Looking for today’s NYT Strands Puzzle hints, spangram, and answers? Here’s a detailed guide to help you solve the puzzle quickly!

How to Play NYT Strands

The New York Times Strands puzzle is a fresh twist on the classic word search game. Available on the NYT Games app and website, it sits alongside popular puzzles like Wordle and Connections.

Each day, a new NYT Strands puzzle awaits. The Strands grid is a set of letters. Your goal is to find a group of words that share a common theme. Here’s a quick overview of the rules:

• Look for theme words, which stay highlighted in blue once found.

• Discover the spangram, a special word that connects at least two sides of the board. It’s highlighted in yellow when identified.

• The spangram can be a proper name, but theme words won’t be.

• Use every letter in the grid once.

You can connect letters vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Mid-word direction changes are allowed. On touchscreens, double-tap the last letter to submit a word.

Hints and Tips

To unlock the Hint button, find three valid four-letter words that aren’t part of the theme. Clicking the Hint button reveals the letters of one theme word.

Today’s Strands Hint

Clue:  O  ! My !

Need more help?

Try this visual hint: 👨‍✈️🫡

Today’s puzzle contains seven theme words, including the spangram.

NYT Strands Puzzle Hints for January 18

Below are the first two letters of each theme word in the NYT Strands puzzle. These hints are arranged based on the first appearance of any letter from the word in the grid:

• PL
• CR
• Ka
• HO
• CA
• UN
• OB

NYT Strands Puzzle Answers for January 18

Spoiler Alert! Don’t read further unless you’re ready to reveal the answers.

The spangram for today is: CAPTAIN

Theme Words for January 18

Here are the seven theme words for today’s NYT Strands puzzle:

1. PLANET
2. CRUNCH
3. KANGAROO
4. HOOK
5. CAPTAIN
6. UNDERPANTS
7. OBVIOUS

Gameplay Notes

I quickly spotted the spangram CAPTAIN while solving the grid. From there, I found HOOK, shaped like a hook itself, followed by the remaining words.

Stay tuned for more Strands solutions tomorrow!