Today’s NYT ‘Strands’ Hints, Spangram and Answers for Saturday, January 3, 2026

Move over,Wordle,Connections, andMini Crossword—there's a new NYT word game in town! The New York Times's recent game, "Strands," is becoming more and more popular as another daily activity fans can find on the NYT website and app.

With daily themes and "spangrams" to discover, this is the latest addicting game to cross off your to-do list before a new one pops up 24 hours later.

We'll cover exactly how to play Strands, hints for today's Spangram, and all of the answers for Strands #671 on Saturday,January3.

How To Play Strands

According to the New York Times, here's exactly how to play Strands:

Find theme words to fill the board.

• Theme words stay highlighted in blue when found.

• Drag or tap letters to create words. If tapping, double-tap the last letter to submit.

• Theme words fill the board entirely. No theme words overlap.

Find the "spangram."

• The spangram describes the puzzle's theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. It may be two words.

• The spangram highlights in yellow when found.

• An example spangram with corresponding theme words: PEAR, FRUIT, BANANA, APPLE, etc.

Need a hint?

• Find non-theme words to get hints.

• For every three non-theme words you find, you earn a hint.

• Hints show the letters of a theme word. If there is already an active hint on the board, a hint will show that word's letter order.

What Is Today's Strands Hint for the Theme: "I've seen that before!"

A hint for today's Strands game: Not the old stuff.

What Are Today's NYT Strands Hints?

Warning: Spoilers ahead!In today's puzzle, there aresixtheme words to find (including the spangram). Here are the first two letters for each word:

• SE

• NO

• FR

• IN

• OR

• BR (SPANGRAM)

NYT Strands Spangram Hint: Is It Vertical or Horizontal?

Today's Spangram is a mixture of vertical and horizontal.

NYT Strands Spangram Answer Today

Today's Spangram answer on Today's NYT 'Strands' Hints, Spangram and Answers for Saturday, January 3, 2026, isBREAKNEWGROUND.

What Are Today's NYT Strands Answers, Word List for Saturday, January 3?

• SEMINAL

• NOVEL

• FRESH

• INVENTIVE

• ORIGINAL

• SPANGRAM: BREAKNEWGROUND

Related: This 'Stunning' Nontoxic Cookware Brand Has Shoppers Raving: 'What a Dream'

This story was originally published byParadeon Jan 3, 2026, where it first appeared in theLifesection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

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January 03, 2026

Today’s NYT ‘Strands’ Hints, Spangram and Answers for Saturday, January 3, 2026

Move over,Wordle,Connections, andMini Crossword—there's a new NYT word game in town! The New York Times's recent ...

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NYT Connections Sports Edition Today: Hints and Answers for Saturday, January 3, 2026

Get excited—there's another New York Times game to add to your daily routine! Those of us word game addicts who alreadyWordle,Connections,Strandsand theMini Crosswordnow haveConnections Sports Editionto add to the mix.So, if you're looking for some hints and answers for today's Connections Sports Edition on Saturday,January3, 2026, you've come to the right place.

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What Is Connections Sports Edition?

Connections Sports Edition is just like the regular Connections word puzzle, in that it's a game that resets at 12 a.m. EST each day and has 16 different words listed. It's up to you to figure out each group of four words that belong to a certain category, with four categories in total.

This new version is sports-specific, however, as a partnership between The New York Times and The Athletic.

As the NYT site instructs, for Connections Sports Edition, you "group sports terms that share a common thread."

Related:The 26 Funniest NYT Connections Game Memes You'll Appreciate if You Do This Daily Word Puzzle

Hints for Today's Connections Sports Edition Categories on January 3, 2026

Here are some hints about the four categories to help you figure out the word groupings.

• Yellow: Gridiron protection.

• Green: Fire it in there.

• Blue: The envelope, please.

• Purple: Scary weather.

Here Are Today's Connections Sports Edition Categories

OK, time for a second hint…we'll give you the actual categories now. Spoilers below!

• Yellow: PARTS OF A FOOTBALL HELMET

• Green: BASEBALL PITCHES

• Blue: OSCAR NOMINEES FOR PLAYING A BOXER

• Purple: ____ STORM

If you're looking for the answers, no worries—we've got them below. So, don't scroll any further if you don't want to see the solutions!The answers to today's Connections Sports Edition #467 are coming up next.Related:15 Fun Games Like Connections to Play Every Day

What Are the Answers to Connections Sports Edition Today?

• PARTS OF A FOOTBALL HELMET: CHIN STRAP, FACE MASK, PADDING, SHELL

• BASEBALL PITCHES: CHANGEUP, CUTTER, SLIDER, SPLITTER

• OSCAR NOMINEES FOR PLAYING A BOXER: DE NIRO, STALLONE, SWANK, WASHINGTON

• ____ STORM: COURT, HANNAH, RED, SEATTLE

Don't worry if you didn't get them this time—we've all been there.

Up next,catch up on the answers to recent Wordle puzzles.

Related: Aldi's Zesty $5 Freezer Find Gives Pizza Night a Flavor-Boosted Upgrade

This story was originally published byParadeon Jan 3, 2026, where it first appeared in theLifesection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

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January 03, 2026

NYT Connections Sports Edition Today: Hints and Answers for Saturday, January 3, 2026

Get excited—there's another New York Times game to add to your daily routine! Those of us word game addicts who alrea...

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Laura Benanti Shares Which of Her Kids Has a Knack for ‘Comedy’ — and Why She Hopes They Don't Go into Show Business (Exclusive)

Theo Wargo/Getty; Laura Benanti/Instagram

NEED TO KNOW

• Laura Benanti shared in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE that her older daughter, Ella, is into sports, while her younger daughter, Louisa, is a "natural comedian"

• She added that she "would rather they did not [go into show business]," and instead make their own way in the world

• The actress shares Ella, 8, and Louisa, 3, with husband Patrick Brown

Laura Benantiis committed to letting her daughters discover their own passions in life.

TheYoungerstar, 46, shared an update on her two kids,Ella Rose, 8, andLouisa Georgia, 3, whom she shares with husband Patrick Brown – and revealed which one is closer to following in her footsteps.

"My older daughter now, she's very into sports," Benanti told PEOPLE at theMayor of Kingstownseason 4 New York City screening. "She's amazing at soccer, so that's become our family obsession."

"But I will say the little one, who's 3, she's a natural comedian," the actress added. "She really gets it. She understands a joke. All she wants to do is play pretend."

ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

Despite her younger daughter having a knack for the arts, the Broadway alum said she is still hoping that her kids will choose to pursue other careers that are different from her own.

"I would rather they did not [go into show business]. I would rather they make their [own] way in a different [manner]," Benanti said.

However, theElsbethstar also noted that she didn't "know" yet, as it was still too soon to tell what their interests would be in the long run. She said Ella was initially interested in the arts before joining sports, and maybe her younger daughter will be the same.

"That's how Ella was when she was younger, so maybe she'll grow out of it," Benanti said.

Benanti — who followed in her own mother, actress Linda Wonneberger's footsteps — previously told PEOPLE last year while promoting her show,Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, that her older daughter had been asking to do more with the arts.

"She has the comedic timing, she's so good at dancing, she loves it so much, she keeps being like, 'Please, please, please let me do it' — and I'm over here like, 'Oh no, this is terrible,' " the actress teased.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

When asked if Ella was planning to follow her into show business, the actress responded, "Are you kidding me? I'm terrified! I am not at all ready for that. Please, no!"

She explained that she wanted her daughter to have a different childhood than she had and to explore different kinds of things before settling on one path.

"I want her to follow her own bliss and her journey, of course. And frankly, had I had more of a creative outlet as a child, I actually think I would've been much happier and perhaps wouldn't have made some of the mistakes that I made. But I don't want her to do it too soon because it can be really damaging," she said at the time.

Read the original article onPeople

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January 03, 2026

Laura Benanti Shares Which of Her Kids Has a Knack for ‘Comedy’ — and Why She Hopes They Don't Go into Show Business (Exclusive)

Theo Wargo/Getty; Laura Benanti/Instagram NEED TO KNOW Laura Benanti shared in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE that her older daughter...

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Jets and blasts shake Venezuelan capital

The U.S. launched military operations against Venezuela overnight on Jan. 3, according to media reports.

The blasts came after a United States military buildup in the Caribbean and threats by PresidentDonald Trumpagainst Venezuela's government and its president,Nicolás Maduro. Venezuelan state mediadistributed a statement from Maduro's governmentthat blamed the U.S. for the attacks in the capital of Caracas and in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.

The Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command declined to comment to USA TODAY, referring inquiries to the White House, which did not immediately respond to queries. The extent of the operation and its goals were not immediately clear.

The overnight explosions follow a wave of attacks by the U.S. military onalleged drug-trafficking vesselsin the Caribbean and Pacific that began in early September.

Marco Rubio's war:How he ditched a Venezuela pact and opened the door to toppling Maduro

A sizeable American flotilla has amassed in the southern Caribbean Sea, including multiple guided missile destroyers, a missile cruiser, and a Marine Corps amphibious ready group aboard Navy landing ships. The U.S. publicly moved the USS Gerald R. Ford – the world's largest aircraft carrier – into the region in recent months as well.

Just days before the apparent attack, President Donald Trump confirmed that theCIA conducted a land strikeagainst a dock facility in the country.

More:Trump publicly touts CIA-led strikes that are normally kept quiet. Why?

The administration has attacked at least 35 boats traversing international waters, killing at least 115 people − many of them Venezuelans. Trump and other officials have defended the boat strikes as an attempt to stop illegal narcotics, specifically fentanyl, from flooding into the country.

"The Biden administration preferred the kid gloves approach, allowing millions of people — including dangerous cartels and unvetted Afghans — to flood our communities with drugs and violence," Defense SecretaryPete Hegsethsaid in a Nov. 29 post on X, when helashed out at a reportthat he ordered U.S. military officials to leave no survivors during one of the Caribbean sea strikes.

Lawmakers from both parties have criticized the Trump administration's military attacks for providing no intelligence briefings or other evidence about what the vessels are carrying. Some members of Congress, former military officials and legal analysts have said the strikes are illegal and amount to extrajudicial killings thatviolate international human rights law.

Some of those lawmakers also criticized Saturday's strikes and the administration's silence in their immediate wake.

"We have no vital national interests in Venezuela to justify war," said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii,on X. "We should have learned not to stumble into another stupid adventure by now. And he's not even bothering to tell the American public what the hell is going on."

Trump has described Maduro, who has been in power since 2013 after the death of populist Hugo Chávez, as running Venezuela like a"narco-terrorist" drug cartelthat is directly responsible for American deaths.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Jets and blasts shake Venezuelan capital

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January 03, 2026

Jets and blasts shake Venezuelan capital

The U.S. launched military operations against Venezuela overnight on Jan. 3, according to media reports. The bla...

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Death toll rises to at least 10 in violence around Iran protests

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Violence surroundingprotests in Iransparked by the Islamic Republic's ailing economy killed two other people, authorities said Saturday, raising the death toll in the demonstrations to at least 10 as they showed no signs of stopping.

The new deaths followU.S. President Donald Trump warning Iranon Friday that if Tehran "violently kills peaceful protesters," the United States "will come to their rescue." While it remains unclear how and if Trump will intervene, his comments sparked an immediate, angry response from officials within the theocracy threatening to target American troops in the Mideast.

The weeklong protests, have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of22-year-old Mahsa Aminiin police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. However, the protests have yet to be as widespread and intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities.

The deaths overnight into Saturday involved a new level of violence. In Qom, home to the country's major Shiite seminaries, a grenade exploded, killing a man there, the state-owned IRAN newspaper reported. It quoted security officials alleging the man carried the grenade to attack people in the city, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.

Online videos from Qom purportedly showed fires in the street overnight.

The second death happened in the town of Harsin, some 370 kilometers (230 miles) southwest of Tehran. There, the newspaper said a member of the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, died in a gun and knife attack in the town in Kermanshah province.

Demonstrations have reached over 100 locations in 22 of Iran's 31 provinces, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported.

Iran's civilian government under reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to signal it wants to negotiate with protesters. However, Pezeshkian has acknowledged there is not much he can do as Iran's rial has rapidly depreciated, with $1 now costing some 1.4 million rials. That sparked the initial protests.

The protests, taking root in economic issues, have heard demonstrators chant against Iran's theocracy as well. Tehran has had little luck in propping up its economy in the months sinceits June war with Israelin whichthe U.S. also bombed Iranian nuclear sites in Iran.

Iran recently said it wasno longer enriching uraniumat any site in the country, trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program to ease sanctions. However, those talks have yet to happen as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu havewarned Tehran against reconstituting its atomic program.

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January 03, 2026

Death toll rises to at least 10 in violence around Iran protests

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Violence surroundingprotests in Iransparked by the Islamic Republic's ailing econo...

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In their words: Survivors and others talk about fatal Swiss Alpine bar fire

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — In the aftermath of afire inside a Swiss Alpine barthat killed 40 people celebrating the new year, survivors, friends and family members, the region's top authorities and even Pope Leo have spoken to the public in remarks in French, Italian, German and English, reflecting the tradition of Swiss multilingualism.

Another 119 people were injuredin the blaze early Thursday as itripped through the busy Le Constellation barat the ski resort of Crans-Montana, authorities said. It wasone of the deadliest tragediesin Switzerland's history.

Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited thefatal firewhen they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.

Here's a look at what people said in the wake of the disaster:

— "I'm looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere," Laetitia Brodard told reporters Friday in Crans-Montana as she searched for her son, 16-year-old Arthur. "I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue."

— "We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could. We saw people screaming, running," Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. "There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can't imagine the pain I saw."

— "It was hard to live through for everyone. Also probably because everyone was asking themselves, 'Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?'" Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took indozens of injured people, told AP on Friday. "This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year," Bonvin said. "Also, seeing young people arrive — that's always traumatic."

— "I have seen horror, and I don't know what else would be worse than this," Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation and rushed to the bar to help first responders, told France's TF1 television.

—"You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning," Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference in Sion.

Pope Leo said in a telegram Friday to the bishop of Sion that he " wishes to express his compassion and concern to the relatives of the victims. He prays that the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies."

— "We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say of very strong solidarity in the moment," Cantonal head of government Mathias Reynard told RTS radio Friday. "In the first minutes it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage."

— "Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help," Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in thepositionthat changes hands annually, told reporters Thursday.

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January 03, 2026

In their words: Survivors and others talk about fatal Swiss Alpine bar fire

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — In the aftermath of afire inside a Swiss Alpine barthat killed 40 people celebrating th...

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32 Years Ago, This Now Rarely Seen Country Star Earned Her First No. 1

Music iconFaith Hillis a well-known name incountry musicthese days, but it wasn't until 1994, 32 years ago, that she began her rise in the industry, nabbing her first No. 1country songat the beginning of that year.

Hill's debut single, "Wild One," which came out in late 1993 on her first album,Take Me as I Am, was an almost instant hit.

The track quickly took over radio airwaves, and on Jan. 1, 1994, it took the top spot on theBillboardHot Country Singles & Tracks chart, becoming Hill's first No. 1 hit.

"Wild One" held the top position for four weeks, while other singles from the album weren't far behind. Only a few months later, on April 30, the track "Piece of My Heart" became her second No. 1 country song.

While there were no other No. 1 songs from the album, the title track, "Take Me as I Am," impressively reached No. 2 on theBillboardHot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

Related:Faith Hill's Daughter Delights Fans With Rare Photo Taken by Mom

Of course, this was only the start of Hill's long-lasting and successful country career, and throughout the 32 years since then, she has continued to release popular and memorablemusic.

Hill has had a total of nine No. 1 country songs so far. Along with the previously-mentioned tracks, this list also includes "Breathe," "The Way You Love Me," "This Kiss," "It Matters To Me," "Mississippi Girl," and "It's Your Love," the last of which is a duet with her husband, fellow country singerTim McGraw.

She has also hadsuccesson theBillboardHot 100 chart, with "There You'll Be," "It's Your Love," "The Way You Love Me," "This Kiss," and "Breathe" all entering the top 10. Her highest-charting song was "Breathe," which reached No. 1 on this chart.

While fans of Hill have plenty of great music from the past to listen to, many are hoping to see the singer return to music soon. In recent years, she's kept herlifequite private, only attending occasional events with herfamily.

Her last studio album to come out wasThe Rest of Our Life, her duet album with McGraw that was released on Nov. 17, 2017.

Related: Tim McGraw Shares Rare Photo With Faith Hill to Pay Tribute to Late Friend

This story was originally published byParadeon Jan 3, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

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January 02, 2026

32 Years Ago, This Now Rarely Seen Country Star Earned Her First No. 1

Music iconFaith Hillis a well-known name incountry musicthese days, but it wasn't until 1994, 32 years ago, that she ...

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