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 Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, February 18 (game #352).
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 #353) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Pick your own prefix
NYT Strands today (game #353) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- LUCK
- SALE
- CLEAR
- BLUR
- SOLD
- MALE
NYT Strands today (game #353) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Small fruits
NYT Strands today (game #353) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 5th row
Last side: 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 #353) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #353, are…
- ELDER
- STRAW
- HUCKLE
- BLUE
- RASP
- SALMON
- GOLDEN
- BLACK
- SPANGRAM: BERRIES
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 1 hint
Interestingly, BERRIES is a linguistic invention and many languages other than English do not gather these small fruits into a single food family and instead have unique words for STRAWberry, RASPberry, etc.
The truth is they are not related at all. The word berry comes from the Latin for grape – but we don’t think of grapes as berries – and was just used to describe small fruits. Meanwhile, to add to the confusion what some people think is a HUCKLEberry, other people think of as a BLUEberry.
Like mushrooms, berries are an area you have to be careful if foraging in the wild. Many varieties, including ELDER, will give you a very upset stomach, while some, including Virginia Creeper Berries, can be fatal to humans. Perhaps it would be a good idea to not give them a name that includes the same suffix as things that are delicious.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 18 February, game #352)
- JELLYFISH
- SPORPION
- HORNET
- PLATYPUS
- BUMBLEBEE
- SPANGRAM: STINGERS
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.
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