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, August 18 (game #533).
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 #534) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Dash it!
NYT Strands today (game #534) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- DATE
- PEEP
- HOTEL
- PLATE
- LILY
- SLIP
NYT Strands today (game #534) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #534) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 5th 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 #534) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #534, are…
- HOITYTOITY
- PELLMELL
- HOCUSPOCUS
- WILLYNILLY
- SPANGRAM: HYPHENATED
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 2 hints
I found today’s Strands really difficult. Firstly, because hyphens always put me into a kernel panic, as I’m unsure whether to use them or not – it’s one of the biggest points of difference between US and British English.
Secondly, because after getting the spangram I could see nothing but a jumble of letter Ls and Ys.
Even with the help of two hints I still struggled to put the words together – there were so many ways to do WILLY NILLY and I explored all of them!
Despite its difficulty, this was a fun search and very satisfying to complete shortly after I pulled my hair out and screamed into a bucket.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Monday, August 18, game #533)
- CLOG
- SNEAKER
- ESPADRILLE
- SLIPPER
- SANDAL
- LOAFER
- SPANGRAM: FOOTWEAR
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.
