Either today’s NYT Strands game is the toughest in weeks, or I was out of shape today. I’m guessing it’s a little bit from column A, and a little bit from column B. Give it a try and see how you get on – and take advantage of my Strands tips if you need help finding the answers.
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 #49) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… That’s life!
NYT Strands Today (Game #49) – Hint #2 – Clue Words
What are good keywords these days?
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hint system.
• TEAR
• PRICES
• SKATE
• TASK
• LEAKAGE
• CRANE
NYT Strands today (game #49) – hint #3 – spangram
What’s a hint for today’s spangram?
• Historical events
NYT Strands Today (Game #49) – Hint #4 – Spangram Position
Where does today’s spangram begin and end?
• Start: bottom, 3rd column
• End: left, 4th row
Okay, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands Today (Game #49) – The Answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #49, are…
- DRIVING SPRING
- SPEAK
- CRAWL
- TO MARRY
- TO VOTE
- TO GRADUATE
- RETIRE
- SPANGRAM: MILESTONES
- My score: Very cool
- My score: Two tips
Wow! So where do you start here? Well, I guess I can start with how hard it is – answer: very hard.
Your mileage may vary, of course, but it certainly annoyed me, and I needed two hints to solve today’s Strands puzzle for the first time since my very first playthrough several weeks ago.
The problem, for me anyway, was that the theme was so vague. Yes, after I solved it all it became a little clearer, but ‘Milestones’ is a lot less focused than, for example, things you use for sewing or gait.
I also absolutely loved the spangram. This was a misreading on my part, but my understanding was that the spangram would always go from one side of the board to the other – top to bottom or vice versa, or left to right/right to left. Today’s doesn’t do that – it goes from bottom to right to left, and for that reason I simply couldn’t find it until there was no other path for it, after I found all the other words.
On second thought, this is my fault. The rules state that “The spangram describes the theme of the puzzle and… touches two opposite sides of the board. It could be two words.” Note that this is not stated only touches two opposite sides. So the current one meets that requirement. And honestly, it also happened with TAILORING for game #46, I just didn’t notice it there as I found it an easy NYT Strands puzzle to solve overall.
My solution strategy here was one of brute force. I played as many words as I could, without necessarily realizing they were part of an overall pattern, until I had three: SPEAK, CRAWL, and MARRY. At this point I realized what was going on, but I still had trouble finding other examples or what the spangram might be, so I ended up using those hints. Maybe that’s because the NYT’s milestones aren’t necessarily the same as mine. Sure, voting, graduating college, and driving are all things I’ve done, but none were hugely notable to me compared to other historic events like going to my first music festival or becoming a father (the latter is clearly more important than the former, though my 18 year old self wouldn’t have predicted that).
Anyway, I ended up there. Let’s hope tomorrow is a little easier, yeah?
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands Answers (Saturday, April 20, Game #48)
- WALKING AROUND
- STUT
- MARCH
- AMBLE
- TRUDGE
- MARCH
- SALT
- SPANGRAM: PEDESTRIAN
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.