Looking for a different day?
A new NEW Strands puzzle pops up at midnight every day for your time zone – meaning some people always play ‘today’s game’ while others play ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for the Sunday puzzle instead then click here: NEW Strand’s Tips and Answers for Sunday, July 12 (Game #861).
Strands is the NYT’s latest word game, following the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult though, so read on for my Strands tips.
Want more word-based fun? So check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle Today pages for tips and answers to these games, and Marc’s Wordle Today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER ALERT: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NEW Strands today (game #862) – tip #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NEW Strands theme is… Just what I needed
NEW Strands Today (Game #862) – Hint #2 – Clue Words
Play one of these words to unlock the in-game hint system.
- LEAN
- TASTE
- THESPIAN
- HUNT
- JOKE
- WHEEL
NEW Strands today (game #862) – tip #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are there in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 11 letters
NEW Strands today (game #862) – tip #4 – spangram position
What two sides of the board do today’s spangram touch?
• First page: left, 5th row
• Last page: right, 6th row
Okay, the answers are below, so DON’T SCROLL IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NEW Strands today (game #862) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #862, are…
- PLEASANT
- LOVELY
- ENJOYABLE
- SATISFACTORY
- SPANGRAM: ENCOUNTERS
- My assessment: Hard
- My score: 1 tip
Only four words to spot, but my goodness they were hard to spot.
Fortunately, the board was full of non-game words, including a few unusually long ones, so I took a hint.
But even after becoming Pleasant, I still didn’t understand the search and worked over the remaining three words and the Woodhouse spanframe.
I hope it was all more JOYFUL and SATISFYING for you.
Yesterday’s NYT Strand’s Answer (Sunday, July 12, Game #861)
- STUP
- DISTRICT
- BODEGA
- UNDERGROUND
- TAXI
- BAGEL
- DELI
- SPANGRAM: EMPIRESTATE
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s not-so-new-anymore word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now a full-fledged member of NYT’s game stable that’s been running for a year and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I have a full guide on how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips to solve it, so check it out if you’re struggling to beat it every day.



