Consider this your warning: today's Strands puzzle from the NYT is really, really difficult. Well, that was my experience at least; maybe you're a lot smarter than me. But if you do struggle with it, I've got some helpful hints below.
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 #65) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Can you dig it?
NYT Strands today (game #65) - hint #2 - clue words
What are some good clue words today?
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
• HOLD
• BEGAN
• MUST
• SLOPE
• CLAP
• EDGE
NYT Strands today (game #65) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• All that glitters
NYT Strands today (game #65) - hint #4 - spangram position
What two sides of the board does today's spangram touch?
• First: top, 1st column
• Second: bottom, 3rd column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #65) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #65, are…
- GOLD
- SILVER
- COPPER
- ANTIMONY
- ARSENIC
- BISMUTH
- SPANGRAM: HEAVYMETAL
- My rating: Very hard
- My score: Two hints
This might be arrogance on my part, but I've come to feel that I should always get a perfect score on the Strands. After all, it is possible to solve it by brute force if necessary, simply playing words until something turns blue (or yellow), and never using a hint. However, there's always a time-versus-reward algorithm playing in my head, and today I decided after about 30 minutes of fruitlessly searching that I had had enough.
The clue phrase – 'Can you dig it?' – implied 'beneath the ground', but I found the likes of HOLE and EARTH without either of them changing color. So in the end I used a hint and got GOLD. Great – I should be able to solve it now with no more hassle. Except… this got harder from there. SILVER and COPPER were easy enough, and ANTIMONY (which I've never even heard of) was revealed by simple virtue of the fact that there was now nothing else that would fit in that space. Likewise, HEAVYMETAL (nice pun, NYT) was easy to find. But the final two… wow! Eventually, I had to use a second hint to reveal ARSENIC, which I didn't even know was a metal, before solving BISMUTH (never heard of it) by default.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday 6 May, game #64)
- LETTER
- BILL
- MAGAZINE
- POSTCARD
- INVITE
- PACKAGE
- SPANGRAM: SNAILMAIL
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's currently in Beta 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.
