Blogroll

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're never lacking.

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 July 24, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: There's more where that came from

The words are related to quantities.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe having more than needed.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is diagonal.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is And Then Some.

NYT Strands word list for July 24

• Leftover

• Surplus

• And Then Some

• Spare

• Extra

• Unused

• Excess

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 always put together.

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 July 24, 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 July 24, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Sticky gum.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter T appears twice.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter P.

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...

PUTTY

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.

For decades, buying a luxury SUV usually meant choosing between BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Audi. But rising prices and higher ownership costs are giving buyers a reason to look elsewhere.

TL;DR: Get Curiosity Stream Standard lifetime access for a one-time $127.50 through July 26 with code STREAM15 and enjoy unlimited access to thousands of documentaries with no recurring subscription.

Opens in a new window Credit: Curiosity Stream Curiosity Stream Standard Plan: Lifetime Subscription $127.50
$399.99 Save $272.49   Get Deal

Not every streaming night has to end with another sitcom rewatch or the same movie you’ve already seen three times. Sometimes it’s nice to come away having learned something new.

That’s the appeal of Curiosity Stream, a streaming service dedicated entirely to documentaries. Through July 26, new users can get a Curiosity Stream Standard Lifetime Subscription for $127.50 with code STREAM15, making it a one-time purchase instead of another recurring entertainment bill.

Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!

Founded by John Hendricks, the founder of Discovery Communications, Curiosity Stream focuses on documentaries covering science, history, technology, nature, engineering, art, and more. The library includes thousands of films and series, with new content added weekly, so there’s always something new to explore.

Popular titles include Engineering the Future, Planet of Treasures, Deep Time History, Into the Jungle, Autonomy, The History of Home, and many more.

The Standard Plan also makes it easy to watch wherever you are. You can stream in HD across multiple devices, download documentaries for offline viewing, bookmark programs to watch later, and quickly search by topic or subject.

Whether you’re fascinated by space exploration, wildlife, ancient civilizations, or breakthrough technology, Curiosity Stream is built around thoughtful, in-depth storytelling rather than endless scrolling.

If documentaries are the kind of content you find yourself returning to, Curiosity Stream Standard Lifetime offers a simple way to keep that library available whenever you’re ready to learn something new.

Use code STREAM15 to get Curiosity Stream Standard lifetime access for just $127.50 (reg. $399.99) through July 26.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Meta’s smart glasses allow creators to record strangers without holding up an obvious camera. Unsurprisingly, it's enabled a lot of bad behavior. Now, Instagram is placing new limits on what happens to that footage once it reaches the platform.

In an Instagram Story (first reported by Business Insider), Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the platform would remove smart-glasses videos that show people being harassed or taken advantage of.

"If you’re posting content that is taking advantage of people and harassing them, like a lot of these pickup line kind of videos that we’ve heard of and seen, then we’re going to take the content down," Mosseri reportedly said. "We don’t want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform," he added.

The belated crackdown covers formats including pickup videos — in which creators approach people who may not realize they are being recorded — and prank videos targeting cashiers, fast-food employees, and other workers.

The report also noted Instagram had deactivated two pickup-artist accounts that used smart glasses to film women in public, both with more than 1 million followers. Meta confirmed the accounts were removed for violating its policy against harassing content, but did not say when the removals occurred.

Meta also didn't explain how Instagram will determine when an interaction becomes harassment, or how many posts and accounts have been removed. But recent incidents show why the platform is under pressure to draw a clearer line — and how much damage can be done before a video is taken down.

Why Meta’s smart glasses have raised privacy concerns

Meta first introduced its Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021 and has since expanded its wearable lineup through partnerships with Oakley and Kylie Jenner. Depending on the model, the glasses can record photos and videos, play audio, make calls, and respond to requests through Meta AI. Meta has also made it easy for users to upload their smart glasses footage to Instagram, and this content is often labeled "Made with Meta Ray-Ban."

A small white LED on the front flashes when the camera is operating. In a July 7 explainer, Meta said its second-generation glasses automatically disable the camera if they detect the light has been covered — a response to reports of users tampering with the recording indicator. People in at least 30 states are even offering this tampering as a service, according to journalist Joanna Stern. Meta also said it actively removes advertisements, posts, and Marketplace listings that offer Meta Ray-Ban-tampering services.

That discretion has helped fuel an ecosystem of pickup, prank, and “troll” accounts built around filming strangers without their knowledge. Creators have secretly recorded attempts to get women’s phone numbers in gyms, airports, bars, stores, and public streets. The women are then exposed to audiences that may scrutinize their appearance, sexualize them, or criticize how they responded to an interaction they did not know was content.

Back in April, one woman discovered online footage of a man asking for her number after he recorded their conversation through smart glasses. She said the video was posted despite her refusing permission.

Other videos use unsuspecting retail and restaurant employees as participants in pranks, confrontations, or deliberately uncomfortable exchanges. In one recurring Meta glasses prank, creators spray a foul-smelling substance on a candle, then approach Walmart shoppers or employees and ask them to smell the scent. In another video, a creator placed fake feces in a fast-food restaurant bathroom, then asked an unsuspecting cashier to leave the counter and inspect it.

There's more: one creator recorded visits to massage parlors and used sexually suggestive captions to tease explicit pay-per-view versions of the footage. Another built an Instagram page around non-consensually filming women’s bodies. After Mashable provided Meta with those examples back in January 2026, the company disabled both accounts for violating its policy on adult sexual exploitation.

Former prank creator Brad Podray, previously known online as Scumbag Dad, told Mashable in January that creators frequently target women and service employees because they are likely to provide usable reactions while being less able or willing to confront the person recording them.

“They want people who are good on camera, so they’re going to hit fast food employees, and they’re going to hit pretty girls,” Podray said. “A lot of random women walking around aren’t going to want to participate in a skit if you ask them to, so they remove the agency entirely by just running the glasses.”

Meta warned in an October 2025 statement that “people shouldn’t use them for engaging in harmful activities like harassment, infringing on privacy rights, or capturing sensitive information.” The company issued this warning after the University of San Francisco sent out a campus safety advisory. Multiple women reported that a man wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses had approached them with unwanted comments and inappropriate dating questions. The university said he may have been recording these interactions for a pickup artist account on Instagram and TikTok.

Meta’s glasses are, of course, used for plenty of legitimate purposes beyond this inappropriate and often immoral content. Many wearers use them to capture travel, sports, concerts, and everyday moments from a first-person perspective without holding a phone. The glasses can also play music, make calls, send messages, translate conversations, answer questions about what’s around you, and provide directions or reminders through Meta AI. Athletes and creators also use them to record hands-free footage, while blind and visually impaired users can ask the glasses to read labels, identify objects, select clothing, and describe their surroundings.

Nevertheless, as the glasses become more common and harder to distinguish from ordinary eyewear, Instagram’s challenge will be keeping creators from finding new ways to turn that discretion into content at someone else’s expense.

Compact SUVs may be practical, but a lot of them are honestly quite boring. Despite their dull driving dynamics, they remain some of the most popular vehicles on the road. This boils down to the simple fact that people value practicality above most other things in their lives. Whether you're starting a family or hauling lots of equipment all the time, compact SUVs offer space that more entertaining cars simply don't.

Most people who use AI assistants spend more time switching windows than they think. You copy something, alt+tab to a browser, open a chat window, paste it in, wait, copy the response, and tab back to wherever you were. If you do that twenty times a day, you're losing more time to that routine than to the actual problem you're trying to solve. Wiring your Windows clipboard directly to Claude's API will help you out.

The iPhone 18 is about to launch, along with the final version of its operating system, iOS 27, most likely in September. But a new report says it may arrive with a feature that lets Apple, and third-party lenders, remotely deactivate phones if customers fall behind on payments.

With the iOS 27 beta now widely available, 9to5Mac found code that would let Apple place delinquent iPhones in "Restricted Mode." This would limit users to a short list of widgets and apps, including the App Store, Clock, Settings, Wallet, and Passwords, according to the report.

In theory, 9to5Mac says the system could work like this: Authorized financing partners who lease iPhones to customers get to perform regular status checks to see if the contract is still valid. If a customer falls behind, Restricted Mode would be activated.

The feature is "unequivocally present" in the iOS 27 beta, according to 9to5Mac — and a future update to iOS 26 could bring this feature to older iPhones as well.

SEE ALSO: iPhone 18 news, leaks, and rumors: Release date, iPhone 18 Pro details, more info

The era of internet-connected "smart" devices has had plenty of benefits for consumers, but as consumer advocates have long warned, it also allows brands to remotely turn off devices.

Why might Apple be testing a tool like this right now? Let's dive in.

Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

If you've bought any new tech products recently, you've probably noticed: New devices are getting really expensive. Just this month Apple raised prices on a variety of its products. iPhone prices haven't risen just yet, but Tim Cook has prepared the ground for an "unavoidable" iPhone price hike.

Thanks to the ongoing global memory chip crisis known as RAMageddon, new phones now require a serious investment. The new foldable phones released by Samsung this week were preceded by a new Galaxy credit card program.

Apple is believed to be readying a new leasing program of its own. Bloomberg's Apple oracle, Mark Gurman, says Apple will launch the "Apple Upgrade" leasing program later this month.

Gurman calls it "one of the biggest-ever changes to how the company sells" new devices — and says Apple Upgrade will be part of a partnership with the online lender Klarna, giving buyers a lease-to-buy option. iPhone customers who qualify could make monthly payments over two years.

The code discovered by 9to5Mac also reportedly includes another type of locking mechanism called "Partner Finance Lock," which would stop users from trying to resell a financed device.

Clearly, Apple and Klarna can't let customers who miss payments continue to use leased iPhones indefinitely. But it's also an uncomfortable reminder of how much control Big Tech has over our devices.

Mashable reached out to Apple for comment about Restricted Mode; we'll update this story if this famously taciturn tech giant provides new information.

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is dominating online conversation as fans figure out where to slot the movie in their rankings for his best movies. However, don't sleep on television—streamers are continuing to release original projects and new seasons of returning shows.

The all-new 2026 Mazda CX-5 may be grabbing the headlines, but the SUV it replaced has one major advantage: a proven track record. More than a decade after it launched, the 2015 model continues to stand out as one of the most dependable compact SUVs you can buy used.

Yes, I know that Samsung Galaxy devices are basically the iPhones of the Android world, and there are other, less polished, but more interesting options out there. But Samsung has this market domination for a reason, and part of it comes from its genuinely useful bespoke features.

In yet another interesting direction of resources, federal transportation leaders are systematically removing bike safety information from official websites.

Transportation employees, including those working for the Federal Highway Administration, have been ordered to find and even remove mentions of bikes, bike lanes, and bike safety from online pages, an investigation by NPR found. In the last week, dozens of safety pages have been taken down or edited to remove public access to resources, the publication reported, such as the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool.

SEE ALSO: LA Metro tells the public to ‘Ride the D’ and the internet loves it

An anonymous Department of Transportation staffer told NPR that the decision was "asinine" and was not "making the sites better, faster or quicker."

When asked about the changes, a department spokesperson wrote:"Since nearly 80% of the population uses cars to get to work and their important medical appointments, we are taking a closer look at federal guidance to ensure American families have the infrastructure they need. This is a common sense approach despite the Left's belief that everyone should ride a bike to their shoebox-sized apartment to eat crickets to achieve a phony climate agenda."

The website edits come shortly after remarks by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who referred to Biden-era transportation initiatives as DEI expenditures.

"I just redirected $1.73 billion in USDOT grants away from Biden-era DEI pet projects," he wrote in a post on X. "Now this funding is officially locked in to fix America’s actual backbone: ROADS, BRIDGES, AND SHIPPING PORTS." Two days later, staffers were ordered to remove related language and update content "in alignment with administration direction."

The Trump administration has revoked funding for alternative transportation infrastructure and eradicated many environmental resources, including the former climate.gov domain.

The emphasis away from bikes and public transit comes as oil prices just jumped to $100 a barrel following the return of hostilities between the Trump administration and the Iranian government.

Self-hosting is really a hobby in itself. Once you get the bug, it's hard to stop adding more and more self-hosted services or spending even more money on your home lab setup. Self-hosting also makes several hobbies possible that wouldn't really work without it.

The second public beta for macOS 27 Golden Gate has just been released by Apple. The first beta brought some brand-new features to Mac, including a relaunch of Siri as a true AI assistant.

Siri AI can answer questions based on a user's inbox, documents, and camera roll, and can also carry out tasks in a user's email, messages, and other apps. And, as Mashable previously covered, users can also access a hidden Siri AI interface, which is very much in its test phase, within the public beta.

macOS 27 public beta 2 brings even more updates. First, there are some fixes and tweaks to Liquid Glass, as well as the glitchy system search feature, a common complaint with macOS 26.

Apple Intelligence also gets some updates in the new beta, with design changes, a new set of writing tools, and improved Visual Intelligence. The public beta also introduces a tool for users to create custom Safari extensions and new Shortcuts using natural language with AI.

As 9to5Mac points out, there's also a new aspect ratio support in Phone Mirroring, which seems to hint at a feature for Apple's foldable iPhone.

If you want to experience some of the long-awaited Siri AI features, improved system search, and the latest changes to Liquid Glass, here's how you can check out the mac OS 27 Golden Gate beta 2 now.

Download and install the macOS 27 beta 2

First, you'll need to enroll your Mac into Apple's public beta program if you haven't already. You can do so at https://beta.apple.com. 

Next, go to System Settings, then General Software, followed by Update. 

Select the "i" icon beside Beta Updates and select the latest macOS 27 Golden Gate Public Beta from the dropdown menu.

For the first time ever, Percy Jackson and the Olympians book fans will get to the see the events of The Titan's Curse, the third book in Rick Riordan's series, play out in live action.

While the first two seasons of Percy Jackson and the Olympians covered books that had already been adapted into films, The Titan's Curse has yet to come to life onscreen. That changes with Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3, and, based on the teaser released at San Diego Comic-Con, the show will be pulling no punches.

The teaser cuts right to the chase with a pivotal moment from late in The Titan's Curse, when Percy (Walker Scobell) shoulders the Titan Atlas' burden of holding up the entire sky. (It is, quite literally, the Titan's Curse.)

"It was my choice to hold the weight. The Titan's Curse," Percy thinks in the teaser. "I knew the risk, but if I needed to sacrifice myself to save the world, to save my friends... Was it really a choice?"

Between the talk of self-sacrifice and Percy's anguished screams, it looks like we're in for a dark season. But don't worry: In an interview with Mashable, Scobell confirmed that we would be getting the fan-favorite dam jokes from the book.

He also confirmed that Season 3 is "even better than I imagined," so the hype is real. Bring on the dam jokes, the Titan's Curse, and the arrival of beloved demigods Bianca and Nico di Angelo (Olive Abercrombie and Levi Chrisopulos) in their live-action debut.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 premieres Nov. 20 on Disney+.

Awards are certainly not the most important aspect for judging a movie's quality. Other elements, including box office and cultural impact, can help influence how an audience reacts to a movie. However, awards can influence your decision when choosing a movie, especially on Netflix, a streaming service with thousands of movies to watch.

Keeping a hard drive on a drawer is probably the most common approach to storing files over the long term. A lot of people don't do it properly, though, to the point I've actually discouraged this practice previously.

I used to let my router choose between 2.4GHz and 5GHz for every device in my house, but I realized I was leaving a ton of performance on the table. Once I took control by moving specific devices to the faster 5GHz lane, my streams and downloads finally stopped buffering.

Johnny Depp has cleared his Instagram grid and replaced it with three posts carrying a message for his nearly 30 million followers: Prepare to be humbugged.

As of July 23, the actor has wiped his previous posts, updated his profile picture, and transformed his account into an advertisement for Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, his upcoming movie based on Charles Dickens' holiday classic.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Depp's feed now contains only three branded images that combine to spell "BAH HUM BUG." Read in order, the captions announce: "This November..." "Prepare to be..." and "Humbugged." His bio has also been replaced with a reference to his character: "Before he was Scrooge, he was Ebenezer."

Depp is playing Ebenezer Scrooge in the movie, which Paramount Pictures will release in theaters on Nov. 13. Fans immediately caught on; this is unusual for Depp, who posts sparingly and hasn’t changed his profile picture in years.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Social media wipes have become a go-to move for celebrities announcing new projects. Taylor Swift famously cleared her accounts in 2017 before teasing Reputation with snake imagery, and musicians like Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Madonna, and Normani have all deployed similar resets before dropping new work. Olivia Rodrigo just pulled the same trick to promote her new album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, which dropped June 12, 2026.

This strategy works especially well on Instagram, where you can transform an account with millions of followers into a clean advertising canvas. In Depp's case, the three remaining images function as a miniature billboard — visitors need to scroll through all of them to grasp the full message.

Actors have occasionally used this tactic for movie promotion, too. Blake Lively wiped her Instagram posts and changed her bio to "What happened to Emily?" while promoting the 2018 thriller A Simple Favor.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Depp's version is less mysterious, but it's still getting fans excited.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Directed by X, Pearl, and MaXXXine filmmaker Ti West, Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol presents Dickens’ story as a supernatural ghost tale. Written by Nathaniel Halpern, the film is produced by Emma Watts, with West among its executive producers.

Depp plays Scrooge, a miserly businessman whose encounters with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come force him to confront the life he has lived and fight for a second chance. The cast also includes Andrea Riseborough, Ian McKellen, Severance star Tramell Tillman, Rupert Grint, Daisy Ridley, and Sam Claflin.

Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol arrives in theaters on Nov. 13.

LG exited the smartphone market five years ago, but before it did, the brand released a frankly shocking number of cool, wild, and uniquely weird phones that helped it stand out from the competition. In fact, the list of weird LG phones is so long that I couldn't fit them all into one article, and I was only focusing on fairly modern Android phones from 2011 onward.