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Tom’s Guide
Technology
Alan Martin

NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #71 (Monday, May 13 2024)

NYT Strands on a cellphone.
Strands today: Quick menu

Need a bit of help with NYT Strands today? Today's puzzle — "Best in show" — isn't too difficult to decode, but the spangram may give you a bit of trouble.

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #70, as well as the answers, should it come to that. We'll start off with some clues, before building up to the full answer for Strands #70, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #70.  

Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints

The official theme for NYT Strands #71 is... "Best in show".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: Man's best friend.

If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:

  • PEELS
  • PRIDE
  • DOLE
  • LIDS
  • PEND
  • BUSK

Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with 'D' and ends with 'E'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's DOGPILE.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #71?

Drumroll, please...

  • BEAGLE
  • POODLE
  • HOUND
  • HUSKY
  • BOXER
  • COLLIE
  • SHEPHERD
(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was DOGPILE.

Clues used: 1.🔵🔵🔵

🔵🔵💡🔵

🟡

Hey Strands fans. A bit of a deceptive puzzle this one. Although I latched onto what the theme was getting at right away - breeds of dog - the spangram left me guessing for quite some time. 

Still ticking off dog breeds was, at first, very easy. BEAGLE jumped out right away, hiding in the bottom right-hand corner, and POODLE followed to its left. I thought HOUND might be part of another word, but no: that was the full answer.

I then spotted HUSKY spelled backwards on the left-hand side, and then figured out what that mysterious 'X' was for: BOXER. COLLIE then confirmed my suspicions: that the spangram started DOG.

But how it ended had me stumped. In my desperation, I tried both 'dogidle' and 'dogpride' thinking they might be some obscure events for canine enthusiasts, but neither came up and ultimately I had to use my first clue as I couldn't decode the final answer from the remaining letters.

When that mystery answer came up as SHEPHERD, by the process of elimination, the spangram was revealed to be DOGPILE.

A slightly tricky puzzle, but a fun one!

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #70 right here.

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