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.
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 #266) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Start small
NYT Strands today (game #266) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- ROUGE
- ROGUE
- CREW
- RIDE
- PIPER
- DIRE
NYT Strands today (game #266) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• No big deal
NYT Strands today (game #266) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: right, 4th row
Last: left, 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 #266) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #266, are…
- DEVIL
- SPOON
- DIPPER
- WOMEN
- RASCALS
- FOOT
- LEAGUE
- ROCK
- SPANGRAM: LITTLE
- My rating: Hard
- My score: Perfect
Now, this is more like it! This is absolutely the hardest Strands puzzle we've had for weeks, in large part because the concept is much more abstract than some of the recent list-items-in-a-specific-category games.
Instead, this is akin to the 'Blank word' groups you regularly get in Connections, with all of these being words that can go after LITTLE: LEAGUE, RASCALS, ROCK, DEVIL, WOMEN and so on. The only ones I don't understand are SPOON and FOOT, but I presume they have some relevance for others and that's just a lack of general knowledge on my part shining through.
Anyway, I solved it in the end, but had to think about it for a while, and didn't really get what the concept was until about halfway through; I kept finding words based on nothing more than looking for letters that often went together, then using the limited options in some corners of the board to get more. It was only when I got RASCALS that it became clear, which led me to the spangram and ultimately success. Good work, NYT.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 23 November, game #265)
- BANG
- HONK
- SIZZLE
- CRASH
- CRUNCH
- JINGLE
- KAPOW
- SPANGRAM: SOUNDEFFECTS
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.
