Jump to:
- Hint #1: Today's theme
- Hint #2: Clue words
- Hint #3: Spangram
- Hint #4: Spangram position
- Today's answers
- Yesterday's answers
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.
Your Strands expert
Your Strands expert
Marc McLaren
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 #181) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Makeshift music
NYT Strands today (game #181) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- POOL
- SPOOL
- MOON
- PINE
- SOON
- WAVE
NYT Strands today (game #181) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Unusual instrumentalists
NYT Strands today (game #181) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: left, 4th 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 #181) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #181, are…
- SPOONS
- BROOM
- COWBELL
- WASHBOARD
- STOVEPIPE
- BONES
- SPANGRAM: JUGBAND
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: Perfect
I'd never heard the term JUGBAND until today, but fortunately the theme clue of 'Makeshift music', coupled with my finding SPOONS early on, cemented the central concept in my mind very early on today.
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That made the task easier – but still not easy, because a couple of entries aside (WASHBOARD, COWBELL) I didn't know these things were used as instruments. Solving it therefore became a task in trial and error, with me looking for words, playing them, and seeing if they were answers. How do you play a BROOM? What is a STOVEPIPE? I may never know the answer (unless I look it up), but I am at the very least intrigued now.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday 30 August, game #180)
- FALLOUT
- UNCHARTED
- MINECRAFT
- HALO
- OVERWATCH
- SPANGRAM: VIDEOGAMES
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.
Marc McLaren
Global Editor in Chief
Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief, the latest in a long line of senior editorial roles he’s held in a career that started the week that Google launched (nice of them to mark the occasion). Prior to joining TR, he was UK Editor in Chief on Tom’s Guide, where he oversaw all gaming, streaming, audio, TV, entertainment, how-to and cameras coverage. He's also a former editor of the tech website Stuff and spent five years at the music magazine NME, where his duties mainly involved spoiling other people’s fun. He’s based in London, and has tested and written about phones, tablets, wearables, streaming boxes, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, games, TVs, cameras and pretty much every other type of gadget you can think of. An avid photographer, Marc likes nothing better than taking pictures of very small things (bugs, his daughters) or very big things (distant galaxies). He also enjoys live music, gaming, cycling, and beating Wordle (he authors the daily Wordle today page).
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