NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Thursday, October 24 (game #235)

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 #235) – hint #1 – today’s theme

NYT Strands today (game #235) – hint #2 – clue words

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

• PACE
• COAL
• SALE
• CHAIN
• SAME
• MACE

NYT Strands today (game #235) – hint #3 – spangram

NYT Strands today (game #235) – 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 #235) – the answers

The answers to today’s Strands, game #235, are…

• PEPPER
• ANISE
• CINNAMON
• CLOVE
• CARDAMOM
• NUTMEG
• SPANGRAM: MASALACHAI

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

I realize that this confession might get me kicked out of my home nation, the UK, but I have never drunk tea. Not a single cup has ever passed my lips – which meant I was at an ever greater disadvantage today than some will be.

Even setting aside my own drinking habits, this Strands puzzle is strangely specific. Why MASALACHAI? We’ve previously had one Strands game about coffee, with the likes of MOCHA and LATTE, but even though I don’t drink that either I was at least able to make informed guesses based on just having lived in a world in which other people regularly do drink it. But the theme here isn’t ‘types of tea’ – with ginseng or green or breakfast or whatever – it’s specifically the ingredients for masala chai. That may well be very popular, but if you don’t drink it, you’re a bit stuck.

Fortunately I only needed one hint. I spotted PEPPER by accident, then asked Strands to give me a clue and got ANISE. Though I still had no idea what the spangram might be, I had a strong hunch that the other answers would be spices, so found the likes of CARDAMOM and NUTMEG by trial and error. That left the spangram, which revealed itself on the board to make up for my lack of knowledge in this subject.

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

Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 23 October, game #234)

• STOP
• MERGE
• CONSTRUCTION
• YIELD
• BUMP
• DETOUR
• SPANGRAM: TRAFFICSIGNS

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).