A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, October 21 (game #962).
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 NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
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 #963) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Any relation?
NYT Strands today (game #963) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- MOOD
- FLOG
- TERRY
- BEER
- THERE
- MILE
NYT Strands today (game #963) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #963) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
• First side: top, 1st column
• Last side: bottom, 6th column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #963) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #963, are…
- KINFOLK
- OFFSPRING
- BLOOD
- BRETHREN
- ANCESTORS
- SPANGRAM: FAMILYTIES
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 hint
This was one of those days where my mind was elsewhere.
I struggled even though I had a strong sense of the words we would be looking for, although to begin with I did search for mother, father and auntie. Seeing KINFOLK and OFFSPRING ended that avenue.
I also labored over the spangram; despite the fact that I connected “family”, I missed the next four letters that made it FAMILYTIES.
I also had to use a hint after my initial burst; BLOOD seemed so obvious, but it had completely passed me by.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, October 21, game #962)
- BOXES
- LUGGAGE
- TRUNKS
- YEARBOOKS
- DECORATIONS
- SPANGRAM: INTHEATTIC
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which 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.