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 #271) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Give me a break
NYT Strands today (game #271) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- DOLL
- WIND
- RATE
- IRATE
- NODE
- WANT
NYT Strands today (game #271) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Busy doing nothing
NYT Strands today (game #271) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: top, 3rd column
Last: bottom, 3rd column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #271) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #271, are…
- CHILL
- RELAX
- UNWIND
- PAUSE
- LOAF
- LOUNGE
- LUXURIATE
- SPANGRAM: DOWNTIME
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 1 hint
This was a harder Strands puzzle than many, and for that I give it praise. Nobody wants a game that's so easy it becomes formulaic, so kudos to the NYT team for this one, which needed a bit more thought than the type that merely involve naming objects in a particular group.
Sure, the theme here – words for DOWNTIME – is no more complex than some of the others, but unless you're a walking thesaurus you'll have needed to get that old gray matter working in order to find them all. As it happens, I needed a hint halfway through; I simply ran out of synonyms after CHILL, RELAX, UNWIND and PAUSE. Once I had the spangram things got a lot easier, as is usually the case, and I finished a few minutes later so I could go and LUXURIATE or LOAF elsewhere…
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, 28 November, game #270)
- TURKEY
- POTATOES
- GRAVY
- CRANBERRIES
- ROLLS
- YAMS
- SPANGRAM: LETSFEAST
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.
