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TechRadar
Marc McLaren

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Friday, September 20 (game #201)

NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background.

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.

NYT Strands today (game #201) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… A way with words

NYT Strands today (game #201) - hint #2 - clue words

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

  • DIRTY
  • STRICT
  • POSE
  • POSED
  • DEAN
  • DOSE

NYT Strands today (game #201) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

A bard's domain

NYT Strands today (game #201) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: left, 4th row

Last: right, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #201) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #201, are…

  • RHYME
  • VERSE
  • METER
  • STANZA
  • SYNTAX
  • DICTION
  • SCANSION
  • SPANGRAM: POETRY

  • My rating: Moderate
  • My score: 2 hints

I've never been a fan of poetry, though I love words and language. Set it to music and it's a different matter – and I guess the best lyricists are also poets. But ask me to talk about SCANSION and STANZAs and I'm a little lost. All of which is a way of justifying why I needed two hints to complete what for some people will probably be a fairly simple Strands puzzle.

I worked out what the theme was early on, with the clue of 'A way with words' and the fact that I found RHYME by accident combining to set me on the right track. But though I spotted a couple more, I couldn't get them all without needing a helping hand for METER and STANZA. After that I spotted the spangram, and the others were solved pretty much by a combination of guesswork and my modicum of knowledge.

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


Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday 19 September, game #200)

  • SPIDER
  • MILLIPEDE
  • BEETLE
  • TERMITE
  • EARWIG
  • SPANGRAM: CREEPYCRAWLIES

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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