NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, March 13 (game #740)

NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
(Image credit: New York Times)
Looking for a different day?

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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, March 12 (game #739).

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.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

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NYT Strands today (game #740) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Mountain band

NYT Strands today (game #740) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

  • RIFLE
  • SCAM
  • RACE
  • MANE
  • LION
  • CHARM

NYT Strands today (game #740) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

Spangram has 14 letters

NYT Strands today (game #740) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: bottom, 3rd column

Last side: top, 4th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #740) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 740 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #740, are…

  • BANJO
  • MANDOLIN
  • FIDDLE
  • GUITAR
  • HARMONICA
  • SPANGRAM: BLUEGRASSMUSIC

  • My rating: Hard
  • My score: Perfect

The letter J is such a rarity that my eyes shot to it immediately.

However, after getting BANJO, finding the other folky instruments in today’s search was a much slower process — in fact, the only easy one was FIDDLE, thanks to it being hidden within the super-long spangram.

Bluegrass is an unusual genre in that it is named after the act who first popularized it — Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys — rather than being a description of its sound. It’s a bit like calling heavy metal 'Black Sabbath', or calling disco 'Moroder'. Although now that I think of it, that wouldn't be a terrible thing.


Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, March 12, game #739)

  • COMPLETE
  • TOTAL
  • UTTER
  • THOROUGH
  • VERITABLE
  • SPANGRAM: DYEDINTHEWOOL

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.

TOPICS
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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