Looking for Tuesday’s Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here:
Hey there, folks! I hope you’re having a wonderful week thus far.
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…
American pastime
Need some extra help? Here’s another hint…
Homer Simpson became a mascot in this field after drunkenly dancing to “Baby Elephant Walk”
There are eight 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…
BALLPARK
Here’s where you’ll find it on the grid…
The rest of today’s Strands theme words are…
- DUGOUT
- STANDS
- INFIELD
- PLATE
- BULLPEN
- MOUND
- BASE
Here’s what the completed grid looks like…
Baseball immediately sprang to mind and I thought I was onto something when I spotted DUGOUTS in the top left, but no such luck. DUGOUT, however, was one of the theme words. As was BASE in the bottom left.
BALL and BALLS up top didn’t count but hey, I now had a hint I might as well use. That gave me the letters for PLATE (not PLEAT) in the center left. Right below that was MOUND, clear as day. I then found BULLPEN in the bottom right.
STAND in the top right was not a theme word, but STANDS was. Rats. It was then that I finally found the spangram. That left INFIELD for the victory.
I used one hint and the spangram was the seventh theme word I found. Not bad for someone who has been to a total of one (1) baseball game.
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.
