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, July 18 (game #867).
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 #868) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Big talk
NYT Strands today (game #868) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- SAIL
- NAIL
- HAIL
- THEME
- MOVE
- COST
NYT Strands today (game #868) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 11 letters
NYT Strands today (game #868) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
• First side: left, 8th row
• Last side: right, 8th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #868) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #868, are…
- GIANT
- MAMMOTH
- COLOSSUS
- BEHEMOTH
- LEVIATHAN
- SPANGRAM: SUPERSIZEIT
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
The letter Z helped me get the spangram — eventually, as I got “size” first, then “supersize” before finally SUPERSIZEIT.
Even though I understood the theme immediately and had an idea of the words we were searching for, I really struggled to put them together .
Although rarely used, LEVIATHAN is an incredible word (it features in the Bible, describing a fire-breathing sea serpent).
I was thinking that it really should be the name of a horror or at least a wrestler when a Google search told me that both already exist; the 1989 horror flick made less cultural impact than Dave Batista, who used the nickname Leviathan before becoming The Animal. Every day’s a school day with Strands.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Saturday, July 18, game #867)
- SWEET
- OATY
- NUTTY
- CRUNCHY
- SALTY
- WHOLESOME
- SPANGRAM: BOWLOFGRANOLA
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.
