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 Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.
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 #173) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… The nose knows
NYT Strands today (game #173) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- DOSE
- NEED
- NEEDS
- SOLE
- MOLD
- MADE
NYT Strands today (game #173) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Sniff it and see
NYT Strands today (game #173) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First: top, 4th column
Last: Bottom, 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 #173) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #173, are…
- MUSK
- SANDALWOOD
- CEDAR
- ROSE
- LEMON
- LAVENDER
- SPANGRAM: COMMONSCENTS
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 2 hints
No complaints about today's Strands, it was simply too difficult for me to solve without needing some hints. But it's a good one in general – nicely coherent in terms of the theme clue and spangram working properly together and with six other answers that were all gettable – but not easy.
The problem, as I found, was that even when I knew what I needed to do, I couldn't wrestle any COMMONSCENTS from the deepest regions of my brain and on to the Strands board. LEMON was obvious, and I spotted SANDALWOOD simply because of its position on the corner/side of the board, but for some reason I couldn't think of the likes of MUSK and ROSE, even though with hindsight they are obvious. I got there in the end, though, and that's enough for me today.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday 22 August, game #172)
- CHOP
- STIR
- WHIP
- PULSE
- LIQUEFY
- GRIND
- PUREE
- SPANGRAM: BLENDERSETTING
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable 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.
