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 was actually pretty fun. Once you understand the theme, the answers are easy to unscramble — a rare treat for Strands. 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: Oozing

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Words that sound alike.

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:

• SOUR, SITE, SITES, BITE, BITES, CITE, CITES, FUSS, CUSS, YOUR, HOUR, HOURS, ECHO

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:

• FUSE, BLUES, BREWS, SHOES, CHOOSE, CRUISE, SCHMOOZE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is RHYMETIME. To find it, start with the R that’s three letters to the right on the top row, and wind down.

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.

If you’ve dabbled with premium laptops before, there’s about a 100% chance you’ve seen Asus’s ZenBooks around. These laptops from the Taiwanese maker have served professionals in need of respectable power without carrying a brick-like gaming laptop. I’ve personally tested many of these devices, and every single one of my reviews has ended with something like “Oh, this laptop is great and worth the recommendation.” That’s because Asus knows its target audience and caters to their needs almost perfectly. And if you’re in the market for an ultra-premium laptop, Asus has just announced something for you: the ZenBook S14 UX5406.

I’ve been using a basic MacBook Air M1 for the past five years. It’s served me well, and, despite my years of testing laptops, I’ve only once felt the urge that it would be amazing if that review unit were mine. The laptop I’m talking about is the ExpertBook Ultra. Shifting focus a bit towards the product in hand, it’s been three weeks since I switched to the S14, and truth be told, it doesn’t put a foot wrong. Maybe it’s the gorgeous design, the stunning display, the rapid performance, or just a mix of all three, but the ZenBook S14 makes me want one. But is it worth it for your workflow? This review will answer that for you.

Design & Hardware

Design is a very subjective matter, but if there’s one thing we all can expect from Asus, it’s that these guys know how to create beautiful machines. Sure, you must know the cold, aluminum touch by now, which is used by most premium laptops, including my beloved MacBook. Well, Asus has formulated something they call Ceraluminum. It’s essentially aluminum with a ceramic coating on top.

It’s hard to describe it in words, but I’m going to try anyway. The Asus ZenBook S14’s top feels like that high-end matte marble flooring you might see in stores. It feels very premium to the touch, with a unique patterned finish I’ve never seen before. Every time I took it to a coffee shop, I noticed people looking at just what I was using. I’m also a fan of the subtle ZenBook branding that’s very sophisticated. While you don’t have to worry about fingerprints messing up the finish, oily fingers will leave hard-to-remove marks, so please wipe off the Doritos dust before using the laptop. You do get a couple of color options, including a grey and white.

Open up the laptop, and the ceraluminum finish makes way for a polished aluminum keyboard deck, and I’m a fan. The S14 carries the same sophistication here. Above the deck sits what looks like a speaker grille, though it’s actually part of the cooling system, whose shape reminded me of the cheesegrater Mac Pro (reference only for ages 15 and up).

While the color options might be a bit boring, it’s important to remember that the ZenBook S14 is for the type of person who’s giving a presentation at noon, closing another client at lunchtime, and maybe flying to another country for an urgent meeting, in other words, a busy professional. So, another important thing for any such person is portability. The ceraluminum inclusion made me think the ZenBook S14 might weigh a lot, but Asus has managed to limit the weight to just 1.2 kg, which is really good for a laptop with crazy internals. This meant I could carry the S14 to different coffee shops without hurting my back.

I also wasn’t worried about damaging the S14 in my backpack because it’s a durable machine. Of course, I didn’t toss the laptop intentionally. However, I did check for chassis flex. On the keyboard deck, there wasn’t any, and even the top stayed in shape after I applied some serious force.

As far as ports are concerned, Asus has almost everyone covered. On the S14, you get two Thunderbolt 4 ports (for charging and display), a full-size HDMI 2.1 port, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, and a headphone-microphone combo jack. The only minor gripe I have is the fact that both USB-C charging ports are on the left side, which can force you to do some cable gymnastics.

Keyboard & Trackpad

A good keyboard is the bare minimum for a professional laptop, let alone a ZenBook. As a surprise to absolutely no one, the ZenBook S14’s keyboard is just great. The layout is standard, meaning I didn’t spend a week trying to get used to a special key. The actuation energy is slightly higher than that of my MacBook, which provides a more tactile experience. The feedback is solid overall yet not very loud, which is ideal when working in an office. The keyboard is also backlit, with different brightness levels to choose from. Since I got the gray variant, the key lettering contrasts well with the lighting.

When I was reviewing the Asus ExpertBook Ultra, I just fell in love with that haptic trackpad, wishing every laptop incorporated the same. Well, I’m also the first to admit that not everyone loves a haptic trackpad. There are people who’d take the physical click over fake ones. And if you’re one of those (I’m not judging), then the S14’s trackpad is made for you. Never have I ever felt mechanical clicks more sophisticated than here. The clicks are precise, and the feedback is just awesome.

Display & Camera

Unlike smartphones, where almost all displays are the same, Asus has held a high place in my display rankings. After all, these guys were one of the first to bring OLED tech to laptops. And the ZenBook S14 is no different. It features, dare I say, a perfectly spec’d 14-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) Lumina OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. At a response time of just 0.2ms, everything feels quick and snappy. As expected, the video-watching experience of the S14 is simply lovely.

Colors pop off the screen with a punchy vibrancy while still keeping natural skin tones. The details are crisp enough to help you make out the fine facial features. Even the HDR performance is stellar, with the panel reaching a peak brightness of 1,100 nits. I had no problems working with the laptop outdoors, though, by outdoors, I mean inside a cool cafe, since only a lunatic can sit outside in the 45-degree Indian summer heat. Just be careful of the reflections, though, as the glossy panel does catch a lot of light.

All that being said, Asus hasn’t just designed the S14’s display for movie watchers. For creators, the S14’s panel covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color space. It’s VESA CERTIFIED Display HDR True Black 1000 certified, and the colors are PANTONE validated. The 16:10 aspect ratio gives you more vertical space than a typical laptop display, meaning you can fit a few extra spreadsheet columns without having to scroll. Still, the best part of the S14’s display is that the trackpad isn’t the only way to interact with it. It’s also a touchscreen. Honestly, touchscreens on laptops make a lot of sense for people on the go and for employees like me. The best compliment I can give is that after the review period, I accidentally touched my MacBook’s display, thinking it would do something.

The 1080p webcam is fairly standard. While it won’t break any image-quality benchmarks, the videos it took during conferencing were decent, with good-enough sharpness and okayish colors. It also supports Windows Hello, so signing in to your laptop is quick and easy.

Performance

A professional laptop needs to pack a punch in terms of performance. It should not only keep up with your needs but also have ample juice in the bank to ramp things up if needed. The Asus ZenBook S14 ships with the newest Panther Lake Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor. It includes 16 cores: 4 performance, 8 efficiency, and 4 ultra-efficiency. The processor is coupled with an Intel iGPU, up to 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, whose read and write speeds we measured at 6972.59 MB/s and 3367.89 MB/s, respectively.

As you might have guessed, the everyday performance of the Asus ZenBook S14 is nothing to complain about. Apps launch instantly, without a loading delay. The RAM is enough to keep over 25 Chrome tabs while also running Spotify in the background. My daily workload, which is mainly on Chrome, was no match for the Core Ultra 9’s mammoth capabilities. So to properly fire up the processor, I first installed Da Vinci Resolve and tried editing a reel. Truth be told, I’m not the best editor, nor do I know how to add effects, but with color grading and multiple 4K streams, the laptop handled everything well without slowing down. For all my programmer friends, don’t worry. I installed VSCode and ran a few Python programs for fun. The result was lightning-quick runtimes.

Since this is a review, and my workflow can only paint a certain picture, I also ran a series of benchmarks to put the Asus ZenBook S14 against its peers. Starting with CineBench R24, the laptop scored 960 in the multi-core test and 125 in the single-core test. For some much-needed context, that’s almost double the CineBench score of last year’s ThinkPad X Carbon. In PCMark 10, the Core Ultra 9 managed to reach 9321 points.

Coming to graphics performance, there’s something I need to mention: don’t expect to play AAA games on the ZenBook S14’s integrated graphics. If you are, I think you’d be better off with a Zephyrus G14. Still, if you’re interested in a fun pastime, then yes, the ZenBook S14 has enough power, given that it scored 4,342 points in 3DMark’s Time Spy test. To test those capabilities, I first fired up F1 25, where on medium-high settings on 1080p resolution, I got somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 FPS. The same frames followed in games like GTA V, but at medium settings. In eSports titles like Valorant and Rocket League, the laptop easily delivered over 100 FPS on high settings.

Battery Life & Speakers

Since the ZenBook is for people on the go, battery life has always been really good. Fortunately, I can say the same thing about the S14. With Panther Lake’s efficiency gains and the 77Wh lithium polymer cell, I could easily go through a full workday with some charge to spare. In real numbers, that’s about 11 hours of Chrome, watching YouTube, editing some photos, and spreadsheets. Charging is handled with a fast 65W Type-C adapter, which can take the battery from 0%-50% in about 40 minutes.

For as long as I can remember, speakers have been an afterthought on Windows laptops. The only laptop that I remember having amazing speakers is the Asus ExpertBook Ultra. It has set the bar pretty high, and while the ZenBook S14 doesn’t quite match that level of quality, it’s still really good. They are positioned underneath the keyboard and sound louder than my MacBook. The treble is on point, and the mids, which are where most of the dialogue lives, sound clear. Even at higher volumes, the highs don’t screech the ears, which is great news for movie watchers.

Verdict

At a starting price of ₹179,990 or ₹249,990 for the unit I tested, the Asus ZenBook S14 trundles in the very premium Windows laptop market, which has historically been dominated by the likes of Dell XPS and ThinkPads. Honestly, the S14 doesn’t put a foot wrong. The ceraluminum design is unique in a way that screams premium while still being sophisticated. The display can best be described as near-perfect, with insane levels of color and brightness. Beyond that, no amount of work can tax the Core Ultra 9 processor, and the battery life comfortably lasts a full working day. Not to mention the speakers, which have a really good soundstage.

“I’m just not a good writer.”

It’s a phrase teachers hear too often, usually at the exact moment a writing task is assigned. For many students, the leap from understanding a concept to putting it on paper feels like an impossible hurdle. Writing is often treated as a final “reveal” of learning at the end of a unit — potentially a high-pressure task that can feel overwhelming for students who haven’t been given a clear roadmap.

Educators are increasingly recognizing that to help students succeed, they have to move beyond simply assigning writing and start explicitly teaching it.

To explore how to make this shift, EdSurge caught up with Dr. Barrie Olson, vice president of reading curriculum and instruction at Curriculum Associates. Drawing on her experience as a literacy designer and former college professor, Olson discusses why students struggle with the demands of writing and how a “backward design” approach can transform writing instruction in the classroom.

EdSurge: We’ve seen a major shift toward research-based, explicit reading instruction over the past decade. Is writing on a similar trajectory? What does strong instruction look like in practice?

Olson: The research base around writing is clear: Students become stronger writers when instruction is explicit, structured and grounded in knowledge-building content. So when we think about strong writing instruction, it is not about assigning more essays; it’s really about directly teaching the craft of writing.

We have to clarify the final product to bring that necessary focus and coherence to instruction. Each lesson across a unit should move students incrementally closer to that final writing task.

What are the most common reasons students struggle with writing, and what do those challenges look like in real classrooms?

It’s important to remember that writing is one of the most cognitively demanding things that students do in a classroom. Writing asks students to generate ideas, organize those ideas, select evidence, construct sentences and monitor conventions — all at the same time. For many students, that cognitive load can feel overwhelming.

I think a lot of writing struggles stem from gaps in foundational writing skills. So students may not have had enough structured practice to organize their thinking, or they may struggle to express ideas orally, which, if you think about it, is just going to make it that much harder for them to then get it down on paper.

For teachers looking to strengthen writing instruction, what first step makes the biggest difference?

Writing is one of the most cognitively demanding things that students do in a classroom.— Dr. Barrie Olson

The most powerful starting point is backward design. It starts not with “What is the teacher doing with the student?” but with the teacher asking, “What do I want students to be able to produce at the end of this unit? Is it a literary analysis? Is it an evidence-based argument? Is it an explanatory essay? And then what kind of thinking do I want to see from my students?” Once that endpoint is clear, teachers can plan a coherent sequence of lessons that build the necessary skills step by step.

Writing prompts play a central role in instruction. What makes a writing prompt truly effective for students?

What I always tell people is that the quality of student writing is determined by the quality of the prompt. Are we giving them the information they need to be successful at this task? We see people who want to use shorter prompts or less complex ones. They think it’s easier when, in fact, vague prompts increase the cognitive load for students because they are left guessing.

Clear prompts make instruction and assessment stronger because they can be aligned with explicit teaching. A well-designed prompt might feel hard, but it sets these students up for success because it is transparent about expectations. Any writing prompt should require students to return to the text, to quote, analyze and explain, which reinforces close reading skills while strengthening writing.

Even with strong prompts, writing can feel overwhelming. How can teachers scaffold tasks without oversimplifying?

When we talk about scaffolding writing, the key is chunking complexity. It is also starting much earlier than most people realize. Work doesn’t begin the day that students are told, “Hey, start your essay.” It begins on the first day of the unit. The key is not lowering the bar. The scaffolds and progression make rigorous writing achievable for all students.

The most powerful starting point is backward design. It starts not with “What is the teacher doing with the student?” but with the teacher asking, “What do I want students to be able to produce at the end of this unit?”— Olson

These scaffolds not only help students get where they need to be and give them a clear sense of purpose, but they also send a really important message: Learning involves collecting information, layering it onto what we already know and then communicating what we’ve learned.

Why is it important to teach reading and writing together, and how can teachers integrate them in daily instruction?

Reading and writing are reciprocal processes. When students analyze a text’s structure, an author’s argument or use of evidence, they’re building a blueprint for their own writing. Teaching reading and writing together makes literacy instruction more efficient and impactful because writing becomes a tool for thinking. It’s a cycle: Stronger reading leads to stronger writing, and stronger writing helps students defend their thinking and deepen comprehension.

I want to walk into a classroom that’s loud because kids are so excited about what they’re learning that they can’t keep it in. Writing gives them a way to leave a permanent record of their thinking.

YouTube officially announced that its in-app video sharing and messaging feature is now rolling out to the US, UK, Brazil, and Singapore, bringing the total number of supported countries to 40.

The feature is available to users aged 18 and older who are logged into a YouTube channel. The rollout is gradual, so it may not appear in your app immediately.

How to DM on YouTube?

Once the feature is enabled for you, a messaging icon appears in the top right corner of the app. You can also share any video or Short directly from the Share button while watching.

The catch is that starting a conversation is not as simple as searching for someone. You have to send an invite link first, and that link must go out through a third-party app like WhatsApp, iMessage, or SMS. The other person then accepts the invite and gets added to your YouTube contacts. This extra step is designed to prevent spam and unwanted messages.

Once connected, you can send text messages freely, react to content in real time, unsend messages by long-pressing them, delete entire conversations, and block or report contacts if needed. The only media you can share inside the chat is YouTube content, including videos, livestreams, and Shorts. No images, GIFs, or files allowed.

Why is YouTube bringing messaging back now?

YouTube had a direct messaging feature in 2017, but it was quietly killed off in 2019. Now, it’s back once again in a much bigger way.

The feature has already been available in over 30 European countries since March 2026. YouTube says the positive response from countries where the feature was already live drove the decision to expand. Recently, the platform also added three new podcast features, but they are only for Premium subscribers.

Earlier this year, FIFA named YouTube a preferred partner for experiencing the World Cup 2026. On Wednesday, the next step in this partnership was announced, with the inaugural YouTube FIFA Creator Cup. It’s an exhibition match that’ll feature popular content creators from the platform, as well as athletes and celebrities. It’ll take place in New York City on July 12, ahead of the FIFA World Cup Final.

The Creator Cup is the latest step in FIFA’s moves to broaden soccer’s appeal through creator-involved content, potentially reaching the platform’s digital audience. The creators, athletes and celebrities competing in the match will be announced closer to the date.

Being a FIFA preferred partner means YouTube will, for the first time ever, broadcast unique World Cup-themed coverage — including the ability for viewers to stream the first 10 minutes of each game live on approved creators’ channels. 

The roster of approved creators includes: Anwar Jibawi, Ara y Fer, Ashley Alexander, Celine Dept, Courtreezy, Deestroying, Haley Kalil, Horchata Soto, Howieazy, Jeenie Weenie, Jenny Hoyos, Jesser, Kelly Wakasa, Kika Kim, KYLECTRIX, Kwak Yoongy, Max the Meat Guy, Neagle, Noor Stars, The Sidemen, Sonrixs, TokaiOnAirRYO, Viniblogger and Zhong.

According to the platform, these creators have collectively amassed more than 350 million subscribers, all specializing in different content niches from sports analysis to food features, social challenges and travel videos. This means you’ll have an array of options to choose from for unique programming featuring your favorite YouTube personalities, all while still getting your World Cup fix.

A YouTube spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to our request for further comment.

Algorithms. Beauty filters. Endless scrolling.

The case over “social media addiction” against Meta and Google in a California courtroom ultimately came down to these elements, legal experts say, and what a jury found was negligence on social media companies’ part when designing apps where tweens and teens would come to spend roughly one-fifth of their day.

Joseph McNally, former federal prosecutor and director of Emerging Torts and Litigation at McNicholas & McNicholas in California, says jurors agreed with the novel legal argument that Meta and Google were negligent in their design of Instagram and YouTube, respectively, contributing to the mental health problems of the plaintiff. Parent companies of Snapchat and TikTok settled with the plaintiffs before the trial.

McNally and other experts tell EdSurge the verdict will affect thousands of similar cases and influence how tech companies roll out their features — and that the legal tussle over where liability falls when it comes to youth mental health isn’t over yet. With the social media giants vowing to appeal, the case could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Email Evidence

The impact left by the presentation of internal company emails was undeniable, McNally says. Internal Meta communications showed that employees raised alarms about the potential harm to teen girls posed by a beauty filter. Documents also showed they knew that users much younger than 13 — the minimum age required for sign up — were on their platforms, he adds.

“They looked the other way because — the plaintiffs argued — they had a long-term benefit, long-term value of hooking those users early,” McNally says. “I think that the emails painted a picture of a company whose own employees were raising concerns about features in the product, and the plaintiff effectively used those emails to show that they knew about the risk of the product.”

“Addictive” Design

If Meta and Google had settled, the court wouldn’t have had cause to grapple with the legal question of whether social media companies can be held liable for harm caused by their design. But from the defense’s perspective, tech companies had been solidly protected by Section 230 in the past, explains Princess Uchekwe, corporate attorney and founder of The Chief Counsel in New York. That’s the part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that shields websites and online platforms from being sued over content posted by users.

Just one day before the California verdict, a New Mexico jury found Meta liable in a $375 million consumer protection lawsuit over its failure to protect children from social media harm on its platforms.

“What the lawyers for the plaintiffs were arguing is, essentially, it’s not the content that we have a problem with,” Uchekwe says, “It’s the fact that when people use your platform, you have implemented certain features that make it almost impossible for people to leave. You can scroll into the bottomless pit of hell on Instagram, and nothing ever tells you, ‘Maybe you should pause.’”

The Appeal of an Appeal

The $6 million in damages is a drop in the bucket for the two social media giants, but McNally says there are potential benefits to appealing the ruling anyway. There are thousands more consumer lawsuits against social media companies around the country, with school districts joining as plaintiffs.

One is that an appellate court might find that the long-time protections that social media companies have relied on should have come into play. The verdict barreled through the defenses raised by Section 230, which protects platforms from claims of harm caused by third-party content. It’s a policy that makes a free and open internet possible.

“[Section] 230 has resulted in the dismissal of hundreds of lawsuits over the years where they would’ve otherwise faced hundreds of millions of dollars in liability,” McNally says. “An appeal [based on] Section 230, which is a federal statute, could make its way up to the Supreme Court, who would have the final word on the scope. [If the] court of appeals remanded it back to the trial court and said, ‘Look, Section 230 applies,’ it would essentially bar these claims [of harm caused by the design].”

Uchekwe says failure to win an appeal could be “almost devastating” for tech companies due to the sheer amount of damages they could have to pay across thousands of similar lawsuits, along with the cost of restructuring how their apps function. That could mean rethinking features like targeted algorithms, the ability to endlessly scroll and notifications that draw users back into the app.

“Not only social media companies,” Uchekwe says, “all tech companies that have implemented things like that, especially if they have children as a base, are going to have to start reconsidering.”

First Amendment Question

There’s also a First Amendment case to be made, McNally adds. Some legal experts, including UC Berkeley law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, argue that the “addictive” algorithms that came under fire during the trial are protected free speech. If that argument succeeds on appeal, it could stop the legal cases arguing product liability in their tracks.

“If the Supreme Court overturned it based on Section 230 and the First Amendment, it’s unlikely there’s going to be a new trial. It would likely be dismissed,” McNally says. “I won’t say that with certainty, but the prospects of dismissal would be pretty good for the defendants.”

Ripple Effect

McNally says the fact that a jury ruled Meta and Google’s app features were “unreasonably unsafe for its users” creates challenges for them in the swaths of similar lawsuits they’re facing. Plaintiffs in those cases still must prove a direct link between the social media companies and the harm they’re alleging.

“I think it’s going to result in some cases probably moving closer to settlement, but in all those cases, I think that the defendants are going to be looking closely at the causation issue,” McNally says. “There’s probably other cases out there where the evidence of causation is not as strong, and those cases may be harder for a plaintiff to get across the finish line.”

Uchekwe predicts that if the verdict sticks, tech companies — especially those with users who are under 18 — will be forced to retool their app features to encourage users to spend less time on their platforms. That could hurt the companies’ ad revenue and their ability to gather data on users.

“Undoing some of those things may decrease their bottom line, but I’m not sure it will do it to the extent that it’s detrimental to their revenue,” Uchekwe says. “If you weigh the benefits of putting these safeguards in for children versus your revenue, I never think that your profit should come at the expense of a generation of people.”