Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers & Help for October 28, #239

I’m looking for last Strands the answer? Click here for our daily Strands tipsas well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times mini crossword, Wordle, and Connections puzzles.

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strands doesn’t get as much attention as its New York Times counterparts Wordle and Connectionsbut it can be just as challenging and interesting. Strands just came out of beta, so it’s now available on the official New York Times Games app, which could bring it more fans. I go into depth about rules for Strands in this story.

If you are looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET NYT puzzle hints page.

More details: NYT Connections Round 1: These are the 5 hardest puzzles

How to play NYT Strands

1. Use today’s topic to find words related to that topic. See one? Drag or click the letters in order. Double click on the last letter to make a guess. If you’ve found a topic word, it will light up blue and stay that way.

2. The other words you find are considered clue words that give you clues to the topic words. Find three clue words (they must contain at least four letters each) and the game will reward you with a theme word. But if you can’t decipher it, find three more clue words and the game will highlight the letters of the theme word in order.

3. Hunting for spangrama special theme word that spans the entire puzzle, although it can flow across or from top to bottom. That sums up the theme of the puzzle.

4. When you’re done, you’ll use each letter on the board in either a theme word or a spangram. Thematic words fill the entire board and do not overlap.

A hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands topic: Autumn fun.

If that doesn’t work for you, here’s a hint: Fall elements.

Hint words to unlock hints in the game

Your goal is to find the hidden words that match the theme of the puzzle. If you are stuck, find any words. Each time you find three words of four or more letters, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get these clues, but any four or more letter words you can find will work:

• RIDE, DRIED, STUN, CURT, CHARM, HARM, PEES, DIRE, CROW, CIDERS, REST, NUTS, DARE, CREW, CRAW, COWER, CRAM, CREAM, DRAW, RAWER, RODE

Answers to today’s Strands puzzle

These are answers that are related to the topic. The object of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spagram, a theme word that stretches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you get them all (at first I thought there were always eight, but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the non-spangram responses:

• BEES, LABYRINTH, CIDER, APPLES, DONUTS, HAIRRIDE, SCARECROW

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Spangram Strands ORCHARD. To find it, start with the letter O five lines to the left and five letters down that line. Wind to the right, then back to the left.