Here's another potentially tricky Strands for you, in case you were expecting anything different. It's solvable, sure, but you might need to think creatively to do it without any in-game hints. Or you could use my own clues to set you on your way.
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 #138) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… And the Oscar goes to ...
NYT Strands today (game #138) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- NEST
- GRIND
- BRINE
- WARE
- BEST
- SANE
NYT Strands today (game #138) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Big-screen winners
NYT Strands today (game #138) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
• First: left, 3rd 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 #138) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #138, are…
- FIELD
- SWANK
- BERRY
- BRIDGES
- PHOENIX
- STONE
- HUNT
- SPANGRAM: BESTACTING
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: Perfect
The NYT couldn't really have done more to signpost this one, giving us the theme clue of 'And the Oscar goes to ...', which couldn't really be misinterpreted. However, I still found it reasonably difficult to solve, because the answers were all names of Oscar winners that are also not proper nouns, for instance FIELD and STONE, which meant there were probably hundreds of possible solutions and the only way to solve it was to look for them. Obviously looking for words is always a part of Strands – but on most days you can at least wrack your brain for words that might be an answer, then look for them. Here, you had to find words first.
Anyway, I solved them all in the end, although it took me a while to get the spangram, BESTACTING, because I was looking for an actual award name such as either BESTACTOR or BESTACTRESS. Once I had that the game became a lot easier, and I didn't require any hints – just plenty of time.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday 18 July, game #137)
- SHIFT
- ESCAPE
- SPACE
- RETURN
- CONTROL
- ENTER
- DELETE
- SPANGRAM: KEYBOARD
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.