Strands 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.

Connections is the hit daily word puzzle brought to you by The New York Times. Edited by Wyna Liu, the game is such a hit it is second only to Wordle as one of the newspaper's most played games. Instructions on how to play the game are below, as are some handy hints to help you solve today's game.

The NYT Mini is a quick and dirty version of the newspaper's larger and long-running crossword. Most days, there are between three and five clues in each direction on a five by five grid, but the puzzles are sometimes larger, especially on Saturdays.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Need the answers for the New York Times Connections puzzle?

Strands is a tricky take on the classic word search from NYT Games. If you're stuck and cannot solve today's puzzle, we've got help for you here.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

In case you missed Saturday’s NYT Mini Crossword puzzle, you can find the answers here:

Today's hints 2. Today's answer 3. Yesterday's answer Looking for today's Connections answers? The Connections answers on October 14 for puzzle #491 are a little harder than yesterday's puzzle, with the Connections Companion rating this puzzle's difficulty at 3.