it is still warning companies and the public about allowing US-made AI chips to be used for Chinese AI models and is discouraging the use of Huawei Ascend chips specifically for exported products.

‘Cautious relief’ among chipmakers

Some in the industry worried that the rule could have hurt startups or mid-tier players, but now, the mood is «cautious relief,» said one tech-industry executive. 

«While most companies support the need for guardrails around advanced AI capabilities, the AI Diffusion Rule as originally framed created a lot of ambiguity — especially around how ‘diffusion’ would be interpreted in deployment, licensing or technical architecture,» said Dmitry Zakharchenko, chief software officer for Blaize, a California-based AI chip company.

Zakharchenko says the concern among companies like his wasn’t just sales but also cross-country research collaboration, AI model deployment and cloud-infrastructure partners. 

«The risk was that overbroad policy could inadvertently restrict benign use cases, including public safety, industrial inspection, and transportation,» he said.

As for what comes next, Zakharchenko said that some of the companies that would have been affected are taking their own steps to mitigate risks from overseas. That, he said, is happening «both at the hardware level and through partner ecosystems.»

«That includes secure boot, encrypted pipelines, regional deployment controls and tighter collaboration with integrators who understand where and how inference workloads are run,» Zakharchenko said.