NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, July 21 (game #140)

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Fancy another easy Strands game to end the weekend? You got it. That's been a bit of a theme lately, without any really tough ones for a while. Maybe it will change soon.

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.

NYT Strands today (game #140) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… S-words? (a cutting-edge theme!)

NYT Strands today (game #140) - hint #2 - clue words

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

  • CLAY
  • CHEAT
  • TEAM
  • TAME
  • BASIL
  • STARE

NYT Strands today (game #140) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

Sharp thinking?

NYT Strands today (game #140) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: right, 4th row

Last: left, 4th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #140) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 140 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #140, are…

  • CLAYMORE
  • SCIMITAR
  • CUTLASS
  • RAPIER
  • KATANA
  • MACHETE
  • SPANGRAM: BLADES

  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

On reading the theme clue here I was excited for a complex Strands puzzle that required out-of-the-box thinking. What could 'S-words? (a cutting-edge theme!)' mean? Did all of the answers begin with S… but the S was missing? Were they all words where a synonym for them began with S? Something even more fiendish? But no, they were all just types of swords. Shame.

That became obvious as soon as I found CLAYMORE, off the back of spotting CLAY and then realizing that I could extend it. After that it was a simple case of searching my brain, and the board, for other BLADES (as the spangram would have it), which was not a particularly taxing task.

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


Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday 20 July, game #139)

  • SAUCER
  • FORK
  • KNIFE
  • SPOON
  • GLASS
  • PLATE
  • NAPKIN
  • SPANGRAM: PLACESETTING

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.