Looking for a different day?
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 Monday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, October 20 (game #596).
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 #597) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Banding together
NYT Strands today (game #597) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- LIME
- RAGE
- CORE
- STRIVE
- LIVER
- HIRE
NYT Strands today (game #597) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #597) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 3rd row
Last side: right, 4th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #597) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #597, are…
- OPENER
- STAGE
- ENCORE
- HEADLINER
- MERCHANDISE
- SPANGRAM: LIVECONCERT
- My rating: Hard
- My score: Perfect
I don’t think I’ve ever spotted so many non-game words before and sadly that includes words where I should have looked further. If I’d have done that, I’d have spotted that head was HEADLINER, open was OPENER and live was the spangram LIVECONCERT.
Instead, it was STAGE that got me on the right track to completing the game without resorting to any hints.
MERCHANDISE is an odd inclusion, and was certainly the hardest word to spot, but I guess shelling out for a limited-edition T-shirt or cap is now part of the concert experience.
In fact, at recent shows by Oasis in London, many people queued to be let in first not so they could get down the front, but so they could buy the rarest merch and then resell it online.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Monday, October 20, game #596)
- MEMO
- SIGNATURE
- ROUTING
- NUMBER
- ADDRESS
- AMOUNT
- SPANGRAM: CHECKLIST
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.
