Need some assistance with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "Quiet at first" — may be the hardest puzzle yet.
Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #281, as well as the answers, should it come to that. We'll start off with some clues, before building up to the full answer for Strands #281, so read on if you need a little help.
Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #281.
Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints
The official theme for NYT Strands #281 is... "Quiet at first".
And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Odd spellings".
If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:
- MELON
- MONEY
- PRAMS
- PASTY
- LEMON
- SONIC
- PALMS
- ENEMY
- THRONE
Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with 'S' and ends with 'R'.
Scroll down to find out what it is...
It's SILENTLETTER.
Today's Strands answers
So, what are today's Strands answers for game #281?
Drumroll, please...
- WRAP
- GNOME
- PSALM
- HONESTY
- KNUCKLE
- MNEMONIC
...and the spangram was SILENTLETTER.
Strands #281
“Quiet at first”
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Hi Strands fans. This was, for me, the hardest puzzle yet.
As you can see from the huge list of clue words I found while figuring it out, this one kept me guessing until the very end - I really couldn't see any connection between the answers until then, and used four clues to even get to that point.
I needed three of them to set me on my way. Each revealed brought a seemingly completely unconnected answer. I couldn't see what WRAP, GNOME and PSALM had in common, anyway.
Still, with a bunch of characters taken off the table, I was able to start digging for possible answers. I found HONESTY spelt downwards from the right-hand side to the middle, followed by KNUCKLE above it.
At this point, I had to use another clue. It revealed a word I simply never would have gotten otherwise: MNEMONIC.
This cleared a path for the spangram, which turned out to be SILENTLETTER. Of course! The meanings of the answers may be completely unrelated, but each one starts with a silent letter.
Well done if you got that connection right away. As for me, this is one puzzle that left me feeling incredibly stupid.
Yesterday's Strands answers
Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #280 right here.
