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Marc McLaren

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Thursday, June 27 (game #116)

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

This might be a tricky one, depending on certain factors that I won't go into for fear of spoilers. If that's the case, you might find my hints to be helpful.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle todayNYT 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 #116) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Better together

NYT Strands today (game #116) - hint #2 - clue words

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

  • CARGO
  • RICE
  • COME
  • ROSE
  • STONE
  • LANE

NYT Strands today (game #116) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

Dining companions

NYT Strands today (game #116) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: left, 7th row

Last: 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 #116) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #116, are…

  • CHEESE
  • GRAVY
  • BISCUIT
  • MACARONI
  • BURGER
  • FRIES
  • SPANGRAM: COMBOMEALS

  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

Here's another Strands puzzle that will probably be harder for those of you who aren't in the US. Two of the pairings here – BURGER and FRIES, and MACARONI and CHEESE – are well known around the world. The other, GRAVY and BISCUITS, is not. In fact, the idea of GRAVY and BISCUITS going together in the UK would be disgusting, because gravy for us is a savoury meat (or vegetable) sauce, not a creamy one as the US equivalent is, while biscuits are what Americans would know as cookies. Mmmmm, put some more meat sauce on those Oreos, please…

Fortunately that didn't have an impact on my game today, because I have worked for American websites for long enough that I know what gravy refers to in this context, plus the other answers were simple enough that I would have worked it out anyway. The spangram was probably the hardest aspect of this game – I could see MEALS fairly on, but couldn't work out the COMBO part until fairly late into the game.

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


Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday 26 June, game #115)

  • POSH
  • SNAZZY
  • DAPPER
  • SPIFFY
  • CHIC
  • SWANK
  • DRIPPY
  • SPANGRAM: FASHIONISTA

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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