NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Monday, August 12 (game #162)
Our 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](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XrpFgcngWrtXQscKdLLAZB-320-80.jpg)
Today's Strands puzzle is a reasonably tough one, so read on for my hints below – or the answers if you get really stuck.
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 #162) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Everybody cut footloose!
NYT Strands today (game #162) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- SPIRE
- SPIKE
- LOVE
- LOVED
- LOSS
- MORE
NYT Strands today (game #162) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Get your moves on
NYT Strands today (game #162) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: top, 5th column
Last: bottom, 2nd column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #162) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #162, are…
- FLOSS
- TWERK
- MOONWALK
- VOGUE
- HUSTLE
- PIROUETTE
- SPANGRAM: DANCEMOVES
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 2 hints
Expecting me to solve a puzzle about dance moves is like asking my labrador retriever to perform open-heart surgery. I'm so far out of my comfort zone I might as well be on another planet. That I still managed to find all of the answers points to this one being moderately difficult, rather than outright hard.
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The key is in the spangram, because once you knew the theme was DANCEMOVES – which the theme clue of 'Everybody cut footloose!' might have given away, but which a couple of answers probably will have done anyway – then that spangram will have stood out. MOONWALK is also a relatively obvious one that takes up a lot of space, and though I needed a couple of hints, I was able to get most by trial and error. I have no idea what the FLOSS is, though.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday 11 August, game #161)
- DECK
- PATIO
- VERANDA
- BALCONY
- SUNROOM
- TERRACE
- SPANGRAM: BONUSSPACES
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.
Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief, the latest in a long line of senior editorial roles he’s held in a career that started the week that Google launched (nice of them to mark the occasion). Prior to joining TR, he was UK Editor in Chief on Tom’s Guide, where he oversaw all gaming, streaming, audio, TV, entertainment, how-to and cameras coverage. He's also a former editor of the tech website Stuff and spent five years at the music magazine NME, where his duties mainly involved spoiling other people’s fun. He’s based in London, and has tested and written about phones, tablets, wearables, streaming boxes, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, games, TVs, cameras and pretty much every other type of gadget you can think of. An avid photographer, Marc likes nothing better than taking pictures of very small things (bugs, his daughters) or very big things (distant galaxies). He also enjoys live music, gaming, cycling, and beating Wordle (he authors the daily Wordle today page).