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 #242) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Trick or treat!
NYT Strands today (game #242) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- RINSE
- TRUSS
- POSE
- COPE
- MINK
- PUNK
NYT Strands today (game #242) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Fancy dress!
NYT Strands today (game #242) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: left, 4th 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 #242) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #242, are…
- GHOST
- MUMMY
- WITCH
- CLOWN
- PUMPKIN
- PRINCESS
- PIRATE
- SPANGRAM: COSTUME
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
I'm a staunch traditionalist when it comes to Halloween costumes: they need to be spooky, otherwise what's the point? I think this might be yet another cultural difference between America and the UK, possibly, although I increasingly see it creeping up on us over here too, with more and more people attending Halloween parties dressed as, well, whatever they want. And I say stop this! Go as a GHOST, go as a MUMMY, go as a WITCH. Maybe go as a PUMPKIN – not scary, but Halloween at least – or just about a CLOWN, if it's a scary one. Then again, they're all scary in a sense.
Today's Strands isn't strictly Halloween themed, because the spangram is merely COSTUMES rather than having the word Halloween in there, but then again the theme clue was 'Trick or treat'. For that reason it took me slightly longer to spot PRINCESS (not acceptable for Halloween, sorry) and PIRATE (ditto), but really this was still among the easiest games in recent days.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 30 October, game #241)
- LICORICE
- LOLLIPOP
- TOFFEE
- CHOCOLATE
- GUMDROP
- SPANGRAM: CANDYSTORE
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.
