Hello! Today's Strands puzzle is a real head-scratcher, so you'll need your wits about you to solve it. Not feeling at your smartest today? Don't worry, I have some helpful hints for you below. (But you don't need them really. Go on, you can do it. You got this!)
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 #52) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… This is a puzzle
NYT Strands today (game #52) - hint #2 - clue words
What are some good clue words today?
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
• ROUND
• LASER
• DRIED
• RATES
• SQUARE
• MAGE
NYT Strands today (game #52) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Figure them out
NYT Strands today (game #52) - hint #4 - spangram position
Where does today's spangram start and end?
• Start: bottom, 3rd column
• End: top, 3rd column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #52) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #52, are…
- MYSTERY
- CONUNDRUM
- QUANDARY
- ENIGMA
- RIDDLE
- SPANGRAM: BRAINTEASERS
- My rating: Very hard
- My score: Perfect
I'm rating this one as very hard, despite the fact that I solved it without using any hints, because it was, frankly, a thoroughly frustrating experience.
Maybe my brain just wasn't in the right place for it, but it took me about half a day to solve it. I started, stopped, took a break, started again, stopped again, got my hair cut, started, stopped, got lunch… I just could not find a way in.
Once I 'got' it, I was away – it was finding the first answer that was the problem. And that was made harder today by virtue of there being only six answers to find, all of which were relatively long words and with mostly complicated spellings. Not that I couldn't spell them (I am a journalist after all), but that staring at the board didn't make them materialize in the way that simpler words often do.
Eventually I spotted MYSTERY, at which point I realized I needed words that mean a puzzle. And then CONUNDRUM, ENIGMA and QUANDARY followed. The spangram still foxed me for ages, though – I could see BRAINTEASER and must have played it a dozen times because I was so convinced it was the answer, before finally realizing it needed an ERS on the end. D'oh!
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday 23 April, game #51)
- PECAN
- BUTTER
- FLOUR
- SALT
- SYRUP
- SUGAR
- VANILLA
- SPANGRAM: INGREDIENTS
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.
