NYT Strands today – my tips and answers for April 16 (#774)

Home screen of NYT Strands on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background — (Image credit: New York Times)

Want a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears every day at midnight for your time zone – which means some people are still playing “today’s game” while others are playing “yesterday’s.” If you’re looking for Wednesday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands Tips and Answers for Wednesday, April 15 (Game #773).

Strands is the latest pun from The New York Times after Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s a lot of fun. It can be difficult, though, so keep reading my Strands tips.

SPOILER WARNING: The information on NYT Strands today is below, so don’t continue reading if you don’t want to know the answers.

Article continues below

NYT Strands today (game #774) – clue #1 – theme of the day

What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?

• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… This isn’t working

NYT Strands today (game #774) – clue #2 – clue words

Play one of these words to unlock the game’s hint system.

NEST
RAW
PURE
SLEEPED
BOYFRIEND
LICENSEE

NYT Strands today (game #774) – clue #3 – spangram letters

How many letters are there in today’s spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #774) – clue #4 – spangram position

What are the two sides of the picture that today’s spangram touches?

First side: left, 1st row

Last side: right, 7th row

That’s right, the answers are below, so DON’T SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #774) – the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 774 on blue background — (Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today’s Strands, game #774, are…

HOBBY
RECREATION
SIDELINE
INTEREST
ENTERTAINMENT
SPANGRAM: JUSTFORFUN

My rating: Hard
My rating: 1 clue

I completely mistook today’s theme and took “it doesn’t work” literally when I was looking for words related to broken things.

Fortunately, my unsuccessful search also included many non-gaming words and a hint of HOBBY set me on the path to discovering other words associated with free time activities, including HOBBIES – which was so long I was convinced it would turn yellow and become spangram.

Instead, today’s yellow snake was JUSTFORFUN, and maybe that’s where I’m going wrong with my hobbies, because all of them—riding bikes, doing puzzles, and watching soccer—involve more pain than pleasure.

Yesterday’s NYT Strands Answers (Wednesday, April 15, Match #773)

TOPAZ
TURQUOISE
OPAL
GARNET
DIAMOND
PERIDOT
SPANGRAM: BIRTHSTONE

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the not-so-new pun from The New York Times, after Wordle and Connections. It’s now a full member of the year-old NYT games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I have a complete guide on how to play NYT Strands, with tips for solving it, so check it out if you’re struggling to beat it every day.

Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye. Previously known as Pop Detective, his journalistic career began by making up stories about Madonna’s addiction to sausage rolls (not true, by the way). A man of little talent, his career is rich and varied and includes interviews with Elton John and Blur; and the downside of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing in a Channel 5 documentary on Peter Kay and fact-checking a German cook’s instruction manual. Somehow, still having the means to live in north London, he is happiest riding his bike and shouting at pigeons.

Related