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.

It took me a really long time to figure out the theme of today’s NYT Strands puzzle. Also, some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so 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: While you were sleeping…

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

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:

• HUNT, DEAN, NEON, NOEL, LONE, FAIR, WANT TOOL, POET, HAIR, CHANGE

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:

• WAND, COIN, NOTE, TUTU, WINGS, PILLOW, EXCHANGE.

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THETOOTHFAIRY. To find it, start with the T that is two letters up from the bottom on the far-left, and wind down, and then over, up, over, down, over and up again!

Toughest Strands puzzles

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

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

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

#3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

AT&T is looking to broaden its reach with a new subscription service that combines home internet and wireless service for phones and wearables. AT&T OneConnect, launching today, includes gigabit broadband plus unlimited mobile data for up to 10 voice lines and 10 data devices such as wearables and tablets.

OneConnect offers three pricing tiers, billed monthly:

• Individual — $90: One member, one voice line, up to three data devices and one household with 1Gbps internet.

• Duo — $120: Two members, two voice lines, up to six data devices and one household with 1Gbps internet.

• Family — $225: Unlimited members, up to 10 voice lines, up to 10 data devices and one household with 1Gbps internet.

One notable detail is that the OneConnect subscription prices listed above include taxes and fees, a practice that’s quickly becoming increasingly rare among major carriers. On many plans, including AT&T’s newest wireless plans, those costs are added on top.

For comparison, an AT&T bundle for two people with unlimited wireless and gigabit-speed home internet would cost about $225, including two lines on the AT&T Premium 2.0 plan and AT&T Internet 1000 fiber at $65. For one person, a single Premium 2.0 wireless plan costs $90, plus $65 for home fiber. (It’s also important to note that speeds and availability vary depending on your location.) 

As with any new connection plan, you’ll want to scrutinize the details so you know what you’re getting into.

For instance, OneConnect is currently limited to new customers; existing AT&T customers have no migration path to combine their broadband and wireless services under this digital umbrella. According to an AT&T spokesperson, «Once we gather customer feedback and validate the experience with our initial cohort, we will make OneConnect available to as many customers as possible.»

It’s also entirely BYOD — or ‘bring your own device’: «Limited to bring your own eSIM compatible, unlocked smartphones, tablets, and wearables,» reads the fine print on AT&T’s press release. There are no phone deals tied to OneConnect, though the spokesperson didn’t rule out that possibility in the future.

Unlike AT&T’s standalone wireless plans, OneConnect follows a one-size-fits-all model. One benefit of AT&T mobile service is that each person on an account can select their own plan. For instance, a parent might choose AT&T Premium 2.0, while a teen could opt for the cheaper but more limited AT&T Value 2.0.

Other major carriers offer home internet and mobile service bundles, but they’re not packaged in the same way. Verizon and T-Mobile, for example, provide discounts if you’ve signed up for both types of plans. 

AT&T is betting that account owners will want a simpler, bundled service instead of two separate plans. With unlimited talk, texting, data and AT&T’s Active Armor service for filtering out unwanted calls and texts, that’s a size that does seem to fit all.

Most people have experienced mild motion sickness — perhaps from staring at your phone in the back of an erratic Uber or riding a particularly loopy amusement park ride. It usually passes quickly, but severe cases can be challenging to manage. Samsung now has an app for that. The tech giant’s new Hearapy app for Android uses the headphones you already own to relieve motion sickness with sound.

Motion sickness is generally what you get when the signals from your eyes and inner ear don’t jibe with each other, resulting most commonly in dizziness or, in severe cases, nausea, sweats and vomiting. It’s most frequently experienced in cars, on boats and other moving vehicles, but can also be caused by tech, including phones. The disorienting cybersickness, for example, can be brought on by scrolling screens or playing video games or VR. 

Frequent or severe motion sickness can be treated with over-the-counter medicine, pressure point therapy, acupuncture, candy or just staring at a fixed point for a while. However, Samsung’s app directly targets and soothes the inner ear by stimulating it with sound waves.

Samsung Hearapy is a simple app. Pop in your headphones, click the Start button and a low-frequency bass sine wave is played for around 60 seconds. According to Samsung, this minute of deep audio stimulation resets the inner ear’s balance system and can relieve motion sickness for up to two hours.

Samsung recommends headphones for best results — naturally pointing to its own Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, though any pair will work — and won’t play the tone until headphones are connected. You can override this in the settings, if you’re willing to risk disappointment from your phone’s tiny speakers. The tone duration can also be adjusted between 40 and 120 seconds.

Samsung supports its motion sickness solution with scientific research. The developers reference a study from Japan’s Nagoya University that examined sound therapy as a way to improve balance in mice and humans. According to the researchers, people who listened to a 100Hz sine tone for one to two minutes experienced up to two hours of improved balance, lower stress levels and reduced motion sickness symptoms during a car ride.

I’ve never experienced severe motion sickness. In fact, I suspect I’m immune to it, which is a blessing given how often I write in moving vehicles. So I couldn’t fully test Samsung’s claims about the app’s effectiveness. Even so, I gave it a listen, and at the very least, it’s a relaxing tone. But if you or someone you know deals with frequent motion sickness, it’s worth trying. The Hearapy app is free and available on the Google Play Store.