NYT Strands today — my hints, answers and spangram for Wednesday, December 18 (game #290)

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 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 NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.

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

  • SPINE
  • RATE
  • FOOT
  • RILE
  • TONNE
  • DINER

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

The answers to today’s Strands, game #290, are…

  • DRYER
  • EARTH
  • TIRES
  • FOOTBALL
  • PINWHEEL
  • BALLERINA
  • SPANGRAM: SPINNERS

  • My rating: Moderate
  • My score: 1 hint

Congratulations if you managed to spot BALLERINA today. I was staring at Strands for ages until I got it. It was one of those words where I tried words I knew were not words, like ERINABALL and NABALLERI.

This was one where even though you understood the theme immediately, the words were still unexpected. Spinning is not the first thing you’d think of a FOOTBALL doing, is it?

All this reminds me of the time we got these new expensive revolving chairs in the office. Everyone hated them at first and thought they were ugly and pointless, but in the end, we all came round.

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


  • CRIME
  • FANTASY
  • ROMANCE
  • WESTERN
  • HISTORICAL
  • SPANGRAM: FICTION GENRE

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