NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, October 27 (game #238)

5 days ago 8
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
(Image credit: New York Times)

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.

Your Strands expert

Marc McLaren

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Best of the best

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #2 - clue words

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

  • FILE
  • HIDE
  • REAR
  • CLASP
  • PART
  • PROP

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

__ of the __

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 5th row

Last: right, 3rd row

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

NYT Strands today (game #238) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 238 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #238, are…

  • CLASS
  • PARTY
  • LITTER
  • LIFE
  • CREAM
  • CROP
  • HEAD
  • PICK
  • SPANGRAM: PERFECTPAIR

  • My rating: Hard
  • My score: Perfect

Wow, this was far harder than the average Strands puzzle. And far more conceptual than many of the most recent games, which have essentially been related words about a topic you may or may not have had experience with. In contrast, this is all about language, really – all eight words are of the format __ of the __, for instance CREAM of the CROP or LIFE of the PARTY, with the first being the 'best' example of the second.

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I had no idea what was going on for roughly half of the game, uncovering words at regular intervals but failing to spot any kind of connection between them – or between them and the theme clue of 'Best of the best'. It was only when I found LIFE that it started to make sense. I already had PARTY, and those two words obviously went together. When I found CREAM and then CROP in quick succession it was clear what I needed to do, and I was able to come up with the remaining words without any issues after that. But it's a challenging one, for sure.

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


Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 26 October, game #237)

  • ARIA
  • BALLAD
  • SHANTY
  • JINGLE
  • LULLABY
  • SPIRITUAL
  • SPANGRAM: VOCALMUSIC

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

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).

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