Looking for a different day?
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Saturday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, May 17 (game #440).
Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc’s Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #441) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Riding the wind
NYT Strands today (game #441) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- STING
- HAIL
- DUET
- MILE
- TALL
- BLOG
NYT Strands today (game #441) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 8 letters
NYT Strands today (game #441) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 4th row
Last side: right, 4th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #441) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #441, are…
- HELM
- MAST
- RIGGING
- KEEL
- TILLER
- HULL
- RUDDER
- STERN
- SPANGRAM: SAILBOAT
- My rating: Easy
- My score: 1 hint
Top marks, NYT, for giving us a Strands spangram that looks like a bright yellow SAILBOAT against a clear blue sky. Well, it does if you squint a bit.
Although today’s edition was, indeed, plain sailing, once I’d gotten going, it took me a while to find my sea legs.
I’d found six unrelated words without a clue what today’s theme meant, so I opted for a hint word. HELM left me in little doubt, so I went about exhausting every boaty word I could think of.
Sailing is another one of those hobbies I like the sound of, but the reality is very different. For starters, it’s way above my pay grade – and then there’s my chronic motion sickness, which probably wouldn’t go down well with the salty sea dogs down at the boatyard. I’ll stick to laptops and word searches.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Saturday, May 17, game #441)
- LYNX
- WINGS
- STORM
- LIBERTY
- DREAM
- FEVER
- MERCURY
- SPANGRAM: BASKETBALL
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I’ve got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you’re struggling to beat it each day.
