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 kind of a stinker. Yep, that’s a hint. 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: Fragrant abuse.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Hold your nose.

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:

• REEK, KING, SLUNK, LUNK, STAR, TUNE, SKINT, SLAT, SLATS, GENT

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:

• REEKING, FOUL, RANK, SMELLY, PUNGENT, MALODOROUS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THATSTINKS. To find it, start with the T that’s five letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up.

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.

I about fell over when I saw today’s Connections: Sports Edition. The clues are all just letters and a few numbers, not full words. And they’re all basketball-related categories, marking Game 7 of the NBA playoffs. 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: Where you play on the court.

Green group hint: Look for the score.

Blue group hint: Statistics.

Purple group hint: Not full names.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Basketball positions, abbreviated.

Green group: NBA teams, on scoreboards.

Blue group: Basketball stats, abbreviated.

Purple group: NBA stars’ abbreviated nicknames.

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 basketball positions, abbreviated. The four answers are C, PF, PG and SF.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA teams, on scoreboards.  The four answers are IND, LAC, MEM and OKC.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball stats, abbreviated. The four answers are 3P, FG, FT and STL.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA stars’ abbreviated nicknames. The four answers are CP3, KD, LBJ and SGA.

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.

TV watchers — today’s NYT Connections puzzle is right up your alley. There’s also a category that might have fit well on July 4. 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: Current happenings.

Green group hint: July 4 document.

Blue group hint: Premium TV.

Purple group hint: Not right.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: News announcement.

Green group: Nouns from a famous line in the Declaration of Independence.

Blue group: HBO shows.

Purple group: What «left» might mean.

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 news announcement. The four answers are bulletin, flash, report and wire.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is nouns from a famous line in the Declaration of Independence. The four answers are happiness, liberty, life and pursuit.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is HBO shows. The four answers are Entourage, Euphoria, Insecure and Succession.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is what «left» might mean. The four answers are departed, port, progressive and remaining.