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.
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 #252) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Nice fit
NYT Strands today (game #252) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- TILL
- HILL
- BILL
- DUST
- THERE
- WELL
NYT Strands today (game #252) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Fits the bill
NYT Strands today (game #252) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: left, 5th row
Last: 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 #252) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #252, are…
- JUMP
- CIVIL
- STRONG
- BUSINESS
- BIRTHDAY
- LEISURE
- SPANGRAM: WELLSUITED
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 2 hints
I find myself disagreeing with the NYT's choice of theme hint fairly often. This is possibly unfair, because as I know from experience it can be a very tricky thing to think of a clue that is helpful without giving the game away. But even bearing that in mind, the choice of 'Nice fit' here seems slightly misleading. After all, 'nice fit' works perfectly well for the spangram, WELLSUITED, and for some of today's answers – for instance LEISURE and JUMP. But it doesn't work for CIVIL or BIRTHDAY at all; these are types of suit, yes, but they aren't a 'nice fit' in any way. STRONG can be – if something is your strong suit, it is a good fit for you. But CIVIL in particular… no, it needed a different clue here.
That set me on the wrong path here, and I needed two hints to establish that yes, all of the answers were types of suit. Once I knew that it was pretty easy to find the others. And maybe that's why it's best that the hint did throw me off the scent – because without that I'd have probably had yet another perfect game, and that gets boring after a while…
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 9 November, game #251)
- BLUR
- OASIS
- PAVEMENT
- TOOL
- NIRVANA
- SUBLIME
- SPANGRAM: NINETIESBANDS
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.
