Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answer and Help for July 6 #490
Today's NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one. The category offers some creative answers, and once you understand the theme, the unscrambling comes easily. 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: My hero!
If that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Marvel and DC.
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:
PEST, PETS, PITH, BILE, SUED, POWER, BITE, LIGHT, TOPS, SPOT, GENT, FEED, FEET, RENT, RENTS
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:
SPEED, FLIGHT, HEALING, STRENGTH, INVISIBILITY
Today's Strands spangram
The completed NYT Strands puzzle for July 6, 2025, #490.
NYT/Screenshot by CNET
Today's Strands spangram is SUPERPOWER. To find it, look for the S that's four letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Geek Tyrant
40 minutes ago
- Geek Tyrant
Jared Leto Went Full Method for TRON: ARES and Jeff Bridges Didn't Play Along — GeekTyrant
Jared Leto is no stranger to immersive Method acting, fully transforming into his character for Disney's Tron: Ares . According to Empire Magazine, he remained in character on and off set throughout the entire shoot. Director Joachim Rønning even said that interacting with Leto required a bit of roleplaying on his part too. The filmmaker explained: 'He would come on set and not talk to anyone, which to some cast members could be intimidating, but that's what he wanted. That's what he used, to play the character. 'When I spoke to him, I'd need to go into a role of some sort too. As Master Control, Leto's Ares is like the general of the Grid, so I would treat him like that. When he'd come on to set we'd all straighten up a bit.' Leto, who plays Ares, an elite Program created by the Dillinger Corporation, asked castmates to refer to him only by his character's name. That sounds so annoying, and while most people went along with it… Jeff Bridges did not. Bridges, reprising his role as digital-world pioneer Kevin Flynn, had his own way of keeping things grounded. When asked if he followed Leto's name rule, Bridges responded: 'Since I'm Flynn, who created that whole world, I figured that I could call him whatever I wanted to. I respected his desire to be called Ares, and not have to switch back and forth, but as Flynn I felt sort of special, so on set I called him 'Air.' Flynn's above the whole thing.' In typical Leto fashion, the performance wasn't just psychological, it was physical as well. The actor described the intensity of wearing the heavy, futuristic suit: 'It's hard not to be immersed when your suit weights 40 lb. That'll put you right in the sweet spot. It was painful. But I loved it. I was always happy to be in that suit. 'And that dictates the way you move, the way you hold your body, the way you walk. So a lot of the character was in the suit. You can't put that suit on and not feel like a warrior from the future.' Tron: Ares picks up years after Tron: Legacy , and introduces cool new twist as Ares is sent from the digital world into the real one, marking humanity's first true contact with artificial intelligence. The cast also includes Greta Lee, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, and Cameron Monaghan. Will Leto's performance match the intensity of his prep? We'll find out when Tron: Ares hits theaters October 10.
Fast Company
40 minutes ago
- Fast Company
How Expensify landed primo placement in Brad Pitt's blockbuster movie ‘F1'
From its first trailer, it was crystal clear that Apple was serious about making its blockbuster ode to car racing as realistic as possible. It was shot in and around an actual Formula One season. Legendary driver Lewis Hamilton was a producer and consultant. And Brad Pitt's fictional F1 team had a large collection of very real brand partners and sponsors. One of if not the most visible is expense management software brand Expensify. It's on the car, it's on the helmet, it's emblazoned across Brad Pitt's chest. Damson Idris's character actually shoots an Expensify commercial in the film. Idris also showed up to the Met Gala in the racing suit. This is 1,000-horsepower product placement. On this episode of Brand New World, I talk to Expensify's chief financial officer Ryan Schaffer, and Hannes Ciatti, founder and head creative at ad agency Alto, who give me a look under the hood of how the brand got such a prominent role in what is shaping up to be Apple's first hit film. Schaffer says that the brand is almost omnipresent in the film by nature of its placement as a F1 sponsor, but that the level of exposure around the film was unexpected. Things like the Don Tolliver/Doja Cat music video, or the fact the Expensify logo pops up in every other brand sponsor's promo materials, have made it already worth the investment. 'We have 20 companies right now promoting our logo. Other companies much larger than ours are promoting our logo, not on purpose, but we can't help but be there by nature of this sponsorship. Heineken's running a spot we're in, and we've never spoken to them.' Industry debrief We recorded this episode in late June, as most of the advertising, marketing, and brand industry was fresh off the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. That's where brands, marketers, ad agencies, tech companies, platforms, entertainment, sports, or anyone who is part of the brand world ecosystem lands in the South of France to celebrate the previous year and make deals for the months ahead. To make sense of it all, or at least a good portion of it, I called up Tim Nudd, the creativity editor at Advertising Age, and a journalist who's been covering and commenting on this industry for longer than almost anyone. Inside scoops, gossip, or just good stories, Nudd and I talked about what impressed him most, surprised him, and what he's hearing we can expect from major brands heading into the second half of the year. Check it out here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
Don't Miss This Iconic Conspiracy Thriller That's Now Streaming on Netflix
We may be past the era of Peak TV, but it's always fun to look back at the plethora of shows that hit television, propelled unknown actors to superstardom, and dominated the conversation. There are so many good ones, with obvious examples like Lost, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. When Vince Gilligan's hit drug drama came to an end in 2013, I was left wondering what series would capture the cultural zeitgeist next. I never thought it would be a show about the internet, of all things, but it was. And it was brilliant. The lead of the series was a relatively unknown character actor who took on the central role of the flawed, neurodivergent hacker genius who gets sucked into a shadow government conspiracy. It was a series that dominated the conversation week in and week out. It was lifted up by solid performances, relevant themes, slick writing and epic world-building, and it regularly kept me on the edge of my seat. The program I am talking about is an Emmy-winner, a game-changer and one of the best thrillers to ever hit television. Now, for the first time ever in the United States, it is available to stream in full on Netflix. This is Mr. Robot. Read more: Netflix Review: Our Top Pick in a Sea of Streaming Choices Rami Malek plays Elliot Alderson in the hacker drama Mr. Robot. USA Network "Hello, friend," Rami Malek's hacker antihero Elliot Alderson says in the opening moments of the pilot episode. He's talking to the audience. But moreover, I took it to heart that he was talking to me. As someone who related to his antisocial, black hoodie-wearing, outcast vibe, it felt as if Elliot was the TV embodiment of me -- if my goth outcast phase of the '90s and '00s never ended. Without getting too into the weeds here, Mr. Robot follows Elliot, a computer programmer who works for a giant company, named E-Corp (or Evil Corp, depending on who you ask) by day and flexes his chops as a hacker at night. He gets recruited by a mysterious Anonymous-like organization that wants to crash corporate America. The only issue? He works for the company at the top of the greedy corporate food chain. That's the nutshell explanation but there's more going on here than that. Add in a V for Vendetta-style anarchist cult, a mysterious mentor figure (conveniently named Mr. Robot) and a complicated mental health struggle and you have one heck of a layered onion to unpeel. Mr. Robot is an absolute banger of a TV show. It was different from anything else on television (and pretty much, still is). It was clear from the jump that this series was going to move the needle; it was a programming paradigm shift and it had a lot to say. Christian Slater plays Mr. Robot opposite Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot. USA Network Christian Slater plays Mr. Robot, whose recognizable cadence and smirky, sardonic delivery make Elliot's sidekick a compelling character who can be charismatic and abhorrent in the same breath. Cocky, confident, and a bit sociopathic, Slater's Mr. Robot is the antithesis of Malek's Elliot. Their relationship dynamic is reminiscent of the one between Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden and Edward Norton's Jack in David Fincher's 1999 cult classic, Fight Club. Mr. Robot explores a slew of heavy themes that can be tough to stomach. It's the rare occurrence where the use of voice-over narration elevates the whole story instead of feeling like a storytelling shortcut. Elliot regularly addresses the viewer and his narration is never ham-fisted. Carly Chaikin as Darlene and Rami Malek as Elliot in the hacker drama Mr. Robot. USA Network In fact, Malek is on another level here. Emotionally resonant, intense, vulnerable -- his range runs the gamut -- and he's simply enthralling as Elliot. As his world unravels and he's forced to question the chaos happening around him, he regularly breaks the fourth wall to talk with us at home -- which is welcoming and unnerving -- and invites us deeper into his reality. In the series' opening moments, all it took was hearing him say, "Hello, friend," and I was fully invested in the slippery slope of insanity that followed. Mac Quayle's Emmy-winning, techno-laden score kept me nodding my head, even during the show's twistiest twists. Rami Malek as Elliot and Joey Bada$$ as Leon in Mr. Robot. USA Network Slater and Malek are the powerhouses here, and their characters' storylines are the lifeblood of Mr. Robot. The supporting players also bring their A-games. Carly Chaikin, Portia Doubleday, Martin Wallström, BD Wong, Michael Cristofer and Joey Bada$$ deliver memorable performances that succeed in building out Esmail's sleek yet bleak world. The aforementioned hip-hop artist is an absolute delight. Recently, I wrote about FX's Legion and the ways in which that Marvel series pushed the envelope with what can be done on basic cable. Esmail did the exact same thing with Mr. Robot (on the USA Network, no less) by infusing style elements into the city streets and cold buildings, reminiscent of the aesthetic the Wachowskis brought to The Matrix. Elliot (go with me here) can even be viewed as a Neo but without all the supernatural sci-fi minutiae that came with that story. As kooky and bizarre as things get, Esmail manages to keep things grounded and believable. His attention to authenticity, like using real Linux code every time Elliot is seen typing on-screen, is on point. I said earlier that this was a TV show about the internet and, really, it's probably the most accurate-feeling representation of the dark web subculture I have ever seen on television. A hacker series winning Emmy awards? Yes, that happened. Yet, Mr. Robot was anything but mainstream, which, funnily enough, is what made it mainstream. A masked spokesperson for the mysterious hacker group F Society delivers an ominous warning in the conspiracy thriller, Mr. Robot. Screenshot by Aaron Pruner/CNET Even though things get pretty dark, Esmail came prepared. There is a surprising amount of humor threaded throughout the series that helps to offset the bleak nature of the show's looming dystopia. He uses pop culture nostalgia and disruptive production techniques to keep us on our toes. One specific episode featured a reality-altering flashback, curious visuals and an iconic '80s sitcom alien that made me sit up and yell at the television like Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It's been a decade since the conspiracy thriller first hit the USA Network. It was a time before TikTok, misinformation, deepfakes and AI. Yet, through all these social media and technological advancements, the show holds up. In fact, the overarching themes like political corruption, corporate greed and untreated mental health issues somehow make Mr. Robot even more relevant today.
