IT General

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're a traveler.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 31, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Places to go

The words are related to travel.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe travel sites.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Tourism.

NYT Strands word list for May 31

• Museum

• Beach

• Tourism

• Castle

• Market

• Restaurant

• Momument

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a musician.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 31, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for May 31, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A piece of music.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter E appears twice.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter E.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

ETUDE

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

TL;DR: ChatPlayground gives you access to 20+ AI tools like GPT and Claude, lets you send prompts to multiple tools, and has a lifetime subscription on sale for $60 through May 31.

Opens in a new window Credit: ChatPlayground AI ChatPlayground AI: Lifetime Subscription (Unlimited Plan) $59.97
$619 Save $559.03   Get Deal

Picking the right AI model for a task used to mean opening five different tabs and running the same prompt five different times. Most people end up paying for one subscription, defaulting to it out of habit, and wondering why the outputs feel inconsistent. ChatPlayground AI puts GPT, Claude Sonnet 4, Gemini 1.5 Flash, DeepSeek V3, Llama, Perplexity, and more AI models in one interface, lets you enter a single prompt, and shows you the results side by side so you can pick the best one. A lifetime Unlimited Plan is on sale for $59.97 right now (reg. $79).

The side-by-side comparison completely changes how you use AI for serious work. Instead of guessing which model handles a task best or burning through your daily limits trying to find out, you run the prompt once and choose the output that works. That matters most when you’re prompt engineering, drafting content, debugging code, or researching something where accuracy is non-negotiable.

Beyond comparisons, the platform includes prompt engineering tools to refine and optimize prompts for better results, image and PDF chat for context-aware responses, saved conversation history for ongoing projects, and AI image generation for creative work.

The Unlimited Plan removes message limits entirely, so it’s a great fit for teams running experiments or using AI heavily throughout the day. Priority access to new models and features is included, along with priority customer support. Available to both new and existing users, with unlimited devices supported and updates included. It runs on the latest versions of Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.

Instead of paying monthly for a single model and hoping it handles everything, why not get them all for life?

Until May 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can get a ChatPlayground AI lifetime subscription on sale for $59.97.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

We all get the urge to find a fun fling at one time or another, but not everyone wants to dish out money to make it happen. If you're strapped for cash or you just want to keep that credit card firmly in your wallet, know that there are a lot of great free hookup apps and sites that offer results without you having to pay a premium for membership. 

That said, not all free dating services work in the same way, and they don't always offer the same level of freedom. They're still businesses, after all, and still looking to turn a profit. They will entice you will free fun while hiding some of their very best features behind a subscription — which they hope will tempt you to go further and sign up for that paid membership. 

SEE ALSO: Adult Friend Finder vs. Tinder: How they compare as hookup apps

To help you navigate the world of hookup apps and sites as a non-paying user, here's a handy guide on the top dating services — and all the best features you can get for free.

Tinder

Tinder's mega-popularity probably has a lot to do with how well it has balanced its free and premium features. As a non-paying user, you can create an account, fill your profile with up to nine photos and videos, and then swipe to match and chat with singles in your area.

In other words, you can use Tinder's basic features without opening your wallet. But restricting yourself to a free account is exactly that — restricting. This includes an ad-laden UI and a limited number of swipes over 12 hours. OK, so it doesn't sound too bad on paper — until you spend an hour left-swiping and finally find the profile of your dreams, a person seemingly created to pique your interest, only to realise that you've run out of likes.

To get the most out of a free Tinder account, we recommend splitting up your swiping time into morning and evening sessions, to minimize the impact of their 12-hour right-swipe restriction. If you score a decent match by using this strategy, you're all set and probably won't need to upgrade your account. But if you're dissatisfied with how many matches you find, it could well be time to explore Tinder's Gold and Platinum tiers, as these unlock some matchmaking cheat codes, including one monthly profile boost to increase your visibility, plus the ability to see who has liked your profile and message accounts you haven't already matched with. 

AdultFriendFinder

AdultFriendFinder is one of the most restrictive dating services for free members. Not only will you not be able to speak to another person one-on-one with a free account, you won't even be able to view other users' profiles without stumping up some cash for monthly paid membership. 

Don't be put off, though. If you're looking for fast thrills online, a free AFF account still has its upside. For one thing, AdultFriendFinder is less a dating service than an entire sexy ecosystem, complete with live webcam shows, chat boards, adult-themed picture contests, and a whole lot of erotic storytelling. You can access and even take part for free, so whether you want to passively observe the live webcam feeds or test your writing skills out in the streamy fiction section, you have good options.

SEE ALSO: AdultFriendFinder vs. Snapchat: Which is better for sexting?

On the other hand, if you want to use AFF to actually find a potential partner in your local area, you really need to upgrade to their paid subscription, which not only unlocks expanded search features and the ability to communicate one-on-one with other members, but also upgrades the quality of the photos and videos you see, which is worth the expenditure alone.

Grindr

Like Tinder, Grindr is very generous to non-paying users. With a free account, you can create a profile, search out and chat with other nearby people, and even create a private photo album and send a single photo. In one sense, Grindr is even more generous to its free users than Tinder: It allows you to match with one person outside of your immediate location per day, which gives you a little taste of the app's reach and capabilities.  

Best of all, for those desperately eager to connect, Grindr allows free users two Right Now sessions per week, which functions as a kind of temporary (one hour, max) status update to nearby users also in Right Now mode. Don't forget, Grindr is all about the fast hookup. 

It's not all upside, though. Like Tinder, Grindr subsidizes its free user features by serving up relentless ads, which definitely impacts the user experience, while also limiting their profile's reach to "local" Grindr users, which basically means accounts within your immediate vicinity. If you're in LA or Manhattan that's not necessarily a problem, but if you're using the app in a small town or remote area — which likely means a smaller queer population — it can mean fewer hookups. 

SEE ALSO: Grindr users love this city for queer travelers in 2026

If that's a problem for you, you can opt for either the Grindr XTRA or Grindr Unlimited subscriptions to unlock quality-of-life features. These include the ability to send more expiring photos, a larger grid to explore, and even the ability to see who has viewed and liked your profile. 

Pure

In many ways, Pure is the most intriguing hookup app out there. It's a true innovator of design and interface, which makes it no surprise that it's the most popular app for Gen Z singles. Unfortunately, it's extremely restrictive in the scope it gives to free users. Unless you're a woman, that is.

On Pure, male and non-binary users have to pay to unlock the app's most useful features, while women get unrestricted access to the app for free. Before you cry foul, though, remember that most dating apps skew heavily male (Tinder users may be 75 percent male, for example), so by enticing women with a free membership, Pure can keep a relatively even gender split among its users. That's a good thing, right?

As a free user, you'll be able to create a profile and fill out all the necessary information, as well as a list of your kinks. But you can't respond or chat one-on-one with other users, which so you're essentially locked out of the app's most fun and interactive features. 

Unlike with Tinder, Grindr or AFF, Pure really does require a paid subscription to be at all useful — if you're not a woman, that is.

For years, buying a mainstream SUV new felt like the sensible choice, while used luxury models carried a reputation for being risky or expensive. These days, depreciation has flipped that equation on its head.

When Harley Earl arrived at General Motors in 1927, he brought Hollywood with him. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Earl spent his early career building custom cars for movie stars before GM tapped him as its first design director. He went on to pioneer clay modeling as a tool for shaping vehicles, a practice the industry still relies on nearly a century later.

As one of my go-to platforms, HBO Max has a plethora of outstanding shows in its catalog that serve as major draws for anyone interested in looking for something to watch. Each year, that catalog grows and continues to strengthen the platform’s reputation as home to some of the most iconic TV shows ever made.

Electric SUVs have quickly moved from niche experiments to mainstream choices, but pricing and value still vary widely across the segment. Some models lean heavily into luxury pricing, while others compromise too much on range or performance to hit lower price points. For buyers trying to balance cost, technology, and everyday usability, it can still be difficult to find an EV that feels like a clear win rather than a trade-off.

May is double the fun for Full Moon and space fans because we’re getting two in one month. The first took place on May 1 and the second will be on May 31. This phenomenon is called a Blue Moon. And no, that doesn’t mean it’ll actually turn the color blue, it’s just a somewhat rare occurrence. You might say, “once in a blue moon”...

What is a Blue Moon?

According to NASA, a Blue Moon is when a full moon shows up twice within the same calendar month. The lunar cycle (the process of the Moon orbiting the Earth) lasts about 29 and a half days, which is slightly shorter than most months. This means that every so often the timing lines up like it does in May, with a full moon right at the start of the month and another at the end. It’s not especially common, only happening roughly every couple of years. This is a monthly Blue Moon.

There are also seasonal Blue Moons. These occur when four full moons fall all within one season, instead of three which is what usually happens.

When is the Blue Moon in 2026?

The Blue Moon in 2026 will occur on May 31. According to Time and Date, it will peak around 4:45 a.m. ET.

How often does a Blue Moon occur?

Blue Moons are fairly uncommon, as the saying goes. NASA says they occur roughly every two or three years.

When is the next Blue Moon?

Royal Museums Greenwich tells us that the next Blue Moon will be May 20, 2027. This will be a seasonal Blue Moon.

If you spend a lot of time working in the Terminal, you undoubtedly have your favorite CLI (command line interface) and TUI (terminal or text-based user interface) apps. One of mine is a TUI app called cmus.

Like sharks, the viewing public must always be moving forward to survive, with life-giving new movies and TV shows always sweeping past our gills. When Netflix released its list of everything coming for the month of June 2026, the equal and opposite reaction is that there's a pile of things that must inevitably leave the streaming service, too, as licensing deals expire. That also means that time is running out for you to tick them off your watch list before they ride off into the sunset.

When the original Range Rover debuted in 1970, it introduced something the automotive world had not quite seen before: a vehicle as capable on a muddy trail as it was parked outside a five-star hotel. That unique combination of rugged capability and refined luxury few, if any, SUVs can pull off today. Yet, Land Rover has been doing it for five decades.

I live with the strange dichotomy of liking Samsung Galaxy Watches but not Galaxy phones. So, for years, I’ve used a Galaxy Watch with a Pixel phone. Recently, I decided to give a Samsung phone a chance, and it immediately unlocked some extra watch features.

What's the status of your Wi-Fi password? I wager that if I surveyed most people I know, I'd find two groups split right down the middle: people who never bothered to change theirs, and people who changed theirs to something painfully easy or funny. Then, there's a handful of people who try to beat possible networking issues by staying on top of their Wi-Fi passwords.

With May almost in our rearview mirror (it was a great month that scorched with The Punisher: One Last Kill, Daredevil: Born Again and more!) it's not only time to get ready to enjoy the warmer climes of the summer but it's time to stack your watchlist with all the great new movies and shows coming to Disney+ and Hulu in June.

Breaking news: The 007 series is popular.

Sarcasm aside, it sounds like longtime Hitman series developer IO Interactive has a bonafide hit on its hands. The company announced in a press release that the newly released 007: First Light video game sold 1.5 million units in its first 24 hours of availability, beating the record for the fastest-selling game IO has ever made. That's not a small achievement, given the company's previous success over the past decade with the excellent Hitman reboot trilogy.

Perhaps making this sales success even more impressive is the fact that First Light is not, in any way, tied into the James Bond film series. The protagonist is a new, younger version of Bond played by TV star Patrick Gibson, rather than by Daniel Craig or any other previous Bond actor, and aside from some cameos by the likes of Lenny Kravitz and Gemma Chan, most of the game's central cast is made up of series newcomers who are primarily TV actors. That doesn't make them any less talented or qualified to be in the game, of course, but it does make the game stand out from previous movie-star-studded 007 video game efforts like Everything or Nothing.

It also doesn't hurt that the game, at least based on the first few hours that I've played, is really good. If you like James Bond, you should probably check it out. If these sales figures are to be believed, though, you probably already have.

Some cars get attention for being fast, luxurious, or packed with the latest technology. Others build their reputation the old-fashioned way: by showing up every day and refusing to quit.

DeWALT makes tools for everyone, from DIYers and homeowners to professionals. We're all familiar with the 20V Max and Atomic tool lineups, and most people have the basics like a drill and driver. But did you know DeWALT makes several lesser-known tools that can make jobs easier than ever?

If you are an avid television watcher, then you will likely subscribe to multiple streaming services. Frankly, we now live in a world where one streaming service is simply not enough for movies, TV shows, sports, and live news. You can try your best to create your perfect streaming lineup, but you must be smart about what services to keep and cut.

Can you reliably function without an internet connection? I suppose I could, in theory, but I'd be out of a job. If you're like me, an unreliable network is a real nightmare, and you never know when connection issues will rear their ugly heads, thrusting you right back into hours of annoying troubleshooting.