Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for February 27, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you tend to overdo it.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, 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. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: It’s a little much
The words are related to extras.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe more than is needed.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Enough Already.
NYT Strands word list for February 27
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Excess
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Enough Already
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Surplus
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Overkill
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Redundancy
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Glut
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
Entertainment
Hurdle hints and answers for February 28, 2026
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.
Hurdle Word 1 hint
A thin atmospheric layer.
Hurdle Word 1 answer
OZONE
Hurdle Word 2 hint
An infectious disease.
Mashable Top Stories
Hurdle Word 2 Answer
POLIO
Hurdle Word 3 hint
Part of a flower.
Hurdle Word 3 answer
PETAL
Hurdle Word 4 hint
Land.
Hurdle Word 4 answer
TERRA
Final Hurdle hint
Popular.
Hurdle Word 5 answer
KNOWN
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Entertainment
Moon phase today: What the Moon will look like on February 28
The Moon is so very close to being full, but believe it or not, there’s still a few days to go. While it continues to appear bigger and brighter in the sky, keep reading to find out exactly what you can see on its surface.
What is today’s Moon phase?
As of Saturday, Feb. 28, the Moon phase is Waxing Gibbous. According to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide, 88% of the Moon will be lit up tonight.
With just your naked eye, tonight you’ll be able to see the Mares Tranquillitatis and Crisium. With binoculars you’ll be able to see the Mare Nectaris, the Alphonsus Crater, and the Alps Mountains. If you love your moon-gazing gear, get out the telescope to catch a glimpse of and with a telescope you’ll see also see the Apollo 15 and 11 landing spots, and the Fra Mauro Highlands.
When is the next Full Moon?
The next Full Moon will be on March 3. The last Full Moon was on Feb. 1.
What are Moon phases?
According to NASA, the Moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit the Earth. Over the course of this period, it moves through eight recognisable phases, what we call the lunar cycle. While the same side of the Moon always faces us, the amount of its surface lit by the Sun changes as it continues along its path. The shifts in sunlight create the different appearances we see from Earth, ranging from a fully illuminated Moon to a thin sliver or near darkness. The eight phases are:
New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).
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Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).
First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.
Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.
Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.
Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)
Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.
Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.
Entertainment
Connor Storrie makes out with Sarah Sherman in SNL promo
Heated Rivalry‘s Connor Storrie is hosting SNL this Saturday, and in the clip above he takes on the time-honored tradition of filming a series of increasingly silly promo videos with a cast member (in this case Sarah Sherman) and the musical guest (Mumford & Sons).
There are an unsurprisingly large number of jokes about Heated Rivalry from Sherman, capped off by a bit in which the two pretend to make out with each other — and the entirety of Mumford & Sons get involved too.
Elsewhere, be sure to check out Storrie’s undeniably impressive range of accents.
Hurdle hints and answers for February 28, 2026
Moon phase today: What the Moon will look like on February 28
