It's Thursday, and that means it's time for another brain-breaking instalment of the NYT's Strands puzzle. Except… that makes no sense, because there's a new Strands game each day, not just Thursdays.
Anyway, the important thing is that there's a new Strands game to play, courtesy of the New York Times Games section. I'd rate today's as a fairly easy one, but as always, YMMV.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
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 #39) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… It's all in your head
NYT Strands today (game #39) - hint #2 - clue words
What are some good clue words today?
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
• DEAD
• DEVIL
• FAKE
• MEAT
• MEANT
• BOYS
NYT Strands today (game #39) - hint #3 - Spangram
What is a hint for today's Spangram?
• Take a trip to the inner world
NYT Strands today (game #39) - hint #4 - Spangram position
Where does today's Spangram start and end?
• Start: top, 3rd column
• End: bottom, 5th column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #39) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #39, are…
- REVERIE
- FANTASY
- ILLUSION
- FIGMENT
- DAYDREAM
- SPANGRAM: MAKEBELIEVE
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
Strands is usually easier when the answers are longer, because that way there are fewer of them to find, and once you spot one it tends to make finding the others more straightforward.
Today's game is a good example: the clue of 'It's all in your head' could have implied a couple of directions, but once I noticed FANTASY in the top right it was obvious what kind of word I needed to hunt for. The two Ls in the bottom right sat next to I and U, so my brain immediately thought ILLUSION!
With those two in place, the Spangram had to run from top to bottom rather than left to right, because there were no free spaces left on the right. Reading down from the top row led me quite quickly to MAKEBELIEVE, and from there the other answers flowed with no real problems.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday 10 April, game #38)
- THANKS
- CHEERS
- BEST
- REGARDS
- SINCERELY
- ALWAYS
- SPANGRAM: SIGNINGOFF
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's currently in Beta 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.
