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 Monday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, May 26 (game #449).
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 #450) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… A strange new world
NYT Strands today (game #450) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- DAYS
- MALE
- HAND
- DINNER
- LATER
- PAGES
NYT Strands today (game #450) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 14 letters
NYT Strands today (game #450) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 1st row
Last side: right, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #450) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #450, are…
- FARM
- GAMES
- ANIMAL
- TALE
- HUNGER
- HANDMAIDS
- SPANGRAM: DYSTOPIAN NOVEL
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: Perfect
Today we were looking for three pairs of words that made up the titles of DYSTOPIAN NOVELS (Animal Farm, Hunger Games, and Handmaid’s Tale) – not that I realized this initially.
It wasn’t until I got ANIMAL and connected it to FARM that the penny dropped. Before then I wasn’t sure what the theme “a strange new world” meant.
A dystopian novel is defined as a story set in a fictional society or world often characterized by an oppressive regime and governmental or religious control after a collapse of some sort.
As is the case with all three of today’s choices, they also reflect the time in which they were written and carry warnings about possible futures when we’ll be too busy trying to survive to pass the time on word puzzles.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Monday, May 26, game #449)
- HANDSHAKE
- SALUTE
- SHRUG
- KOWTOW
- NAMASTE
- CURTSEY
- SPANGRAM: GESTURES
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.
