Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Thursday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, August 21 (game #536).

Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc’s Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

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 #537) – hint #1 – today’s theme

What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?

• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Whodunit?

NYT Strands today (game #537) – hint #2 – clue words

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

  • MEET
  • DEVIL
  • REVOLT
  • RAID
  • POEM
  • STRICT

NYT Strands today (game #537) – hint #3 – spangram letters

How many letters are in today’s spangram?

• Spangram has 11 letters

NYT Strands today (game #537) – hint #4 – spangram position

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

First side: top, 1st column

Last side: bottom, 1st column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #537) – the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 537 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today’s Strands, game #536, are…

  • DETECTIVE
  • STRANGER
  • LOVER
  • RIVAL
  • SPOUSE
  • HEIR
  • SPANGRAM: ITS A MYSTERY
  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

Today we had all the usual suspects of a classic whodunnit? plus, of course, the investigator who will unravel the clues and reveal the killer.

The first word I spotted today was DETECTIVE and at this stage I was uncertain exactly what we were looking for. The word STRANGER helped and then I saw the long snaking spangram.

ITS A MYSTERY is also the name of a rather cheesy new wave song from the early 1980s by Toyah Wilcox, the chorus of which is ingrained into my brain, particularly the line “a shot in the dark, a big question mark”. I couldn’t stop thinking of it during today’s search – which was mercifully brief.

Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Thursday, August 21, game #536)

  • HULK
  • WOLVERINE
  • STORM
  • DAREDEVIL
  • THING
  • ROGUE
  • SPANGRAM: SUPERHEROES

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT’s not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable that has been running for a year and which 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.