Your Saturday Strands is, well… take a look for yourself and see what you think. I didn't like it, frankly. But maybe it's just me. Anyway, there are some hints below if you need them.
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 #97) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Beat the heat
NYT Strands today (game #97) - hint #2 - clue words
What are some good clue words today?
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
• CHAMP
• BOTCH
• SHOOT
• PEACH
• CREAM
• POOCH
NYT Strands today (game #97) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• The sun is out
NYT Strands today (game #97) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
• First: left, 5th row
• Last: right, 3rd row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #97) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #97, are…
- BEACH
- CAMP
- POPSICLE
- CARNIVAL
- LEMONADE
- HOPSCOTCH
- SPANGRAM: SUMMER
- My rating: Confused
- My score: Perfect
Not for the first time, I'm completely baffled by the reasoning here. For those of you who have stumbled across this column for the first time, I'm based in the UK – and I accept that the cultural differences between the UK and US may explain my inability to understand what's going on here. Or rather, I won't accept it; it shouldn't be the case that the game is so heavily skewed towards one country. Yes, the NYT is a US newspaper, but the internet is worldwide and the whole Wordle phenomenon was to a large extent based on the fact that it appealed to people everywhere. This… this is just odd.
Exhibit A: why is HOPSCOTCH here? What does that have to do with SUMMER? Does HOPSCOTCH mean something different in the US than it does in the UK? And why is 'Beat the heat' the theme clue? A POPSICLE might help you beat the heat, sure – and indeed that was the first word I found. But how does CARNIVAL help you beat the heat? Or CAMP? It's a weird mish-mash of words. I solved it, but I almost wish that I hadn't.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday 7 June, game #96)
- KAPPA
- ALPHA
- EPSILON
- GAMMA
- DELTA
- SIGMA
- BETA
- SPANGRAM: GREEKLETTERS
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's currently in Beta 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.
