
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 Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, August 8 (game #523).
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 #524) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Gastronomic gadgets
NYT Strands today (game #524) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- ROACH
- CUTE
- VEER
- STEW
- LOVE
- CHALK
NYT Strands today (game #524) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #524) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: top, 2nd column
Last side: bottom, 5th column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #524) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #524, are…
- CORKSCREW
- SPATULA
- MIXER
- ZESTER
- SIEVE
- WHISK
- SPANGRAM: KITCHEN TOOL
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
The first thing I did today was to search for the word “kitchen”, as it seemed obvious that it was what “Gastronomic gadgets” was referring to.
I found it quickly enough, but it wasn’t as straightforward as I thought it would be and it took me a while to see KITCHEN TOOL. Thinking we were looking for a plural theme, I even had kitchen tools ahead of the correct spangram.
Beyond this, the rest of the words were hidden in plain sight, but I particularly enjoyed CORKSCREW revealing itself corkscrew-style.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, August 8, game #523)
- DUKE
- COUNT
- HAWK
- DIZZY
- CANNONBALL
- YARDBIRD
- FATS
- SPANGRAM: JAZZ CATS
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.