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, September 17 (game #563).
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 #564) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Practice makes perfect
NYT Strands today (game #564) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- CINQUE
- HEEL
- CHIP
- LOAN
- SNORE
- RATE
NYT Strands today (game #564) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 12 letters
NYT Strands today (game #564) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: top, 3rd 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 #564) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #564, are…
- TUNE
- SCALE
- CHORD
- THEORY
- RECITAL
- TECHNIQUE
- SPANGRAM: PIANOLESSONS
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 hint
The theme "practice makes perfect” could apply to nearly anything, so after finding a half a dozen non-game words I decided to take a hint.
The hint I was given, TUNE, immediately made me think of music, as did SCALE which I spotted next. But it wasn’t until I saw PIANO and then LESSONS that the penny finally dropped.
I automatically gravitate to rare letters when doing a Strands search but I was somehow blind to TECHNIQUE, seeing it last of all. But then one of the wonders of this game is how often words are hiding in plain sight and even without the twists and right-to-left reading you fail to see them.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, September 17, game #563)
- BOLD
- TIMID
- QUIET
- NOISY
- FLEXIBLE
- RIGID
- SPANGRAM: OPPOSITESATTRACT
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.
