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 Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.

Your Strands expert

Marc McLaren
Your Strands expert

Marc McLaren

NYT Strands today (game #216) – hint #1 – today’s theme

What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?

Today’s NYT Strands theme is… No way!

NYT Strands today (game #216) – hint #2 – clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

  • GUST
  • CART
  • QUERY
  • BUSH
  • SHAME
  • CHANT

NYT Strands today (game #216) – hint #3 – spangram

What is a hint for today’s spangram?

Can you believe it?!

NYT Strands today (game #216) – hint #4 – spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?

First: top, 1st column

Last: bottom, 4th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #216) – the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 216 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today’s Strands, game #216, are…

  • SHAM
  • FAKE
  • QUACK
  • PHONY
  • HOAK
  • CHARLATAN
  • HUMBUG
  • SPANGRAM: THATSUNREAL

  • My rating: Moderate
  • My score: Perfect

After yesterday’s annoying Strands puzzle, today’s is much better. It’s hard, though – the theme of THATSUNREAL is a tricky one to identify, and you’ll probably have needed to get a couple of answers by accident, or to have used hints, to get started.

That’s what happened to me; I found SHAM and FAKE while searching for hint words, and together with the theme clue of ‘No way!’ that was enough information for me to work with. Not that thinking of more words was easy; I got the likes of QUACK and PHONY through a mixture of luck and inspiration, but needed to hunt for quite some time.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.


Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Friday 4 October, game #215)

  • TITLE
  • ATLAS
  • FLARE
  • MANUAL
  • QUARTER
  • REGISTRATION
  • SPANGRAM: GLOVEBOX

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT’s new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable and 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.

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