NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, April 12 (game #405)

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My clues will help you solve the NYT's Strands today and keep that streak going

NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
(Image credit: New York Times)
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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 Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, April 11 (game #404).

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 #405) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Get your mind out of the gutter

NYT Strands today (game #405) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

  • LIDS
  • DUNE
  • SWORD
  • LIFT
  • STAND
  • DROWSY

NYT Strands today (game #405) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #405) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: bottom, 4th column

Last side: top, 3rd column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #405) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 405 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #405, are…

  • GRIMY
  • FILTHY
  • MUDDY
  • POLLUTED
  • STAINED
  • UNKEMPT
  • SPANGRAM: DIRTY WORDS
  • My rating: Hard
  • My score: 2 hints

Some of today’s DIRTY WORDS were peculiarly difficult to find. Even with a hint it took me a while to get POLLUTED amid the highlighted letters. Tricky as it can be, this is the joy of Strands. The twists and turns set it apart from a humdrum wordsearch.

Sadly, FILTHY reminded me of the terrible song by everyone’s second favorite member of N-Sync, Justin Timberlake, in which he implores the object of his affections to “put your filthy hands on me” and, if memory serves, cook up some meat. It’s all very unpleasant.

Say what you like about JT, but he’s always kept himself very tidy and the exact opposite of UNKEMPT — even when his hair looked like a block of noodles. You wouldn’t catch him with STAINED chinos or MUDDY Timberlands.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 11 April, game #404)

  • LINGO
  • PYRAMID
  • JEOPARDY
  • PASSWORD
  • CATCHPHRASE
  • SPANGRAM: GAME SHOWS

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.

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Johnny Dee
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Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.

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