NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Saturday, August 17 (game #167)

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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
(Image credit: New York Times)
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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.

Your Strands expert
Marc McLaren
Your Strands expert
Marc McLaren

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Carle classic

NYT Strands today (game #167) - hint #2 - clue words

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

  • SLANG
  • GLEE
  • WHELP
  • HELP
  • MICE
  • RAIL

NYT Strands today (game #167) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Bedtime story

NYT Strands today (game #167) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: left, 3rd row

Last: right, 6th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #167) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 167 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #167, are…

  • LEAF
  • APPLE
  • PICKLE
  • SALAMI
  • WATERMELON
  • SPANGRAM: HUNGRYCATERPILLAR
  • My rating: Hard
  • My score: 5 hints

OK, so what we have here is the most difficult, stupidest Strands puzzle for weeks – unless you happen to a) know what the reference to 'Carle classic' means and b) remember what all of the things eaten by the HUNGRYCATERPILLAR were.

I did not recall that Eric Carle was the author of that classic children's book, until after I got the spangram and realized what linked these answers. In my defense, my daughters are 14. It is at least 11 years since I read that book to them, and expecting me (or anyone else) to remember the dietary choices of a growing insect after more than a decade is, well, stupid. Plus, it's called the VERY Hungy Caterpillar, but 'very' doesn't feature in the spangram.

Anyway, I needed clues for every single one of the answers other than PICKLE, which I got by accident, so this was deeply unsatisfying.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday 16 August, game #166)

  • SINK
  • SWIM
  • MAKE
  • BREAK
  • FEAST
  • FAMINE
  • DOUBLE
  • NOTHING
  • SPANGRAM: OPTIONS

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 McLaren
Marc McLaren
Global Editor in Chief

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).

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