Strands is the latest word game from the New York Times and is rapidly building a player base to rival Wordle.
The free-to-play daily game challenges players to find a series of words from a jumbled up grid of letters. As well as horizontal and vertical chains of letters, though, Strands allows players to link a letter with any of the nine other letters that surround it, giving players plenty to think about.
Strands is currently available to play via the New York Times app, as well as on mobile and PC. Check it out here.
There are a number of different themed words to be found per daily game, linked together by a cryptic clue. None of these words will overlap and they’ll fill the entire game board. There’s also something known as a Spangram, one or two words that describes the puzzle’s theme and touches at least two different sides of the board.
For every three non-themed words a player finds, they’ll be rewarded with a hint to help them complete the board. This hint will highlight which letters make up one of the words, while using a second hint will tell players the order of the letters. Hints can be stacked, but words must be longer than three letters.
The different themes mean that, on some days, Strands will be playing to your strengths while at other times you’ll undoubtedly be left scratching your head. Don’t worry though, NME is here to help. Below you’ll find the answers for today’s edition of Strands, alongside some helpful hints to assist you in solving the Spangram.
Strands hint and clues for today (#142, July 23)
Yesterday’s Strands theme was “Make Waves” and the themed words were all modes of water travel, such as ‘canoe’, ‘kayak’ and ‘paddleboard’.
Because of this, the Spangram was ‘Watercraft’.
Today’s theme is “You’re The Best”.
Your hint is: Things you’d say to someone who has done a really good job.
For a clue about the Spangram, it begins with a ‘C’, ends with a ‘N’ and is one word.
Today’s Spangram (June 28)
Want something to kick off your Strands discovery for the day?
Today’s Spangram is ‘Champion’ which starts with the ‘C’ on the right hand side of the board, and ends with the ‘N’ on the far left.
Today’s Strands answers (July 23)
As well as ‘Champion’, today’s theme of “You’re The Best” gives us the following theme words:
‘Superlative’ – starting with the top left ‘S’
‘Perfect’ – starting with the ‘P’ at the bottom right
‘Supreme’ – starting with the bottom middle ‘S’
‘Iconic’ – starting with the ‘I’ in the bottom right corner
‘Excellent’’ – snaking its way around the top right corner
Past Strands Spangram answers
To help you get in the correct mindset to solve Strands, it might be useful to look back and see how the different themes have lined up with the Spangram. Here are some recent examples:
#141 Theme: “Make Waves” – Spangram: ‘Watercraft’
#140 Theme: “S-words? (A cutting-edge theme!)” – Spangram: ‘Blades’
#139 Theme: “A Seat At The Table” – Spangram: ‘Placesetting’
#138 Theme: “And The Oscar Goes To…” – Spangram: ‘Best Acting’
We’ll update this page each day to ensure it’s got the latest Strands answer, as well as clues to help you figure out the Spangram.
Strands is currently a beta release for the New York Times, so don’t be surprised if things change over the coming weeks and months for the game. “During this testing period we aim to learn whether our customers are interested in the game and what improvements could be made before it can be released more broadly,” said the New York Times.
The post Today’s Strands answers and Spangram hints for #142 on July 23 appeared first on NME.
