Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc’s Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

While the Steam launch of “Character Limit” isn’t the end of Malcolm’s game development journey, he still has to combat the oddities of promotions and scammers. That, and get the iOS release done.

The Character Limit launch on July 21 was a weird day for a number of reasons. For a start, that it actually happened at all.

When I last left off, I was in a predicament of waiting for Steam’s review process to approve the game on a second attempt, after the first failed on a technicality. Thankfully, instead of waiting for five days, Steam’s support approved the game on Monday, meaning I could release on Tuesday as originally intended.

The actual launch itself was a weird process, timing-wise. While you did have to confirm to Steam the date and time for your intended release and it would be locked in the system two weeks beforehand, it didn’t actually matter.

The system said that a launch could’ve happened earlier if the game was approved. The timing was also useless when it came to the actual launch, because it’s not automatically released.

Instead, the person in charge of the project has to tell SteamWorks multiple times that the game needs to be released. You had to click Release App, then click a second button to Release Right Now, then enter “Release My App” into a text box, followed by clicking “Release Now.”

There is undoubtedly a good reason or two for this process. Especially when a game could cost millions to produce and be especially harmful to the brand if shipped early with bugs.

To me, it felt like a dual-key missile launch on a submarine in a war film, but with much lower stakes.

I was expecting that seeing the game live and for sale in Steam would be an emotional moment. The culmination of all the work and releasing it to the public. Tears and all that.

There were no tears, no massive explosions, no ticker tape parade. It felt about as emotional as buying cat litter on Amazon.

You have to tell Steam four times to release a game.

It probably helped that it was the start of the working day for me here at AppleInsider. I had other things to think about for about eight hours after launch, which probably saved me from repeatedly refreshing the sales data screen.

It’s still the opening week, and for a small game with little typical promotion, there were no expectations of buying a Ferrari. Quite the opposite.

That said, I am glad that it did make some sales. It’s far from stellar, but it’s thankfully not zero either.

I did eventually celebrate the launch by taking Emma to KFC late at night and trying to find a Toblerone. The chicken was nice, but I couldn’t find the chocolate.

Hawking keys

If there was one thing working for AppleInsider has taught me, it’s that if you put something on the Internet, you’re going to get emails. It’s the same for releasing a game, but with a different quality of communication.

In the days just before and following the launch, emails have been coming in as one of three categories.

The first are people promoting their services to get the game in front of news outlets and influencers on YouTube and Twitch. These are paid services, and by the looks of a few of them, don’t really seem that legitimate.

I know that if I had funding for marketing, I would be talking to a few existing firms that can do just that. Well before the launch date too, not after.

The second category is for Steam Curators, that is someone in control of a group that people follow, just dealing with game recommendations. All of whom wanted a copy or four of the game so they could make a “curated review” for their subscribers.

An ancient Twitch account a scammer tried to get a free game key with.

Yes, I understand completely the parallels of publications like AppleInsider talking to companies about review products and so on. The irony is not lost on me.

I know there are probably legitimate curator groups on Steam, but some of the emails seem to be quite questionable in nature. It’s an area to explore in the coming week or so, but the messages asking for keys didn’t help.

The third, and adjacent to the curators, were people trying to get keys and claiming they were streamers. They said they’d stream the game on Twitch, if only they got a key.

The problem here is that I was warned beforehand of people claiming to be influencers doing this, and checked the supposed accounts. They hadn’t streamed on Twitch in ages, with one account’s last recording dated for nine years ago.

Sometimes, you get a feel for something not being right. Sometimes, it’s painfully obvious.

As with any software project, the end is never really the end. It’s a new beginning.

The release of Character Limit on Steam is only one release, as there’s still the work to be done to get it on iOS and iPadOS. I would say most of the work is done, but I still want to make sure it runs properly with TestFlight again before declaring that version live.

The plan for that is for the middle of August. I know that early September is going to be wall-to-wall iPhone coverage, and late August will be preparing for it, so I would want to launch before the circus begins.

At some point, I’ll also have to look at other platforms, as I’ve had queries about Linux and Android versions. I’ll spare the audience of an Apple-centric publication the trials and tribulations of that, but they’re now on the to-do list.

Speaking of to-do lists, I now have multiple to deal with. One is listing bugs to fix before the first update of the game comes out.

A second is a “would be nice to do” list of game improvements and other tasks that aren’t essential or urgent, but I would like to get to at some point. Think adding more languages, more background videos, a way for players to submit “missing” words, and new gameplay modes.

The last list is promotional, to get the game promoted and out in the world. That has included a press release and some social media posts so far, as well as lines for outreach to influencers and streamers.

I may be someone who sees many request emails and press releases in their line of work. It doesn’t mean that I’m any good at doing that sort of thing myself, but I’m going to try anyway.

As it stands, I’ve managed to release an actual game that I made, on Steam, a platform I am very familiar with from years of gaming. The 15-year-old version of me would be over the moon about this.

That same younger me just wouldn’t have understood that the work isn’t over by a long shot.

Europol has flagged 4,340 URLs for removal during a multi-week operation targeting online content linked to “The Com,” a loosely organized network of nihilistic violent extremist groups.

Investigators from nine countries (i.e., Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden) took part in what Europol called “Referral Action Days” between June and July 2026.

The joint action, which ties into the European Commission’s ProtectEU counterterrorism agenda and was organized by Europol’s EU Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU) and Spain’s Intelligence Centre against Terrorism and Organised Crime (CITCO), aimed to disrupt The Com’s online ecosystem, limit nihilistic violent extremism content disseminated online by The Com groups, and generate new investigative leads.

“The Com’s content is laced with coded language and emojis that adults may struggle to decipher, conveying sinister messages that encourage self-harm and the sexual exploitation of minors. [..] The content referenced in this operation includes violent videos and images depicting self-harm, suicide, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), animal cruelty, and violent attacks,” Europol said. “

“Other types of content include videos of violent street attacks, a practice known as ‘manhunt,’ or arson. Additionally, The Com produces manuals or guides covering topics such as grooming, murder, improvised explosives, or ideological viewpoints. These manuals are created by groups to instruct members on methods for committing violent attacks, grooming and (s)extorting vulnerable minors, or conducting doxing and swatting.”

This builds on Project Compass, a yearlong operation launched in January 2025 and led by Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre, which has brought together law enforcement from 28 countries.

As BleepingComputer previously reported in February, that broader effort has resulted in 30 arrests and identified 179 suspects tied to The Com, along with 62 victims.

In January 2025, Europol also published a notification on the rise of online cult communities specifically targeting young people.

What is The Com?

Europol describes The Com (short for Community) as a decentralized network lacking unified ideology, where some factions pursue violent right-wing extremist and accelerationist beliefs.

The Com-affiliated groups recruit and groom victims through social media, messaging apps and gaming platforms, coercing them into self-harm, violence and the production of child sexual abuse material, often through extortion.

“They distribute propaganda on accessible platforms to attract young individuals, funnelling potential members and victims into private forums and chat rooms where radicalisation and victimisation occur. Victims are typically coerced into remaining under the perpetrators’ influence through (s)extortion,” Europol added on Friday.

According to Europol’s February announcement, The Com is organized into multiple subgroups, including:

• Offline Com, which promotes property damage, harming others, and committing acts of terrorism,
• Cyber Com, which orchestrates network intrusions and ransomware attacks,
• (S)extortion Com, which coerces minors into sex crimes and encourages self-harm and suicide,
• 764, another subgroup that surfaced in 2021 and is especially notorious for grooming young people into producing explicit content that is later used for blackmail or shared among members.

Two alleged 764 leaders (20-year-old Prasan Nepal and 21-year-old Leonidas Varagiannis) were arrested in April 2025and are now facing life in prison for operating an international child exploitation ring.

The Com has previously been linked to high-profile ransomware attacks against Las Vegas casino breaches in September 2023 and Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Harrods in April 2025.

Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.

The Picus whitepaper shows how breach and attack simulation tests your SIEM and EDR rules so threats stop slipping by detection.

Get the whitepaper

By testing kids’ physical and mental limits, these toys help children learn where the boundaries of their knowledge lie, and how to transcend them. Take a look at some of our favorite ways to color outside the lines.

Orbita MIDI Color Sequencer

Photograph: Antosh Sergiew

This spinning sequencer is like musical roulette for budding ravers. Place the colored magnets anywhere on the four gray concentric rings, each of which controls a MIDI loop. Then plug the sequencer into a smartphone or computer, connect your favorite music software, and get creative. All four loops run simultaneously, with each magnet representing a different note or sound. You can adjust the pitch and mute individual loops too. Refreshingly mechanical, the Orbita makes visualizing music production child’s play. $458, playtronica.com

Lego Smart Play System Pokémon Sets

Photograph: Antosh Sergiew

By combining a new smart brick with programmable NFC tags and minifigures, kids of all ages can now design and interact with Lego creations like never before. The 2- by 4-stud rechargeable smart brick is packed with a synthesizer, speaker, accelerometer, gyroscope, light and sound sensors, and LEDs. A positioning system can sense orientation between multiple smart bricks. A big bonus: Lego’s Smart Play System works entirely without attention-sucking screens.

Lego’s first Pokémon collab almost crashed the website, so surely the Danes had IT on standby when 12 new Smart Play kits came online. There are two all-in-one kits: Pikachu’s 400-piece Training House and the 751-piece Charizard-Jolteon battle, which include rechargeable smart bricks and NFC tags that can trigger lights, sounds, motion and sensing.

Already got some Smart Play? The 10 other compatible kits, including Mewtwo’s Lab Break and Cubone and Gengar’s Spooky Showdown, have the tags but not the Smart Bricks. $70 and up, lego.com

Stapelstein Rainbow Set

Courtesy of Stapelstein

Interactive adventure play done with style, the Rainbow kit features six stacking stools, a balance board, plus a host of nesting pieces that can combine to be whatever their imagination demands. Stepping-stones, wobble course, color-sorting game, toddler throne, snack tray, spinner, fort barricades or floor-is-lava upgrade. The lightweight toxin-free, 100 percent recyclable EPP pieces are waterproof, wipe clean and strong enough for adults (396 pounds limit), so don’t forget to include grandma. $299, stapelstein.com

KidzLane Electronic Dance Mat

Courtesy of Kidzlane

We can’t promise it will turn Jnr. into Fred Astaire overnight, but this impossibly good value dance mat will get your kids moving and (hopefully) tuckered out. Suitable for ages 6 to 12, it features a built-in speaker, Bluetooth and AUX so you can connect your own favorite songs, four built-in games with five difficulty levels, including a great “Simon Says” mode that gets them thinking as well as boogying. And before you ask, yes, the volume is adjustable, and batteries removable. $19, walmart.com

Takway Sweekar

Courtesy of Takway.AI

Oh good, it’s a reimagined Tamagotchi, but instead of a few beepy-bleeps and button presses to keep it alive, Sweekar has loaded it with generative AI and given it a long-term memory, evolving dialog and “personality.” We’re sure it’ll be fine, and neglect won’t result in a lawsuit when the Robots finally take over, but for now we suggest erring on the side of caution and make sure the kids care for it carefully through Egg, Baby, Teen, and Adult stages. The 89-gram pocket pet also simulates body warmth and breathing, which isn’t creepy at all. $149, takway.ai

Looi Robot

Courtesy of TangibleFuture

LOOI turns your smartphone into a chirpy little tank-like desk robot, using the screen as its face and the camera, mic and processor as its brain. Snap on your phone (minimum iOS 17+, or Android 12+), open the app and, powered by ChatGPT, it can chat, remember preferences, react to touch and gestures, play motion games, avoid desk edges and make funny faces. It also doubles as a 10-watt wireless charger and adjustable phone stand, which makes it marginally more helpful than your last assistant—although it can’t, as yet, make the coffee. $239, looirobot.com

Crocs Super Mario Core Classic Clog

Courtesy of Crocs

As hyped as a Supreme x Louis Vuitton collaboration, just a whole lot more fun, the Crocs Mushroom Kingdom takeover is a joyous celebration of polyethylene vinyl acetate footwear. The Core Classic Clog, available in adult and kids’ sizes features a detailed graphic print with classic in-game items like coins, Super Stars, and Green Shells, while the sole is wrapped in dimensional detailing resembling the green pipes and grassy terrain. And, naturally, each pair comes with Super Mushroom outer rivets, a “?” Block badge on the backstrap, and eight Jibbitz charms featuring Mario and Luigi. $70, crocs.com

Gibson x Loog Les Paul

Courtesy of Loog

Loog has been making fine learn-to-play guitars for more than 10 years, and its intuitive three-string axes make it easier for anyone to learn the basics before transitioning up to a full fretboard. After a successful partnership with Fender, they’ve now teamed up with Gibson to produce a mini electric guitar in either classic SG—putting the young in AC-DC’s Angus Young’s favorite axe—or with the iconic Les Paul curves shown here. And before you ask, these are proper instruments, with a solid poplar body, Canadian neck, rosewood fingerboard, single coil pick-up and 19 finger-friendly 1.8 mm frets. $229, loogguitars.com

Woom Wow Balance Bike

Courtesy of Woom

The perfect buy if your bambino has nailed the art of sitting and standing independently, and you want more chaotic fun and adventure in your life. This self-centering, self-balancing bike is designed for kids as young as 9 months (from 28 to 40 inches in height). It gives them a chance to become the next big name on Red Bull’s MotoGP roster before they’ve even realized that broccoli isn’t actually fun little trees. $199, woom.com

Kibu Headphones

Courtesy of Kibu

Turn kids’ headphones into a brilliant STEM project, with snap-together parts they build before they listen. Kibu’s wired cans are 3D printed from recycled and plant-based materials, use a standard 3.5-mm jack, limit volume to 85 dB, and have a second aux port for daisy-chaining with friends. Every part can be customized, repaired, replaced and eventually recycled, an attention to detail far too rare in adult, let alone kid’s tech. WIRED wishes more grown-up gear followed the same sustainable approach, with gear designed to be understood, and to last. $73, kibu.family

Marvin’s Miniblocks

Courtesy of The Little Marvin

By selling 35 million copies for the Gameboy alone, Tetris proved that a handful of simple shapes could become one of gaming’s most enduring obsessions. Marvin’s Miniblocks gives that idea a preschool-friendly, screen-free reboot with a wooden board, 42 chunky shapes and 10 pattern cards for building, matching, rotating and inventing. It is part puzzle, part construction set, and made from eco-friendly wood with non-toxic paint. There is one important detail missing though. $55, the-littlemarvin.com

HoverAir Aqua

Courtesy of HoverAir

This 34 mph follow-me drone has 10 flight modes, 4K, 100 FPS motion camera and floating waterproof housing making it also the first design capable of take of and landing on water. It weighs under 250 grams, meaning you wont need FAA registration to fly one. The battery has enough for 23 minutes of flying time, and there’s 128 GB built-in storage. Plus, with a level 7 wind resistance, it’s happy to fly in gusts of up to 38 mph, making it the ideal companion for capturing solo foiling, windsurfing and sailing follow-me footage. $1,299, hoverair.com

Modu Balance Track

Courtesy of MODU

Think of this as a jumbo-sized Meccano set, with 17-pieces including four FSC-certified birch wood balance beams (27.6 inches long), four chunky blocks (7.9 x 7.9 x 3.9 inches) made from recycled EPP foam, eight pegs and an idea booklet. Designed for ages from 3 to 8, it’s great for imaginative play, coordination, construction, and problem solving. It’s also surprisingly good value for a kit of this scale. And when the kids finally get bored of balancing, they can be repurposed into a shelving unit. $203, modutoy.com

Timex Time Machines 29mm Dinosaur Watch

Courtesy of Timex

Tells time in any era, not just the Jurassic. Made just for kids, Timex’s 29mm dinosaur-themed watch boasts an easy-to-read dial, minute markers and adjustable elastic band. The quartz movement means accuracy is assured, while the front glass is actually polymer, so it’s not just got good impact resistance, it can be easily polished to remove scuffs should playtime get rowdy. One last boon: all of Timex’s kids’ watches come with a 100-percent worry-free replacement plan, so don’t fret about lost or broken watches. $49, timex.com

UNO Canvas x MoMA Card Game

Courtesy of Mattel

This is the latest in a series of creative collaborations from Mattel Toys, bringing together the world’s best-selling card game and a selection of the most iconic artists from MoMa’s permanent collection. Featuring Sonia Delaunay, Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian, Claude Monet, Liubov Popova and Vincent van Gogh, it’s a great limited-edition update to the 52-year-old game. And before you ask, sadly the Dutch post-impressionist painter still stacks the +4. $25, mattel.com

Blipblox After Dark

Courtesy of Blipblox

Are you frustrated that your kids don’t ask you enough about your love for The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, and why Talk Talk’s The Party’s Over is the seminal synth album of 1982? Maybe you can Sparks their imagination with this brilliantly inclusive designed-for-all-ages synth. It comes pre-loaded with 300 built-in melodies and 100 drum sounds, meaning you (sorry, they) can get modulating, pitch-shifting and oscillating straight out the box. The built-in speaker and AA battery power make it easy to use anywhere, but the MIDI input and a quarter-inch output mean it can plug into “proper” gear later. $219, blipblox.com

Dex Camera

Courtesy of Dex

Take a photo and Dex identifies what’s in the frame, then teaches the word in one of 16 languages. It can turn pictures into flash cards and use spoken stories to, you know, make learning fun. $249, dex.camera

Travelers know the routine all too well. A laptop brick that eats half a bag, a phone charger that never quite keeps up, and a tablet adapter that somehow always gets left behind. Anker’s 715 Charger, priced at $19.99 (was $30), also called the Nano II 65W, collapses that pile into one small cube that still delivers serious speed.

This compact charger, measuring 1.65 inches by 1.42 inches by 1.74 inches and weighing just shy of 4 ounces, fits nicely in the palm of your hand or easily slides inside a pair of pants without causing any bulge. The foldable prongs keep the item very flat when you’re packing it away, so you don’t have to worry about it grabbing cords or scratching up any other gear you’ve brought along. Compared to a conventional 61-watt laptop charger, this one packs a punch in a considerably smaller compact, taking up approximately 58% less space while still providing enough power for most people’s on-the-go demands.

Anker Nano USB C Charger,65W GaN II PPS Fast Compact Foldable Charger for MacBook Pro, Galaxy, Dell…

• The Charger You Need: Say goodbye to your old power bricks. Anker 715 Charger (Nano II 65W) has the power you need to fast charge your phone, tablet…
• Rapid and Effective Power Delivery: Experience the thrill of speed with the Anker 715 Charger. It boasts the ability to power a 2020 MacBook Air in…
• Petite and Travel-ready Design: The Anker Nano II charger outshines traditional 61W USB-C chargers by being 58% smaller. Its foldable plug is a…

A single USB-C port delivers the full 65 watts. That’s more than enough to charge a MacBook Air from empty to full in under 2 hours, or a 13-inch MacBook Pro up to its maximum supported speed. It will charge tablets and phones juast as fast. When you charge an iPhone 17e, it will charge to 50% in about one-third the time it would take using Apple’s stock 5-watt charger. And if you’re using a recent Samsung flagship, you’ll enjoy Super Fast Charging as long as you have the proper cable. Android phones with a built-in Programmable Power Supply (PPS) provide more precise voltage management, allowing them to charge at the fastest possible rate.

Inside this small package is Anker’s GaN II technology. Gallium nitride components can switch far faster than conventional silicon components, allowing Anker to reduce the number of transformers and capacitors while still keeping things cool even when they’re being utilized hard. The end result is a thick, efficient package that remains calm even when pushed hard over an extended period of time.

It’ll work with all of the usual suspects: MacBook Air and Pro 13-inch models, Dell XPS 13 machines, ThinkPads, Microsoft Surface Book 2, recent iPads, iPhones from the 8 model onwards, Galaxy S and Note series, Google Pixels, and even the occasional Nintendo Switch, and with universal voltage input, you won’t have to buy a separate charger for international trips; simply get the right plug adapter and you’re good to go.