NYT Strands today – hints, answers and spangram for Saturday May 18 (game #76)
The weekend is the perfect time to play the NYT’s Strands game because you don’t have to worry about work and can therefore spend as much time as you want solving it! Unless of course you’re working today, which is entirely possible. If so, I’m sorry if I made you feel even worse. As an apology, I’ll take my tips for today’s match.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about today’s NYT Strands is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #76) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Part of the equation
NYT Strands Today (Game #76) – Hint #2 – Clue Words
What are good keywords these days?
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hint system.
• REEDY
• LEVERAGE
• STORY
• CLAMP
• TO DIVE
• POOR
NYT Strands today (game #76) – hint #3 – spangram
What’s a hint for today’s spangram?
• summarizing
NYT Strands Today (Game #76) – Hint #4 – Spangram Position
What are the two sides of the board that today’s spangram contacts?
• First: left, 1st row
• Last: right, 4th row
Okay, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands Today (Game #76) – The Answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #76, are…
- DISTRIBUTION
- MULTIPLY
- CALCULATE
- SUBTRACTION
- TO DISTRACT
- SPANGRAM: MATH
- My score: Moderate
- My score: Perfect
A surprisingly difficult Strands puzzle today, as the options are limited once you know what the theme is. Much of that difficulty comes from the fact that there are only five answers plus the spangram, and almost all of them are quite long words that require some denouement. Even the ones that aren’t (DERIVE and DIVIDE are the shortest, six characters each) confused me for quite a while, as I couldn’t figure out how to actually construct the word from the letters presented. Too many Es and Is and Vs!
However, it’s a Strands puzzle that you can solve through a combination of brute force and knowing what the likely answers are – and there really are only so many once you realize it’s all about math.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands Answers (Friday May 17, Game #75)
- CHOPSTICK
- BECAUSE
- PLIER
- BOOKEND
- TONGUE
- WING
- EARPLUG
- SPANGRAM: LINKED
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 full guide to playing NYT Strands, complete with troubleshooting tips, so give that a read if you’re struggling to beat it every day.