NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, April 14 (game #42)

News
By Marc McLaren
published

Our clues will help you solve the NYT's Strands today and keep that streak going

NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
(Image credit: New York Times)
Jump to:

Have you been hooked by Strands yet? It's fast becoming a must-play for me, (almost) as essential as getting my daily Wordle fix.

Presumably, if you're reading this page then you are at least vaguely interested in it – so read on for some hints for today's game.

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
Marc McLaren
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 #42) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Join the club!

NYT Strands today (game #42) - hint #2 - clue words

What are some good clue words today?

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

• MATE

• MATES

• SMITH

• WITH

• RULE

• PICK

NYT Strands today (game #42) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Yum!

NYT Strands today (game #42) - hint #4 - spangram position

Where does today's spangram start and end?

• Start: left, 4th row

• End: right, 4th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #42) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game #42 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #42, are…

  • BACON
  • MAYONNAISE
  • TOMATO
  • LETTUCE
  • PICKLE
  • TURKEY
  • SPANGRAM: SANDWICH
  • My rating: Moderate
  • My score: Perfect

Sandwiches are objectively the best food, so this one should have been right up my street. Unfortunately, I've never eaten a club sandwich, so found it slightly harder than some people might have done. Why? Well, the fact that I'm a vegetarian is probably the main reason, but to that I can add that a) mayonnaise is the devil's condiment, b) the best sandwiches are simple, not stuffed with needless ingredients. Just give me mature cheddar with salted butter and freshly baked bread and I'm in heaven.

Anyway, for that reason I found it difficult to uncover all of the words until MAYONNAISE gave the board some structure, after which point it was easier to spot the remaining answers. Even then, it took me a while to see PICKLE; why would you put pickle in a sandwich that already has all of that in it? Madness.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday 13 April, game #41)

  • QUEEN
  • RUSH
  • JOURNEY
  • HEART
  • OASIS
  • NIRVANA
  • POISON
  • SPANGRAM: ROCKBANDS

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.

Marc McLaren
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).