Looking for Tuesday’s Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here:
Hey, there! I have to admit, I’m feeling a little guilty. I bought a rowing machine a few weeks ago and I’ve only used it twice. It sits right next to my desk. I have no valid excuse not to use it and yet…
Okay, as soon as I’m done putting this column together, I’ll hop on for 10 minutes. Promise.
Today’s NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers for Wednesday, November 20 are coming right up.
How To Play Strands
The New York Times’ Strands puzzle is a play on the classic word search. It’s available on the NYT website and in the NYT Games app alongside the likes of Wordle and Connections (which we also cover in daily guides on Forbes Games).
There’s a new game of Strands to play every day. The game will present you with a six by eight grid of letters. The aim is to find a group of words that have something in common, and you’ll get a clue as to what that theme is. When you find a theme word, it will remain highlighted in blue.
You’ll also need to find a special word called a spangram. This tells you what the words have in common. The spangram links at least two sides of the board, but it may not start or end there. While the theme words will not be a proper name, the spangram can be a proper name. When you find the spangram, it will remain highlighted in yellow.
Every letter is used once in one of the theme words and spangram. You can connect letters vertically, horizontally and diagonally, and it’s possible to switch directions in the middle of a word. If you’re playing on a touchscreen, double tap the last letter to submit your guess.
If you find three valid words of at least four letters that are not part of the theme, you’ll unlock the Hint button. Clicking this will highlight the letters that make up one of the theme words.
Be warned: You’ll need to be on your toes. Sometimes you’ll need to fill the missing word(s) in a phrase. On other days, the game may revolve around synonyms or homophones. The difficulty will vary from day to day, and the puzzle creators will try to surprise you sometimes.
What Is Today’s Strands Hint?
Scroll slowly! Just after the hint for today’s Strands puzzle, I’ll reveal what the answer words are.
The official theme hint for today’s Strand puzzle is…
For our furry friends
Need some extra help? Here’s another hint…
Animal essentials, perhaps
There are eight theme words to find today, including the spangram.
What Are Today’s NYT Strands Hints?
Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Strands hints.
Here are the first two letters of every theme word in today’s puzzle. They’re ordered from left to right, then top to bottom by any letter of the word appearing for the first time:
What Are Today’s NYT Strands Answers?
Before I reveal the other the full word list, I’ll first tell you the spangram and show you where that is on the grid.
This is your final spoiler warning!
Today’s Strands spangram is…
PET SUPPLIES
Here’s where you’ll find it on the grid…
Today’s Strands theme words are…
- LITTER
- BONE
- PET SUPPLIES
- COLLAR
- BALL
- LASER
- KIBBLE
- CATNIP
Here’s what the completed grid looks like…
Not the most cryptic theme clue we’ve ever had. I spotted KIBBLE in the bottom left, then “pets,” which I figured would be part of the spangram, but didn’t see where it went from there.
LITTER in the top left was next, followed by BONE next to it. Back down at the bottom, I found CATNIP, BALL and LASER. It was only after I got COLLAR that the spangram made sense.
I used no hints and the spangram was the eighth theme word I found.
That’s all there is to it for today’s Strands clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog for hints and the solution for Thursday’s game if you need them.
