20-07-2025
NYT Strands today – my hints and answers for July 20 (#504)
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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 Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, July 19 (game #503).
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 #504) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Shore thing!
NYT Strands today (game #504) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
BEAR
HATS
DATA
CHAT
PAGE
SONG
NYT Strands today (game #504) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 11 letters
NYT Strands today (game #504) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 3rd row
Last side: right, 8th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #504) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #504, are…
WRAP
BIKINI
SARONG
TRUNKS
SANDALS
SWIMSUIT
SPANGRAM: BEACH ATTIRE
My rating: Easy
My score: Perfect
An easy search today. One that we could do from the safety of a sun lounger without having to tax our brains too much, although initially I did think we were looking for ocean geography.
Some people have very different ideas about BEACH ATTIRE to the ones we searched for.
I don't think I've ever worn anything other than shorts and SANDALS whenever I've visited a beach. This is not the case with my whole family, as my grandparents would wear their regular clothes to the beach – and my grandfather's idea of regular attire was a three-piece suit.
The one concession to their whereabouts would be to place knotted handkerchiefs on their heads, but their cardigans and jackets would stay firmly on regardless of the weather.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, July 19, game #503)
STICKY
BALMY
MUGGY
SCORCHING
SWELTERING
SPANGRAM: SUMMER WEATHER
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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