Today’s NYT Strands hints and answers.
Looking for Thursday’s Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here:
Hey there, troops! This is my last day of Strands coverage for now. My esteemed colleague Paul Tassi will be here with your hints and answers tomorrow. I’ll be back in the saddle in a couple of weeks.
Today’s NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers are coming right up.
How To Play Strands
The New York Times’ Strands puzzle is a play on the classic word search. It’s in beta for now, which means it’ll only stick around if enough people play it every day.
There’s a new game of Strands to play every day. The game will present you with a six by eight grid of letters. The aim is to find a group of words that have something in common, and you’ll get a clue as to what that theme is. When you find a theme word, it will remain highlighted in blue.
You’ll also need to find a special word called a spangram. This tells you what the words have in common. The spangram links at least two sides of the board, but it may not start or end there. While the theme words will not be a proper name, the spangram can be a proper name. When you find the spangram, it will remain highlighted in yellow.
Every letter is used once in one of the theme words and spangram. You can connect letters vertically, horizontally and diagonally, and it’s possible to switch directions in the middle of a word. If you’re playing on a touchscreen, double tap the last letter to submit your guess.
If you find three valid words of at least four letters that are not part of the theme, you’ll unlock the Hint button. Clicking this will highlight the letters that make up one of the theme words.
Be warned: You’ll need to be on your toes. Sometimes you’ll need to fill the missing word(s) in a phrase. On other days, the game may revolve around synonyms or homophones. The difficulty will vary from day to day, and the puzzle creators will try to surprise you sometimes.
What Is Today’s Strands Hint?
Scroll slowly! Just after the hint for today’s Strands puzzle, I’ll reveal what the answer words are.
The official theme hint for today’s Strand puzzle is…
Looking for a mate
Need some extra help? Here’s another hint…
Missing a partner.
There are nine theme words to find today, including the spangram.
What Are Today’s Strands Answers?
Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Strands answers.
I’ll first tell you the spangram and show you where that is on the grid. I’ll then tell you the other words and show you how they fit in.
This is your final warning!
Today’s Strands spangram is…
PAIRED
Here’s where you’ll find it on the grid…
New York Times Strands screenshot, showing the highlighted term
The rest of today’s Strands theme words are…
- PLIER
- CHOPSTICK
- MITTEN
- BOOKEND
- EARPLUG
- TONG
- WING
Here’s what the completed grid looks like…
Completed Strands grid for May 17 featuring the words PLIER, CHOPSTICK, MITTEN, PAIRED, BOOKEND, … [+]
I did not do all that well with today’s game as I used three hints overall. After using one to unlock the letters for WING, it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out what word the letters GONT were spelling out — TONG, obviously.
It was clear to me then that I was looking for things that usually come in pairs. So I found the spangram all by myself. That made it easy to spot BOOKEND and then EARPLUG.
I wasn’t seeing anything in the top section, so I unlocked another hint for the PLIER letters. I then spotted MITTEN just underneath that and, after some time to think about it, I got CHOPSTICK with the remaining letters.
Not how I would have liked to round off my latest stint of Strands coverage, but I’ll try not to let it bug me for too long.
That’s all there is to it for today’s Strands clues and answers. Be sure to check Paul’s blog for hints and the solution for Saturday’s game if you need them.
P.S. I’ve had this earworm stuck in my head over the last couple of days and now you can too.
