Technologies

Get a Free Thing Skin, Thor Skin and More in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5

The battle heats up in Season 3.5 as a Phoenix Force-infused Blade enters the fray. Kit out your heroes in these free skins to prepare for the fight.

Marvel Rivals season 2 may have taken our heroes off-world as they battled across Arakko, but season 3 is throwing us into the furthest reaches of space to fight a new threat: Knull and his symbiote army.

Stopping one symbiote is tough enough. Fighting off an army of them is going to require a whole new wardrobe’s worth of battle gear. Luckily for you, there are many ways to unlock some free skins in the hit hero shooter right now — including the Queen’s Codex event pass that evens the odds with a free Thing Symbiote Thing skin and the Summer Special pass that includes the free Thor Worthy Waves skin.

Outside of the latest event, there are still other ways to earn free skins right now. Whether you’re getting used to Phoenix’s dense set of abilities or you’re still getting used to the ever-shifting landscape of team-up moves, season 3.5 has introduced a slate of free skins that you can use to deck out your favorite characters.

Here’s every free skin available right now in Marvel Rivals season 3.5, including in-game events, Twitch drops, competitive rewards and more.

What Marvel Rivals skins are available for free right now?

There are currently 12 free skins available. Here’s how you get them:

Thor Worthy Waves: Complete tier 14 on the Summer Special event pass by Aug. 15 in order to unlock this skin.
Thing Symbiote Thing: Complete tier 18 on the Queen’s Codex event pass by Sept. 12 in order to unlock this skin.
Mantis Will of Galacta: To claim this skin, you’ll need to link a Twitch account to your Marvel Rivals account and then watch four hours of livestreams from streamers participating in the drop campaign. The Mantis Will of Galacta skin is available until Friday, Sept. 5.
Star Lord Ignite: To claim this skin, you’ll need to link a Twitch account to your Marvel Rivals account and then watch four hours of livestreams from the Marvel Rivals Ignite mid-season finals tournament matches. This Twitch campaign is available concurrently with the Mantis Will of Galacta skin, but watching streams will only contribute to one set of drops at a time. The Star Lord Ignite skin is available until Saturday, Sept. 6.
Phoenix Emerald Flames: Reach Gold rank or higher in competitive mode in season 3. You must play at least 10 competitive matches to be eligible to receive the skin.
Blade Emerald Blade: Reach Gold rank or higher in competitive mode in season 3.5. You must play at least 10 competitive matches to be eligible to receive the skin.
Groot Symbiote Flora: Reach page 4 in the season 3 battle pass by Sept. 11.
Rocket Raccoon Symbiote Raccoon: Reach page 10 in the season 3 battle pass by Sept. 11.

Four of the currently available free skins are not time-gated, although they are locked behind achievements or platform exclusivity. Here are the Marvel Rivals skins you can unlock at any time:

Spider-Man Scarlet Spider: This skin is available to PS Plus subscribers who play the game on the PS5. It can be found on the PSN Store under Marvel Rivals DLC.
Peni Parker Ven#m: Like the Scarlet Spider skin, this Ven#m skin is available for PS Plus subscribers and can be found in the PSN Store. This skin is also available in the Marvel Rivals in-game store, where it can be purchased with units.
Storm Ivory Breeze: Earn 200 Achievement Points in the Heroic Journey achievement section.
Star-Lord Jovial Star: Earn 400 Achievement Points in the Heroic Journey achievement section.

How can I get free skins during Marvel Rivals season 3.5?

Players who link their Twitch account to their Marvel Rivals account can nab a free Mantis and Star Lord skin by watching participating streams.

But if you only care about rewards you can earn in-game, free Phoenix and Blade skins are available by progressing through the competitive ladder and new looks for Groot and Rocket Raccoon are available for free on the season 3 battle pass.

Take part in the synthesis of stone and tentacles with the free Symbiote Thing skin

Another mini battle pass just arrived in Marvel Rivals, hot on the heels of the Summer Special pass from the first half of Season 3. The Queen’s Codex event pass is themed around Knull-infused Hela, and the premium reward track includes 24 separate rewards.

You can purchase this pass for 690 Lattice (which is roughly equivalent to $7) to have a chance to unlock the Black Widow Phoenix Widow and Hela Queen in Black skins, as well as remove the time limit from the event.

But if you’re a free-to-play gamer, there’s still a big incentive for you on this pass. The Thing Symbiote Thing skin is on the free reward track, and it’s available at tier 18. You need only play quick match and competitive game modes to earn XP points to unlock the new free skin.

If you don’t buy the premium track for this pass, it will disappear on Sept. 12 — if you haven’t unlocked the new Thing skin by then, it’ll be consumed by the symbiotes on Klyntar and disappear forevermore. So long as you earn Symbiote Thing before that date, the skin will be permanently unlocked on your account.

How can I get more free Marvel Rivals skins?

There are many ways to get skins in Marvel Rivals. Sometimes the developer issues special codes to unlock them while others require completing challenges. There are also some made available by watching streams on Twitch and many skins are «free» for progressing through the Marvel Rivals Battle Pass, which costs 990 Lattice, or about $10.

You can also earn skins through regularly playing the game, as a free skin is frequently awarded with the completion of seasonal events. Players who reach gold rank or higher in competitive mode also receive a free skin as a reward for their performance. Live events like season 3’s Milano Repair Logs challenge include free skins as a completion reward.

What free skins used to be available in Marvel Rivals?

Twitch drops, battle passes, and promo codes get cycled in and out of rotation, allowing Marvel Rivals players to earn different free skins from engaging with the game during different events. Here are all of the previously available free skins, what season they were introduced in and how they were obtainable.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Feb. 21

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 21.

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

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s the long Saturday version, and some of the clues are stumpers. I was really thrown by 10-Across. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «Jersey Shore» channel
Answer: MTV

4A clue: «___ Knows» (rhyming ad slogan)
Answer: LOWES

6A clue: Second-best-selling female musician of all time, behind Taylor Swift
Answer: MADONNA

8A clue: Whiskey grain
Answer: RYE

9A clue: Dreaded workday: Abbr.
Answer: MON

10A clue: Backfiring blunder, in modern lingo
Answer: SELFOWN

12A clue: Lengthy sheet for a complicated board game, perhaps
Answer: RULES

13A clue: Subtle «Yes»
Answer: NOD

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: In which high schoolers might role-play as ambassadors
Answer: MODELUN

2D clue: This clue number
Answer: TWO

3D clue: Paid via app, perhaps
Answer: VENMOED

4D clue: Coat of paint
Answer: LAYER

5D clue: Falls in winter, say
Answer: SNOWS

6D clue: Married title
Answer: MRS

7D clue: ___ Arbor, Mich.
Answer: ANN

11D clue: Woman in Progressive ads
Answer: FLO

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 21, #516

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 21, No. 516.

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.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. I actually thought the purple category, usually the most difficult, was the easiest of the four. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for 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: Old Line State.

Green group hint: Hoops legend.

Blue group hint: Robert Redford movie.

Purple group hint: Vroom-vroom.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Maryland teams.

Green group: Shaquille O’Neal nicknames.

Blue group: Associated with «The Natural.»

Purple group: Sports that have a driver.

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 Maryland teams. The four answers are Midshipmen, Orioles, Ravens and Terrapins.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Shaquille O’Neal nicknames. The four answers are Big Aristotle, Diesel, Shaq and Superman.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with «The Natural.» The four answers are baseball, Hobbs, Knights and Wonderboy.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports that have a driver. The four answers are bobsled, F1, golf and water polo.

Technologies

Wisconsin Reverses Decision to Ban VPNs in Age-Verification Bill

The law would have required websites to block VPN users from accessing «harmful material.»

Following a wave of criticism, Wisconsin lawmakers have decided not to include a ban on VPN services in their age-verification law, making its way through the state legislature.

Wisconsin Senate Bill 130 (and its sister Assembly Bill 105), introduced in March 2025, aims to prohibit businesses from «publishing or distributing material harmful to minors» unless there is a reasonable «method to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the website.»

One provision would have required businesses to bar people from accessing their sites via «a virtual private network system or virtual private network provider.»

A VPN lets you access the internet via an encrypted connection, enabling you to bypass firewalls and unblock geographically restricted websites and streaming content. While using a VPN, your IP address and physical location are masked, and your internet service provider doesn’t know which websites you visit.

Wisconsin state Sen. Van Wanggaard moved to delete that provision in the legislation, thereby releasing VPNs from any liability. The state assembly agreed to remove the VPN ban, and the bill now awaits Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’s signature.

Rindala Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the digital freedom nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, says Wisconsin’s U-turn is «great news.»

«This shows the power of public advocacy and pushback,» Alajaji says. «Politicians heard the VPN users who shared their worries and fears, and the experts who explained how the ban wouldn’t work.»

Earlier this week, the EFF had written an open letter arguing that the draft laws did not «meaningfully advance the goal of keeping young people safe online.» The EFF said that blocking VPNs would harm many groups that rely on that software for private and secure internet connections, including «businesses, universities, journalists and ordinary citizens,» and that «many law enforcement professionals, veterans and small business owners rely on VPNs to safely use the internet.»

VPNs can also help you get around age-verification laws — for instance, if you live in a state or country that requires age verification to access certain material, you can use a VPN to make it look like you live elsewhere, thereby gaining access to that material. As age-restriction laws increase around the US, VPN use has also increased. However, many people are using free VPNs, which are fertile ground for cybercriminals.

In its letter to Wisconsin lawmakers prior to the reversal, the EFF argued that it is «unworkable» to require websites to block VPN users from accessing adult content. The EFF said such sites cannot «reliably determine» where a VPN customer lives — it could be any US state or even other countries.

«As a result, covered websites would face an impossible choice: either block all VPN users everywhere, disrupting access for millions of people nationwide, or cease offering services in Wisconsin altogether,» the EFF wrote.

Wisconsin is not the only state to consider VPN bans to prevent access to adult material. Last year, Michigan introduced the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act, which would ban all use of VPNs. If passed, it would force ISPs to detect and block VPN usage and also ban the sale of VPNs in the state. Fines could reach $500,000.