NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, October 20 (game #231)

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 Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

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 #231) – hint #1 – today’s theme

NYT Strands today (game #231) – hint #2 – clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BELT
• MELT
• MEAL
• SOIL
• METAL
• PLIER

NYT Strands today (game #231) – hint #3 – spangram

NYT Strands today (game #231) – hint #4 – spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #231) – the answers

The answers to today’s Strands, game #231, are…

• OTTOMAN
• RECLINER
• TABLE
• SOFA
• FIREPLACE
• SHELF
• SPANGRAM: LIVING ROOM

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Today’s Strands gave me a good reminder not to jump to conclusions, which I guess is a good lesson for life in general. The theme clue of ‘Make yourself at home’ had already suggested relaxing in some way, so when I spotted OTTOMAN followed by RECLINER I was sure that ‘things you sit on’ would be the answer. When I followed up with TABLE I was slightly confused – but I figured maybe there was such thing as a table chair, and I just didn’t know the term. And then I got SOFA and my hunch seemed all but confirmed.

At that point, however, I stalled. I couldn’t find any more words that worked and couldn’t see what the spangram could be. So I had another look and tried to think less literally. And there before me, obvious for all to see, was the spangram: LIVINGROOM. Everything made sense now, and I was able to add FIREPLACE and SHELF to complete the set.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 19 October, game #230)

• ZING
• KICK
• SPARK
• PIZZAZZ
• FIZZ
• OOMPH
• VERVE
• SPANGRAM: EXTRASOMETHING

Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief, the latest in a long line of senior editorial roles he’s held in a career that started the week that Google launched (nice of them to mark the occasion). Prior to joining TR, he was UK Editor in Chief on Tom’s Guide, where he oversaw all gaming, streaming, audio, TV, entertainment, how-to and cameras coverage. He’s also a former editor of the tech website Stuff and spent five years at the music magazine NME, where his duties mainly involved spoiling other people’s fun. He’s based in London, and has tested and written about phones, tablets, wearables, streaming boxes, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, games, TVs, cameras and pretty much every other type of gadget you can think of. An avid photographer, Marc likes nothing better than taking pictures of very small things (bugs, his daughters) or very big things (distant galaxies). He also enjoys live music, gaming, cycling, and beating Wordle (he authors the daily Wordle today page).