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 Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games. And don't be surprised if you need them for Wordle in particular, because today's Wordle is so difficult it nearly cost me my 1,045-game streak.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief and has been obsessed with Wordle and its ilk for more than two years. He's authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar, including a daily today's Wordle answer column and a detailed analysis of the most common letters in Wordle in every position. He's also played every Wordle ever and only lost once and yes, he takes it all too seriously.
NYT Strands today (game #256) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Name of the game
NYT Strands today (game #256) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- CART
- CARD
- CARDS
- LUMP
- LUMPS
- LOCK
NYT Strands today (game #256) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• It's a mystery
NYT Strands today (game #256) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: top, 3rd column
Last: bottom, 5th column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #256) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #256, are…
- PLUM
- GREEN
- PEACOCK
- MUSTARD
- ORCHID
- SCARLET
- SPANGRAM: CLUESUSPECTS
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 2 hints
I have mixed feelings about today's Strands puzzle. On the one hand, it's a nicely challenging instalment that I had to use my brain (and memory) to solve. On the other, it has a couple of anomalies that slightly detract from the experience.
The theme here is CLUESUSPECTS, as the spangram has it, and setting aside the fact that it's called CLUEDO in the UK, I have no issue with it as a concept. However, I am a little miffed about the fact that one of the answers is ORCHID. I'm not an expert, but my online research has led me to understand that ORCHID was only added as a character, in place of Mrs (or Chef) White in 2016, and was removed again in 2023. Given that CLUE/CLUEDO has been around since the 1940s, that seems an oddly short change to reflect here. Plus, Mrs SCARLET was called Mrs SCARLETT with two Ts from 1949 until 1963, then lost the second T in the US, then regained it in 2016. Which is fine – but then you have the SCARLET spelling from one era and the ORCHID character from another. It's all just a little messy.
On the other hand, I'm being petty. This Strands puzzle is fine, though I needed two hints to establish what the concept actually was. Once I had it, it was easy enough to solve, even allowing for the slight weirdness around a couple of the answers. Anyway, it made me want to play it again for the first time in several decades, so that's no bad thing.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 13 November, game #255)
- HUMAN
- GIBBON
- KANGAROO
- PANGOLIN
- MEERKAT
- OSTRICH
- SPANGRAM: BIPEDAL
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and 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.
