NYT Strands today: hints, spangram and answers for Sunday, August 18

Strands is a fresh new daily puzzle from The New York Times, offering a more challenging twist on the traditional word search. You’ll need sharp eyes and a bit of strategy to crack this one.

 

How to Play NYT Strands

In Strands, your mission is to uncover the “theme words” hidden within a grid of letters. You can move letters by dragging or tapping them to form words. Once you’ve crafted a word, double-tap the last letter to confirm it. If you’ve found a theme word, it’ll be highlighted in blue, and those letters will be locked in place, no longer available for other words.

But even if you discover words that aren’t part of the theme, you’re not out of luck! For every three non-theme words you find that are at least four letters long, you’ll earn a hint. This hint will reveal letters from one of the theme words, which you then need to unscramble.

In each puzzle, every letter is used exactly once to spell out the theme words—no overlaps. Among the hidden words, there’s always a special “spangram.” This spangram is a key theme word (or words) that connects two opposite sides of the board, and it will be highlighted in yellow when found.

The goal? Complete the puzzle as quickly as possible without relying too much on hints.

 

Hints for today’s NYT Strands

Some days, Strands can be a bit tricky. If you’re having trouble with today’s puzzle, here’s a hint to nudge you in the right direction: Think of mediums for art.

Today’s Spangram

To give you a little boost, here’s today’s spangram, which might help you piece together the rest of the puzzle:

ARTCLASS

 

Today’s NYT Strands Answers

If you’re still stuck and need a hand, here are the answers for today’s Strands puzzle:

  • MOLD
  • BRUSH
  • CHARCOAL
  • EASEL
  • PAINT
  • CANVAS
  • PALETTE

These are the theme words for today’s puzzle, so now you can see how everything connects. And remember, the puzzle changes daily, so come back tomorrow for a new challenge!