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 could be tricky for some. First off, it’s an unusual topic. And 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: Spring fever.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A resilient, metal device.

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:

• CORN, DELT, WEND, REND, GORE, GORY, LARD, CAPS, PAIL, PAILS, DRIP, DRIPS

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:

• COIL, GYRE, HELIX, SPIRAL, CURLICUE, CORKSCREW

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is TWISTANDTURN. To find it, start with the T that is the bottom letter on the far-right vertical row, and wind up.

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.

We’re not exactly worried about Armageddon here at Hackaday, but should we end up facing the end of the world as we know it, having something to pass the time would be nice. That’s why we were intrigued by [Janus Cycle]’s latest video where he both plays and powers a Game Boy by candlelight.

You’ve probably figured out the trick already: he’s using a Peltier module as a thermoelectric generator. Candles, after all, release a lot more energy as heat than light, and all that high-quality heat is just begging to be put to use somehow. It’s hardly a new idea; [Janus] references space-age radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) in the video, but back in the day the Soviets had a thermoelectric collar that fit around a kerosene lantern to power their tube radios.

In [Janus]’s case, he’s using a commercial module sandwiched between two heatsinks with the rather-questionable choice of a cardboard box reinforced with wooden skewers to hold it over the candle. Sure, as long as the flame doesn’t touch the cardboard, it should be fine, but you will not be at all surprised to see the contraption catch fire in the video’s intro. For all that, he doesn’t get enough power for the Game Boy — one module gets him only 2 V with tea light, but he has a second module and a second candle.

Doubling the energy more than doubles the fun, since a working Game Boy is way more than twice as fun as an un-powered one. But one candle should be more than enough power, so [Janus] goes back and optimizes his single-Peltier setup with a tall candle and actual thermal grease, and gets the Game Boy going again. Any fire marshals in the audience should look away, though, as he never gives up on keeping a candle in a cardboard box.

The “power something with a Peltier module” project is probably a right of passage for electronics enthusiasts, but most are more likely to play with the irony of candle-powered LEDs, or fans to cool the cold-side heatsink. We did see a phone charger one time, and that didn’t even involve open flames, which seems much safer than this. Remember — no matter how much you want to game after the end of the world, it’s not worth burning down your fallout shelter.

Opera has finally brought its gamer-focused browser, Opera GX, to Linux.

This happened following what the company describes as sustained demand from communities across Reddit, Discord and developer forums.

The launch means Linux users can now access the same performance tools and customisation features that have helped Opera GX grow to more than 34 million users since its debut in 2019. More importantly, it plugs a long-standing gap for gamers and power users. These users prefer Linux but haven’t had access to a browser built specifically with gaming in mind.

In an omnichannel landscape, a brand kit is an efficiency engine. While you can operate without one, the friction of manually styling every asset eventually becomes a bottleneck that stifles growth. Having a brand kit allows you to do more in less time—infusing designs with your signature elements and boosting brand recognition across the internet.

The best part? Designing a brand kit has never been easier! With an abundance of tools available to create and store visual styles, there’s little reason to hold back. Ready to stand out with a strong visual brand identity? Read on to learn how to do it successfully.

Decoding visual brand identity 

Visual brand image is the holistic collection of sensory elements that represent your brand’s internal character. Going beyond a logo, it functions as a visual language—one designed to communicate values without speaking a word. The logotype, along with color and typography, forms the essential tangibles. There are also intangibles: the emotional responses visuals trigger when paired with your on-brand elements.

Think of your identity as a thread of continuity. Whether a customer encounters a printed banner or uses a mobile app, the visual image ensures they never lose sight of your company. Brand identity is the soul, while a brand kit is the toolbox that houses it. Once your kit is defined, the goal becomes seamless execution. To keep this process lean, businesses often rely on automation tools such as the VistaCreate API. By integrating a brand kit directly into your workflow app, you remove guesswork and maintain a professional standard—ensuring every asset stays on-brand and is ready for immediate use. 

FAQ: What is the main component of a brand kit?

If forced to name a single primary component, typography and color often outweigh the logo. The reason is simple: even without a visible logotype, consistent color grading and font choices can still signal exactly which brand is speaking. Consistency is paramount, acting as the conductor of the brand kit symphony. 

How to create a brand kit in 6 manageable steps

#1. Focus on foundational strategy

Purpose is the first thing to define if you want to build an exemplary, comprehensive brand kit. Design should be a direct byproduct of your “why.” Begin by identifying three common visual tropes in your industry and intentionally avoiding them (for example, a corporate blue palette and generic isometric illustrations in tech and SaaS). This creates competitive differentiation. Modern consumers increasingly gravitate toward brands that project authenticity and a distinct personality rather than defaulting to industry clichés. 

Next, factor in the human element. If you encountered your brand on the street, what would it look like? How would it dress? Would it wear a tailored suit with casual sneakers, lean sporty, or take an entirely different approach?

#2. Build an elastic design system

Omnichannel success requires assets that can stretch from a 16px favicon to a 16-foot banner. To achieve this level of flexibility, focus on three pillars:

• Responsive logos: Include stacked, horizontal, and logo-mark (symbol only) versions for tight spaces.
• The 60-30-10 color rule: Define a primary (60%), secondary (30%), and accent (10%) color to help non-designers balance palettes. 
• Type hierarchy: Assign clear roles to fonts. Use a display font for personality and a UI font for legibility in body text. 

#3. Focus on a multi-dimensional world

Iconography, texture, depth, and photography POV all play a role in a complete brand kit. These elements give you an edge when core components start to feel familiar to users looking for something more distinctive.

• Iconography style: Commit to one style—line-art for a modern, lightweight feel or solid icons for a bold, authoritative tone.
• Texture and depth: Define whether your brand uses flat vectors, 3D gradients, brushstrokes, or organic paper textures. 
• Photo POV: Establish clear photo pillars to give visuals a recognizable style, such as natural lighting, indirect eye contact, or urban settings.

#4. Tune the brand voice

Clear voice and verbiage can set you apart in a crowded social media landscape. While your brand voice will evolve over time, consistency matters most. A distinct personality helps audiences stay engaged across platforms. To sharpen your voice:

• Use a slider to define your tone spectrum (e.g., 70% professional, 30% playful).
• Create a list of 10-15 “green light” words that reflect your mission (a power glossary).
• Define grammar preferences, including Oxford commas, emoji usage, or selective slang.

#5. Operationalize your designs

Make adoption easy by creating a library of ready-made layouts—social media posts, banners, posters, flyers, business cards, and other templates—designed for quick content input and publishing. “Safe zone” templates for Instagram Reels, Facebook posts, and TikTok ensure UI elements don’t obscure key messaging and are ready for immediate release.

With online graphic design editors like VistaCreate, you can create cohesive branding at scale. Applying brand kit templates turns any layout into a compelling asset in one click, ensuring speed-to-market never compromises quality. Internal slide decks and invoices can follow the same system, extending the brand experience 360 degrees.

#6. Update your brand kit as needed

Evolution is natural, and your brand style is no exception. Use your brand kit actively, but regularly reassess where your company is headed and how market changes may require adjustments. For example, ask your social media manager which elements are hardest to use and address that friction quickly. 

Finally, update your kit whenever your business changes—whether that’s introducing a new color palette for a product launch, adding a typeface for blog content, or expanding into new platforms. After updating, don’t forget to register your brand kit in the online design tool you use (e.g., “brand kit v2.1 – 2026”) to prevent outdated assets from being reused.

Bottom line

Crafting a brand kit doesn’t have to be complicated. Think of it not as a static document, but as a living ecosystem that reflects your visual brand identity. The initial time investment pays off across every post, ad, and email you publish. Whether you build a full system from the start or begin with core elements only, remember that a brand kit is dynamic—and should evolve as your company scales. 

Adobe is making a bigger bet on AI, turning its creative apps into something that feels more like a collaborator than a traditional tool. The latest Adobe Firefly update adds an AI coworker across Photoshop, Express, and Acrobat, letting you describe edits in plain text instead of digging through menus.

At the center of this shift is a new class of AI agents that can carry out tasks for you. You explain what you want, and the system applies those changes using Adobe’s existing tools.

Firefly now acts as a unified environment where generation, editing, and guided input happen in one place. Adobe is clearly moving away from tool-first design toward something that responds more directly to intent.

Chat replaces traditional editing flow

Adobe is bringing these AI agents into Photoshop, Express, and Acrobat so you can turn simple requests into actual edits. Instead of navigating layers, panels, or menus, you describe your goal and let the app handle the execution.

That shift changes how everyday tasks feel. Adjusting an image, refining a layout, or updating a document can now happen through natural language, with the system applying changes and letting you refine them as needed.

You’re still in control, but you spend less time managing the mechanics of the software and more time shaping the result.

Project Moonlight points to what’s next

Adobe is also previewing Project Moonlight, a new interface in private beta that pushes this idea further. It works across apps and helps you move from concept to a finished asset without breaking your flow.

Moonlight can recognize your style and draw from your own assets and libraries, so you’re not starting from zero each time. You guide the direction, and the system builds alongside you as the work evolves.

This is where the AI coworker idea starts to feel real. The system adapts to how you work and supports the process instead of waiting for detailed instructions.

Firefly ties it all together

All of this sits inside Adobe Firefly, which now combines generation, editing, and access to more than 30 AI models in a single environment. You can create images or video, refine them, and compare outputs without jumping between tools.

Different models bring different strengths, whether that’s video, illustration, or photorealism, and you can switch between them depending on what the project needs. New tools like Quick Cut and expanded image controls also tighten the loop between rough drafts and polished results.

The bigger question is how much time this actually saves. If these chat-driven tools reduce friction in real workflows, they could change how creative work gets done day to day.

California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York are leading a group of 20 other states in suing the US Environmental Protection Agency for renouncing its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, The New York Times reports. The lawsuit specifically argues that the EPA’s decision to rescind a 2009 study that determined greenhouse gases are dangerous to public health was illegal. The study, which is the source of what’s called the “Endangerment Finding,” was one of several justifications — along with things like the Clean Air Act — for the agency’s ability to regulate emissions.

Rescinding the finding nullified the EPA’s evidence for things like emissions standards and a variety of other regulations that attempted to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the automotive, coal and oil industries. The Trump administration framed the rollback as a cost-saving measure, but it was also a major blow to the government’s ability to fight climate change. Greenhouse gases, which include things like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, collect in the atmosphere and warm the planet, upsetting weather patterns and negatively impacting the environment. Determining the changes caused by greenhouse gases posed a risk to public health gave the EPA the authority to regulate them under its existing mandate to address air pollution. An authority it could have again, depending on the result of this litigation.

Of course, winning a lawsuit isn’t necessary to restore the EPA’s role in fighting climate change. Congress could do that now by passing a new law. The legal route is just faster, and potentially riskier. The New York Times writes that this new lawsuit was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and could ultimately be combined with an existing lawsuit from environmental groups. Depending on how the case fairs in the lower court, it may eventually be appealed to the US Supreme Court, who could decide on an even more restrictive interpretation of the EPA’s role.

Under President Donald Trump, the EPA has already rolled back clean water rules and attempted to stifle research. The Trump administration has separately tried to undermine the authority of independent agencies like the EPA and FTC, something the Supreme Court has yet to determine to be illegal.