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 Sunday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, October 12 (game #588).
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 #589) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Bring binoculars
NYT Strands today (game #589) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- NOTION
- TARE
- SWIM
- WASH
- BRAG
- CUBE
NYT Strands today (game #589) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 14 letters
NYT Strands today (game #589) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: top, 6th column
Last side: bottom, 1st column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #589) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #589, are…
- FINCH
- HAWK
- GOOSE
- DUCK
- WARBLER
- WREN
- THRUSH
- SPANGRAM: FALLMIGRATION
- My rating: Hard
- My score: Perfect
“Bring binoculars” seemed like a real mystery at first. Binoculars are the sort of thing people would take on boat trips to spot whales or if they were a spy, but I couldn’t think of any occasion that was worthy of a Strands collection.
Then I found FINCH and HAWK on the board, and the penny dropped that the theme was connected to birdwatching or specifically, according to the extra-long spangram, to observing the FALLMIGRATION.
Despite featuring some short bird names – apart from the tricky WARBLER – this was far from an easy game and it took me longer than usual to complete.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Sunday, October 12, game #588)
- SPADES
- HEARTS
- WHIST
- BRIDGE
- PINOCHLE
- EUCHRE
- SPANGRAM: TRICKTAKING
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.
