NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Monday, September 23 (game #204)

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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 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 #204) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Gnaw-it-alls

NYT Strands today (game #204) - hint #2 - clue words

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

  • PINE
  • LANE
  • CHIC
  • STUD
  • STUDIO
  • MAST

NYT Strands today (game #204) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

House of mouse!

NYT Strands today (game #204) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: right, 4th row

Last: left, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #204) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 204 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #204, are…

  • HAMSTER
  • MUSKRAT
  • SQUIRREL
  • CHINCHILLA
  • PORCUPINE
  • SPANGRAM: RODENTS

  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: 1 hint

I'm rather annoyed at myself for not getting a perfect score today, because this is another fairly easy Strands puzzle from the NYT. But I needed another hint to get going, with no answers standing out despite the (in hindsight) relatively obvious theme clue. The frustrating thing is that 'Gnaw-it-alls' did suggest an animal to me, and I looked for beaver – which seemed the most obvious example. But that wasn't there and I used a hint to get started.

Once I had that first word (HAMSTER) it all became a lot easier. MUSKRAT and SQUIRREL were simple, the spangram even more so, and though the final two were more difficult, in large part due to their spellings, I completed the game in only about five minutes.

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


Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday 22 September, game #203)

  • BRAIN
  • LIVER
  • HEART
  • KIDNEYS
  • STOMACH
  • LUNGS
  • SPANGRAM: INTERNALORGANS

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.