NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, August 28 (game #543)
My clues will help you solve the NYT's Strands today and keep that streak going

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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, August 27 (game #542).
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 NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #543) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Do go on …
NYT Strands today (game #543) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- STALE
- BOAST
- QUOTE
- HATTER
- LIVE
- SORE
NYT Strands today (game #543) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #543) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 5th row
Last side: right, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #543) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #543, are…
- GABBY
- VERBOSE
- VOLUBLE
- TALKATIVE
- LOQUACIOUS
- SPANGRAM: CHATTERBOX
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 hint
Today’s theme gave us absolutely no clues at all, so I began by circling the board looking for possibilities and non-game words that would give me a hint.
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Among them, I saw Evita – which very briefly made me think we could be looking for musicals – but this was neither a game word or non-game word.
A hint gave me GABBY, which immediately made me think we were looking for words that describe someone who cannot stop talking. The first thing I thought of, and saw running across the board, was CHATTERBOX.
Some of the other words were less obvious – I had doubts over VOLUBLE as I connected the letters by guesswork and the wonderful LOQUACIOUS came last after several attempts to piece together a word that began with a Q.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, August 27, game #542)
- LAKE
- POND
- OCEAN
- HARBOR
- LAGOON
- SWAMP
- BAYOU
- SPANGRAM: BODIES OF WATER
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.
Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.
- Marc McLarenGlobal Editor in Chief
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.