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TechRadar
Marc McLaren

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, October 27 (game #238)

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 #238) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Best of the best

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #2 - clue words

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

  • FILE
  • HIDE
  • REAR
  • CLASP
  • PART
  • PROP

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

__ of the __

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: left, 5th row

Last: right, 3rd row

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

NYT Strands today (game #238) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #238, are…

  • CLASS
  • PARTY
  • LITTER
  • LIFE
  • CREAM
  • CROP
  • HEAD
  • PICK
  • SPANGRAM: PERFECTPAIR

  • My rating: Hard
  • My score: Perfect

Wow, this was far harder than the average Strands puzzle. And far more conceptual than many of the most recent games, which have essentially been related words about a topic you may or may not have had experience with. In contrast, this is all about language, really – all eight words are of the format __ of the __, for instance CREAM of the CROP or LIFE of the PARTY, with the first being the 'best' example of the second.

I had no idea what was going on for roughly half of the game, uncovering words at regular intervals but failing to spot any kind of connection between them – or between them and the theme clue of 'Best of the best'. It was only when I found LIFE that it started to make sense. I already had PARTY, and those two words obviously went together. When I found CREAM and then CROP in quick succession it was clear what I needed to do, and I was able to come up with the remaining words without any issues after that. But it's a challenging one, for sure.

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


Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 26 October, game #237)

  • ARIA
  • BALLAD
  • SHANTY
  • JINGLE
  • LULLABY
  • SPIRITUAL
  • SPANGRAM: VOCALMUSIC

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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