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.
NYT Strands today (game #186) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Going underground
NYT Strands today (game #186) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- PUNT
- BRUNT
- GATE
- TAROT
- LETTER
- PRUNE
NYT Strands today (game #186) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Dig them up
NYT Strands today (game #186) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: right, 7th row
Last: left, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #186) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #186, are…
- POTATO
- TURNIP
- BEET
- TARO
- RUTABAGA
- JICAMA
- SPANGRAM: ROOTVEGETABLES
- My rating: Difficult
- My score: 1 hint
I love root vegetables, but I will confess that I have never heard of JICAMA, have only vaguely heard of TARO, know RUTABAGA by its more common (outside of North America) name of swede and know BEET by its more common (in the UK at least) name of BEETROOT. In summary… I found this one to be pretty tough!
JICAMA was the only one I actually needed a hint for, because the combination of the theme clue and my stumbling upon POTATO by accident was enough for me to get started. TURNIP was an obvious one, and I know enough about BEETs thank to the US Office (thanks, Dwight!) to guess that one.
I then got the spangram, which gave me TARO by default (and with a little trial and error). That just left JICAMA and RUTABAGA; I used a hint, which gave me JICAMA, and solved that after trying multiple combinations of letters until one proved to be correct. RUTABAGA needed a similar approach; swede would have been much easier, frankly…
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday 4 September, game #185)
- ARCHES
- GLACIER
- REDWOOD
- SAGUARO
- BADLANDS
- SPANGRAM: NATIONALPARKS
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.
