NYT Strands today – my hints and answers for July 17 (#501)
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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, July 16 (game #500).
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 #501) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Find your seat
NYT Strands today (game #501) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
ZANY
CLAM
BONY
WING
CROSS
HEATER
NYT Strands today (game #501) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 8 letters
NYT Strands today (game #501) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: right, 2nd row
Last side: left, 2nd row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #501) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #501, are…
BOXES
MEZZANINE
LOBBY
BALCONY
WINGS
ORCHESTRA
SPANGRAM: THEATERS
My rating: Easy
My score: 1 hint
I didn't see the THEATERS spangram straight away – possibly because I am hardwired to see the UK spelling. Instead, I saw several non-game words in heat, heater, and heaters. So, I took the lazy option of starting with a hint.
BOXES didn't help me narrow things down much, but it did make me think that we were looking for something about venues and auditoriums. Seeing two letter Zs together helped me get MEZZANINE – a lovely sounding word – and once I got LOBBY I knew that we were looking for words associated with theaters.
It's a little odd that 'stage' is missing from the search as you can't have a theater without one, but that's my only quibble.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, July 16, game #500)
CASE
SPEAKER
STAND
STYLUS
CHARGER
KEYBOARD
FOLIO
SPANGRAM: TABLET
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.
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