NYT Strands Today – Hints, Answers and Spangram for Wednesday, December 4 (Game #276)
Strands is the NYT’s newest word game, following Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s a lot of fun. It can be difficult though, so read on for my Strands tips.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc’s Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about today’s NYT Strands is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #276) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… I now declare…
NYT Strands Today (Game #276) – Hint #2 – Clue Words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hint system.
- TRACK
- TRADE
- DATE
- GRAIL
- RAASING
- BOW
NYT Strands Today (game #276) – hint #3 – spangram
What’s a hint for today’s spangram?
• Where does that accent come from?
NYT Strands today (game #276) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are the two sides of the board that today’s spangram comes into contact with?
First: top, 4th column
Last: bottom, 2nd column
Okay, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands Today (Game #276) – The Answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #276, are…
- GRAF
- ACUTE
- TILDE
- UMLAUT
- CEDILLE
- CIRCUMFLEX
- SPANGRAM: DIACRITICS
- My rating: Difficult
- My score: 2 tips
Hello, Johnny here, I’m taking over Strands duties from Marc (who will still be running today’s daily Wordle page, if that’s also on your reading list).
Let’s be honest, who didn’t immediately think of weddings when they saw today’s theme?
After a few hints, it became clear that we were instead looking for the words for the dots, accents, and squiggles placed over letters to indicate how they should be pronounced—something that, in our age of texting and group chats, is commonplace. it is disappearing – in English-speaking countries instead.
Unless of course you are a fan of heavy metal, where an UMLAUT is almost mandatory whether it is required or not. Blue Öyster Cult was the first rock band to use this particular DIACRITIC, and they did so purely because they thought it looked good and added an occult atmosphere.
The use of unnecessary umlauts does lead to confusion. Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil told us Vanity fair that they added umlauts to their names after drinking Löwenbräu, but had no idea what it meant until they toured Germany many years later and were amazed to hear the crowd chanting, “Mutley Cruh! Mutley Cruh!”
Vince’s opinion of the cedilla is unknown.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands Answers (Tuesday, December 3, Game #275)
- CANDLE
- LANTERN
- TORCH
- HEADLIGHT
- FLASHLIGHT
- SPANGRAM: LIGHTING
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s new word game, after Wordle and Connections. It is now out of beta so is a full member of the NYT’s stable of games and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I have a full guide to playing NYT Strands, complete with troubleshooting tips, so give that a read if you’re struggling to beat it every day.
