Looking for today’s NYT Strands hints and answers? The daily puzzle from The New York Times sits alongside the Mini Crossword, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition as one of the most popular word games around, and today’s grid offers a manageable challenge with a few tricky words to unscramble.
Strands works much like a word search, but without a list of words to find. Some players spot the theme straight away and begin recognising the answers immediately. For those tougher moments, there is a helpful loophole: Strands lets you make as many words of four or more letters as you wish. For every three such words you find, the puzzle highlights one of the answers, though you will still need to unscramble it.
Today’s Strands theme and clue words
Today’s Strands theme is: Shake on it. If that does not point you in the right direction, here is a further clue: shared understanding.
Your goal is to find the hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you are stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands reveals one of the theme words. Useful words to try include MALE, LAME, STAY, RAGE, MEAL, COAT, STEAM, TRACT, TEAL and STEAL, though any words of four or more letters will work.
Strands answers and spangram for 18 September
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The aim of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that stretches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When every answer is found, each letter on the board will be used. The non-spangram answers are PACT, TREATY, CONTRACT, COVENANT and AGREEMENT.
Today’s spangram is LETSMAKEADEAL. To find it, start with the L that sits two letters across on the top row and wind downwards.
The number of answers can vary from puzzle to puzzle, so it is worth checking that every letter has been used before assuming the grid is complete.
Among the trickier Strands themes seen in the past are dated slang, with the toughest word being PHAT, and marine-life topics, where BALEEN, RIGHT, BIGEYE and SKIPJACK have all proved difficult to spot. Knowledge of sea creatures can give players a distinct advantage on those particular grids.
Strands remains a daily fixture in the New York Times games line-up, refreshing each day with a new theme and spangram for players to uncover.
