Consider this your warning: today's Strands puzzle from the NYT is really, really difficult. Well, that was at least my experience; maybe you are much smarter than me. But if you're struggling with it, I have some helpful tips below.
SPOILER WARNING: Today's NYT Strands info is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #65) – track #1 – today's topic
What's the topic of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands topic is… Can you dig it?
NYT Strands Today (Game #65) – Clue #2 – Keywords
What are some good keywords today?
Play any of these words to unlock the game's hint system.
• HOLD
• BEGAN
• HAS TO
• EARRING
• APPLAUD
• EDGE
NYT Strands today (game #65) – clue #3 – spangram
What's a clue for today's spangram?
• everything that shines
NYT Strands today (game #65) – clue #4 – spangram position
Which two sides of the board does today's spangram touch?
• First: top, first column
• Second: bottom, third column
Well, the answers are below, so DON'T SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands Today (Game #65): The Answers
The answers to today's 65th Strands game are…
- GOLD
- SILVER
- COPPER
- ANTIMONY
- ARSENIC
- BISMUTH
- SPANGRAM: HEAVY METAL
- My rating: Very hard
- My score: Two tracks
This may be arrogance on my part, but I've come to feel like I should always get a perfect score on the Strands. After all, it's possible to solve it by brute force if necessary, just 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 fruitless searching, that I'd had enough.
The key phrase: “Can you dig it?” – implied 'underground', but I found things like HOLE and EARTH without either of them changing color. So in the end I used a hint and got GOLD. Great, you should be able to solve it now without any further problems. Except… this got harder from there. SILVER and COPPER were easy enough, and ANTIMONY (which I had never heard of) revealed itself by the simple virtue of the fact that there was now nothing else that could fit in that space. Likewise, HEAVYMETAL (nice pun, NYT) was easy to find. But the last two… wow! Finally, I had to use a second clue to reveal ARSENIC, which I didn't even know was a metal, before resolving BISMUTH (never heard of it) by default.
As was your day? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Strands Answers (Monday, May 6, Game #64)
- LETTER
- BILL
- MAGAZINE
- POSTCARD
- INVITE
- PACKAGE
- SPANGRAM: SNAIL
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's new word game, after Wordle and Connections. It is currently in Beta and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I have a complete guide on how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check it out if you're struggling to beat it every day.
