Skip to main content

NYT Strands today: hints, spangram and answers for Tuesday, February 18

Strands is a brand new daily puzzle from the New York Times. A trickier take on the classic word search, you’ll need a keen eye to solve this puzzle.

Like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword, Strands can be a bit difficult to solve some days. There’s no shame in needing a little help from time to time. If you’re stuck and need to know the answers to today’s Strands puzzle, check out the solved puzzle below.

Recommended Videos

How to play Strands

You start every Strands puzzle with the goal of finding the “theme words” hidden in the grid of letters. Manipulate letters by dragging or tapping to craft words; double-tap the final letter to confirm. If you find the correct word, the letters will be highlighted blue and will no longer be selectable.

If you find a word that isn’t a theme word, it still helps! For every three non-theme words you find that are at least four letters long, you’ll get a hint — the letters of one of the theme words will be revealed and you’ll just have to unscramble it.

Every single letter on the grid is used to spell out the theme words and there is no overlap. Every letter will be used once, and only once.

Each puzzle contains one “spangram,” a special theme word (or words) that describe the puzzle’s theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted yellow.

The goal should be to complete the puzzle quickly without using too many hints.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s theme is “‘Ouch!”

Here’s a hint that might help you: gives you a sharp pain.

Today’s Strand answers

NYT Strands logo.
NYT

Today’s spanagram

We’ll start by giving you the spangram, which might help you figure out the theme and solve the rest of the puzzle on your own:

  • STINGERS

Today’s Strands answers

  • SCORPION
  • JELLYFISH
  • HORNET
  • BUMBLEBEE
  • PLATYPUS
Sam Hill
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As Digital Trends' Gaming evergreen lead, Sam Hill is here to help you find your new favorite game and dive right in. The…
Succession meets Return of the Obra Dinn in this thrilling mystery game
A black and white photo of five siblings posing together.

One thing about me is that I am a sucker for a good mystery. That’s why I’ve been delighted by the so-called "Metroidbrainia" genre rising to prominence. That label includes games like Return of the Obra Dinn and Rise of the Golden Idol that champion more involved information gathering and deduction on the part of the player. Yet as great as the puzzles these titles offer are, the narratives surrounding them are rarely as satisfying. Genealogical mystery The Roottrees are Dead, however, fixes that problem.

Centered on the secrets of the titular family, The Roottrees are Dead is both a compelling puzzle box and a surprisingly deep story. What begins as a simple challenge to identify every member on the family tree quickly turns into a subtle statement on how this one family, the descendants of a Logan Roy-eque business mogul, are beholden to one dead man’s obsession with legacy.
Down the rabbit hole
To anyone who has played other Metroidbrainias, the core gameplay loop of The Roottrees are Dead will feel familiar. Information is gathered and then applied to blank fields for each member of the Roottree family. Specifically you need to correctly identify the name, face, and occupation of each direct blood relative of the family’s patriarch, Elias. The twist is in the method of information gathering. The Roottrees are Dead is primarily played through a simulated computer desktop equipped with a search engine.

Read more
Where to find the cartographer in Emerald Stair in Avowed
Environmental shot of Galawains Tusks Slumbering Fields in Avowed.

You will probably have a good grip on all the tips and tricks needed to beat Avowed by the time you reach the second zone, Emerald Stair. However, no matter how many abilities you have or how good your gear is, finding a missing person with just a vague hint never gets any easier. We already helped Sanza find a missing cartographer in Dawntrail, but he has lost another in Emerald Stair and needs us to track them down. Like last time, the Avowed won't tell you where to go so we explored the entire region to show you exactly where to track them down.
Where to find the cartographer in Emerald Stair

The first cartographer quest at least gave you the general direction to find them, but this time we are only given the name of the area within Emerald Stair. The area in question is called Naku Tedek and is the isolated island on the south end of the map.

Read more
Directive 8020: release date, trailers, gameplay, and more
A woman in cryosleep in Directive 8020.

The team at Supermassive Games made a name for themselves with one of the best horror games Until Dawn. Since then, the team has produced new narrative horror games almost every year, with their next upcoming video game revealed to be Directive 8020. Between Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and Saros, there are a lot of upcoming PS5 games set in space to look forward to. However, none promise to blend horror with a narrative driven by player choice like this. Supermassive Games haven't approached sci-fi horror in their games yet, so let's make all the right choices to learn everything about Directive 8020 and hopefully survive.

A ton of games have been announced this year, so keep up to date with our lists of upcoming Xbox Series X games, upcoming Switch games, and upcoming PC games.
Release date

Read more