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.Dog-lovers, today's NYTStrandspuzzle won't be a ruff one for you. It relates to an event that starts today, and continues Monday and Tuesday, after the Super Bowl. If you need hints and answers, read on.I go into depth about therules for Strands in this story.If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visitCNET's NYT puzzle hints page.Read more:NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So FarHint for today's Strands puzzleToday's Strands theme is:Westminster assemblyIf that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Canine categoriesClue words to unlock in-game hintsYour 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:SONG, SPRONG, PONG, PRONG, DENY, HERD, HOUND, POUND, POUNDS, SPOT, TOPS, POORAnswers for today's Strands puzzleThese 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've got 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:TOYS, HOUNDS, HERDING, WORKING, TERRIERS, SPORTINGToday's Strands spangramToday's Strands spangram isDOG GROUP.To find it, start with the D that's five letters down on the far right row, and wind across, up, and over. The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 8, 2025, #342. NYT/Screenshot by CNET

PUBG's top-down tactical shooter spin-off gets new name, impending demoArriving as part of Steam Next Fest.Image credit: PUBG Studios/Eurogamer News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Feb. 7, 2025 Sling your mind back to last October and you might remember PUBG Studios (yes, that PUBG) unveiling a new 5v5 PvP shooter featuring 'shared real-time line of sight'. Well, it's back, it's got a proper name now, and there's a demo on the way.When we last saw PUBG Studios' new title, it was going by the name of Project ARC and being described as a "realistic and fast-paced top-down shooting experience inspired by PUBG: Battlegrounds". Four months - and doubtless some arcane process involving an awful lot of Post-It notes - later, it's been renamed to PUBG: Blindspot.What we have here is a 5v5 top-down tactical shooter where teams are either charged with hacking or defending a hidden crypt each game. The hacking team must blow up the walls surrounding the crypt to gain access and install a Decrypter device, while the defending team tries to stop them. But why, you might be asking yourself, is it called Blindspot?PUBG: Blindspot - Steam Next Fest trailer.Watch on YouTubeWell that, I assume, brings us back to the aforementioned shared line of sight, with enemies vanishing and reappearing across the map depending what individual teammates can see - a system intended to add a further tactical wrinkle through "immediate, non-verbal cooperation". Chuck in characters with their own preferred weapons and distinctive gadgets, alongside the promise of "skill-based, thrilling" gunfights, and that's all the basics covered.PUBG: Blindspot doesn't have a release date yet, but if the brisk run-down above has left you in anyway intrigued, a demo will be available from 21st February as part of Steam Next Fest. It'll feature 10 unique characters with their own signature weapons and special tools, three team deathmatch maps, and four demolition mission maps, giving players a "chance to experience what [the team has] been cooking up so far".In semi-related news, PUBG creator Brendan Greene last year revealed an "ambitious" three-project plan for his PlayerUnknown Productions studio. This included a single-player open-world "emergent" survival game known as Prologue: Go Wayback, an "immersive" tech demo titled Preface: Undiscovered World, and the still-mysterious Project Artemis.

Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musks DOGE, was fired from his previous job at a cybersecurity company for leaking company secrets, according to a new report from Bloomberg News. Coristine was an intern at Arizona-based Path Network in 2022 when he was fired for allegedly sharing information about the company with a competing company. Edward has been terminated for leaking internal information to the competitors, a message from June 2022 about the termination seen by Bloomberg News reads. This is unacceptable and there is zero tolerance for this. Incredibly, Bloomberg reports that Coristine bragged on Discord about retaining his access to the company not long after being dismissed. The teenager reportedly said that he had access to every single machine at Path Network, but said, I never exploited it because its just not me. Coristine has become the butt of constant jokes online for previously using the name Big Balls online, but the young mans access to Americas most sensitive information is no joke. As Wired noted in an article earlier this week, Path Network is known for hiring reformed blackhat hackers. And Coristine is now reportedly rummaging around the networks of federal agencies. The DOGE team was assembled by Musk to supposedly look for ways to battle waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, all with the blessing of President Donald Trump, but the reality is much darker. The DOGE soldiers have been ransacking every agency they touch, gaining access to private information and the kinds of things that a foreign adversary would love to get their hands on.The goal, according to multiple reports, is to shut off funding for things that Musk and Trump dont like. Thats why USAID is reportedly on the chopping block, with thousands of workers set to be laid off in a completely illegal move that would leave only about 300 staff left. The foreign aid agency has seen its website shut down and employees placed on administrative leave, with promises to obliterate the agency altogether. But theres been no accountability for members of DOGE, and the White House said on Wednesday that Musk will police his own conflicts of interest. CBS News reporter Kathryn Watson reported Friday on X that Musks financial disclosure forms will not be made public and even sitting senators wont be able to access the information.All of this comes as Musk has floated the idea of hiring back a 25-year-old DOGE worker named Marko Elez who was linked to an X account that posted extremely racist material. Elez resigned on Thursday but Musk and Vice President JD Vance suggested on social media Friday he should be brought back onto the team. This afternoon, Musk tweeted that He will be brought back. Reuters published a new article about another DOGE staffer, Gavin Kliger, who was retweeting notorious holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and misogynist Andrew Tate. Both Tate and Fuentes have made Nazi salutes in online videos, something that Musk did twice the day Trump was inaugurated. Perhaps most alarming in all of the digital incursions by DOGE, CNN has reported that 23-year-old Luke Farritor, a former SpaceX intern, was given access to the Department of Energy, an agency that holds highly sensitive information about the nations nuclear weapons. The agencys general counsel and chief information offices objected but were reportedly overruled.The new report from Bloomberg about Coristines history is alarming but not entirely surprising. Much like Trump, Musk only seems to care about one thing: Loyalty to the leader. If youre racist, it seems like thats just a bonus for the billionaire.

Calls for Kanye West to be removed from X after 'antisemitic rampage' online7 February 2025, 19:27 | Updated: 7 February 2025, 19:37 Kanye West has been criticised for his tweets about Jewish people. Picture: GettyThe Campaign Against Antisemitism has called for Elon Musk to remove Kanye West from X over a string of offensive tweets. Listen to this article Loading audio...The rapper, who is now known as Ye, has been continually posting tweets of an antisemitic nature and describing slavery as "a choice" from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon. A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: "Once again, Ye has gone on an antisemitic rampage online. It couldn't be any clearer that he is an unrepentant, proud antisemite. "More people have viewed these posts than there are Jews on the planet. It is obvious that Ye has not learned his lesson the first time, when Adidas ended its partnership with him, following our call to do so. "At a time of unprecedented antisemitism, there can be no mistaking this incitement for exactly what it is. We call on Elon Musk to remove him from X." It comes after Adidas, which produced the 47-year-old's Yeezy trainers, severed its ties with the Power rapper in 2022, donating more than 150 million dollars (117 million) to anti-hate groups. The move came after West made a number of antisemitic remarks including praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in a conversation with US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that year. In a video obtained by US outlet TMZ in 2023, West was also seen making a series of incoherent statements, including references to Jews and Zionists. Following the remarks, he issued an apology in Hebrew on Instagram, which read: "I sincerely apologise to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions. "It was not my intention to hurt or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused." He added: "Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity." In 2023, Alex Klein, a former business partner of West, also said he used "offensive phrases" about him being Jewish in a BBC Two documentary. The rapper previously received an eight-month suspension from X, then known as Twitter, in October 2022, after a series of erratic tweets, which appeared to show a symbol combining a swastika and a Jewish star. West caused controversy at the recent Grammy Awards after his wife Bianca Censori wore a see-through dress. Picture: GettyIt comes after the 24-time Grammy winner caused controversy with his wife, Australian model Bianca Censori, after they turned up on the red carpet at last weekend's Grammy Awards with Censori, 30, x In an episode of the The Download podcast hosted by Justin Laboy, released on Wednesday, West revealed he had been diagnosed with autism, having previously questioned a bipolar disorder diagnosis, and being urged to be reassessed by Censori. On the podcast he said: "I went to this doctor, my wife took me to do that because she said, 'something about your personality doesn't feel like it's bipolar, I've seen bipolar before'. "And I've come to find that it's really a case of autism that I have. "And autism takes you to a Rain Man thing where you're like, I'm (going to) wear this Trump hat because I just like Trump in general. "And then when people tell you to not do it, you just get on that one point. And that's my problem." West said he no longer took medication for his mental health on the podcast, as autism is not an illness, it is not medicated. But in 2020, Kim Kardashian, then West's wife, acknowledged the difficulty of managing his mental health. She said: "Those that understand mental illness or even compulsive behaviour know that the family is powerless unless the member is a minor. "People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try." Representatives for West have been contacted for comment.

Rumours point to a brand new whip-cracking game.Konami's beloved Castlevania series is back in the headlines at the moment season 2 of Castlevania: Nocturne dropped on Netflix a few weeks ago (and, spoilers, it's very good). But the rumour mill is running, and it's pointing towards a brand new Castlevania game.Yesterday, Chinese-based journalist and GamesIndustry.biz contributor Daniel Camilo has heard from "reliable sources" that a brand new "AAA" Castlevania game will be revealed this year (along with a few other notable series). And Portuguese website GeekInOut has corroborated the rumours via its own sources "with knowledge of Konami's plans".Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Rapyd Financial Network is looking to raise $300 million in a new funding round that would value the global payments platform at $3.5 billion, a considerable decrease from its approximately $9 billion valuation set in 2021, according to Bloomberg.The London-based company offers a range of financial services like payments, mobile wallets, money transfers, card issuing, and fraud protection, which are accessible to third parties via an API.Rapyd plans to use the funding to buy a payment processing startup. The nine-year-old company has been on an acquisition streak, recently adding four companies, including Iceland-based payments startup Valitor for $100 million in 2022. It also paid $610 million for units of the global payments platform PayU for $610 million in 2023.In 2023, Rapyd CEO and co-founder Arik Shtilman told TechCrunch that the company was in [the] final stages of closing a new financing round of $700 million. The company did not publicly report the financing round, making it unclear whether that funding was secured and, if so, at what valuation.That year, Rapyds competitor, the payments giant Stripe, was forced to raise capital at a $50 billion valuation, down from its peak price of $95 billion.Should Rapyd complete this raise at a lower valuation from its peak, it would have plenty of company. In addition to Stripe, many startups have raised capital at lower valuations than their previous financings, known as a down round. This is because valuations were excessively high during the VC funding frenzy of 2020 and 2021. Flat or down rounds hit a decade high, making up 27% of all deals in the first nine months of 2024, according to PitchBook data.The companys backers include Coatue, Oak HC/FT, Target Global, and Tiger Global Management. Rapyd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On the same day that President Donald Trump delayed ending a trade exemption targeting certain Chinese imports, ecommerce company Shopify published a blog post making its stance on U.S. trade policy clear.In the post, Shopify endorsed open trade, calling for regulators to give online merchants the freedom to expand without constraints imposed by geopolitical brinkmanship.Without small-business protections, legitimate entrepreneurs suffer under policies intended to curb exploitation, the post read. This hikes costs, disrupts supply chains, and hinders cross-border trade.Shopify, a platform that hosts millions of sellers domestic and abroad, has much to lose from the possible cancellation of the de minimus rule. The provision, which was signed into law in 1930, lets low-cost goods enter the U.S. without facing taxes.The Trump administration has argued that the de minimis rule makes it difficult for customs officials to identify fentanyl shipments sentvia the mail. Trump swiftly moved to close the rule but reversed course on Friday in the face of pressure from merchants and consumers.The reprieve is only temporary. The de minimis exemption will be removed again once adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue, according to an executive order Trump signed Friday afternoon. Shopify says the pause should be permanent. De minimis protections are crucial for small businesses in international trade, the company wrote in its post. They exempt low-value shipments from taxes and duties, keeping costs low and improving competitiveness worldwide.Ottawa-based Shopify, which commands roughly 10% of the global ecommerce market and facilitates over $20 billion in annual cross-border sales, is hedging its bets. This week, the platform widely rolled out a feature that lets merchants display and collect duties during checkout, as well as a search filter that makes it easier for consumers to shop from their home country.In the near future, Shopify plans to release updates aimed at simplifying the handling of international sales, the company said in the blog post.

FMX 2025 has launched the FMX Ticketshop, which introduces two new ticket categories: the Business Pass and the Experience Pass. Early bird options are also in place until March 20. The FMX Forum still has some slots available.All new options include:Business Pass: Essentially a Conference Pass with two upgrades: it grants access to the new Business Lounge as well as priority access to all conference presentations. Priority access allows pass holders to enter all presentations and talks without any ado unless the room is filled to capacity. To ensure a quality experience, the number of Business Passes is limited.Experience Pass: The category for networkers allows access to the FMX exhibition area for one day on May 6, 7, 8, or 9, including the Marketplace, the Recruiting Hub, and the School Campus. Not included are talks in the conference rooms On Site and On Demand.Classic ticket options include:Conference Pass: Enables to experience all of FMX On Site in Stuttgart from May 6 to 9. Also grants access to the conference content offered On Demand from May 10 to June 10.Combi Pass: Expands the Conference Pass by adding full access to the International Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart (ITFS), taking place from May 6 to 11 (see below).Day Pass: Enables to experience FMX On Site for one day on May 6, 7, 8, or 9. Includes FMX On Demand.Online Pass: Grants access to the On Demand program from May 10 to June 10.Reduced cost tickets are available for students, apprentices, trainees, pensioners, and people with disabilities. Student groups are eligible for tickets with additional discount. Active contributors to a publication or media outlet can apply for press accreditation, granting access to the On Site and On Demand program.The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) will run parallel with FMX, and will focus on the wonders of stop-motion.Source: FMX Journalist, antique shop owner, aspiring gemologistL'Wrenbrings a diverse perspective to animation, where every frame reflects her varied passions.

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Architect Richard Gluckman has worked with major artists on projects throughout his storied career, but he told AN that his contribution to Infinite Harmony, a serpentine sculpture on view through February 12 in the Oculus at the World Trade Center, represents the first direct collaboration as an artist himself. Gluckman and principal Andrew Weigand from Gluckman Tang teamed up with visual artist Warren King and television producerand the concepts producerDanielle Chang, for the Lunar New Year tribute. The teams snake installation is made up of 230 CNC-cut aluminum panels organized into a serpentine shape that winds 150 feet along the Oculus floor. The undulating pattern, color, and materials play off the Oculuss ribbed patterns, the signature of Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava.Site-specific in nature, Infinite Harmony was created when Chang and King sought a follow-up to a previous Lunar New Year collaboration staged outside the Oculus in 2019. Then they created a living rice paddy culinary project associated with Changs LUCKYRICEwhich is a sort of experiential agency devoted to Asian food and culturefor the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns and operates the World Trade Center campus.The installation takes center stage in the space by Santiago Calatrava. (Jesper Haynes)Chang told AN that she and King, a multimedia artist best known for his work making sculptures from corrugated cardboard, had been looking for an opportunity to reunite and work with the Port Authority again when she conceived of a Year of the Snake sculpture.I had an idea of creating a snake in a large format that would work well in the context of the Oculus and the World Trade Center, and that also gave a symbol of hope for the Lunar New Year, Chang explained to AN. I just wanted Lunar New Year to be celebrated by everybody, and not thought of as this weird Chinese holiday. The sculpture was unveiled January 29 to coincide with the start of the Lunar New Year and will come down February 12, when the celebration ends. Though the team told AN that it is hoping to find a new home for the sculpture, Chang and Gluckman floated the idea of finding a real estate developer who could repurpose the snake in a building or even outdoors, albeit with some caveats: it cant be exposed to water or high winds, Gluckman noted.Thats understandable, given the fabrication of this unique structure. King explained that he and Chang played with the idea of a Mobius shape, where the inside becomes the outside, King said. The twisting and interrelated shape exist like the yin and yang, well-known symbols of harmony.The snake has a discernible head and tail (Jesper Haynes)King created the model using corrugated cardboard, and Gluckman Tang set out to fabricate the sculpture to its serpentine specifications, while also referencing the Oculuss dramatic shapes. We wanted to respond to it but subtly contrast as well, said Weigand. When you look at the Oculus everything is kind of filleted at a radius, with smooth, matte finishes. The snake is all faceted, angular, sharp, folded, and glossy.Gluckman added that the installation is also a reaction to the organic quality of the building and Calatravas interest in organic forms, mimicking biological cyst exoskeletons.The installation is on view through February 12. (Jesper Haynes)While the architects considered plywood and other potentially flammable materials, building codes wouldnt allow it, so the Gluckman Tang team came up with the idea to use an aluminum composite material.From there, the project came together quickly. Weigand said that they began the design process in November, solidified the concept by the end of 2024, and then began working with fabricators at New Project to create the model. Assembly took just two weeks.The snake makes for a striking addition to the almost cathedral-like Oculus environ, and while its time there is short, perhaps the sculpture will live on in another context soon.