Looking for Friday’s Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here:
Hello there! I hope your weekend’s off to a great start. Let’s get down to business, shall we?
Today’s NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers are coming right up.
How To Play Strands
The New York Times’ Strands puzzle is a play on the classic word search. It’s in beta for now, which means it’ll only stick around if enough people play it every day.
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…
I love the nightlife
Need some extra help? Here’s another hint…
After-dark denizens
There are seven theme words to find today, including the spangram.
What Are Today’s Strands Answers?
Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Strands answers.
I’ll first tell you the spangram and show you where that is on the grid. I’ll then tell you the other words and show you how they fit in.
This is your final warning!
Today’s Strands spangram is…
NOCTURNAL
Here’s where you’ll find it on the grid…
The rest of today’s Strands theme words are…
- WOMBAT
- COYOTE
- LEOPARD
- AARDVARK
- SKUNK
- OPOSSUM
Here’s what the completed grid looks like…
I saw MOTOWN at the top of the grid right away, but that wasn’t a valid word. Hmm. Looking at the corners, I eventually found SKUNK in the bottom right. That gave me an indication that I was looking for nocturnal animals. Sure enough, I found WOMBAT in the top left next, then the spangram.
Annoyingly, POSSUM in the bottom left was not one of the theme words, but OPOSSUM was. Hmph. That left LEOPARD on the left. I then found COYOTE and AARDVARK to seal the win.
I didn’t use any hints and the spangram was the third 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 Sunday’s game if you need them.
P.S. I can’t see the word “Wombat” and not include a song from The Wombats. This is my favourite of theirs, though they have a bunch of great tunes.
