Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 14, #256 6 hours ago

hoangbre@gmail.com November 15, 2024 0

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I’m a big fan of Strands, the New York Times word-find style puzzle. But the puzzle for Nov. 14 had one answer that completely threw me, and maybe you too. Spoilers, here come the spoilers!

Here’s a spoiler-filled ‘Clue’

The words hidden in the Strands puzzle are all characters from the popular old-school board game Clue. You know most of them — Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Miss Scarlet, Mrs. Peacock. But then, suddenly, the Strands puzzle coughs up “Orchid.” This Gen Xer played Clue many, many times back in the day, and I assure you, there was no one in our version of the game named “Orchid.”

So I Googled, and the new character is not even a Miss/Mrs./Mr./Professor or Colonel. She’s a doctor. Dr. Orchid replaced Mrs. White in the game in 2016. She even earned a mention on the new box cover. Game-maker Hasbro calls her “a genius biologist with a sweet tooth.” And because everyone in Clue has to be a suspect, she has a background in poisons.

She’s not only the lone doctor in the game, but the only person of color, since Dr. Orchid is drawn on the box as an Asian woman. When the change happened, Slate speculated that it was because the other women didn’t have outside-the-home professions — Miss Scarlet is described as a femme fatale and Mrs. Peacock as a widow and socialite. Mrs. White, now ousted, was the mansion’s housekeeper.

My household actually has a modern copy of Clue, but it’s the Bob’s Burgers edition. On the cover of my game, Linda Belcher is Miss Scarlet, and her husband Bob is dressed in a maid’s uniform, presumably as Mrs. White. Dr. Orchid never crossed my radar before today.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

How to play NYT Strands

1. Use today’s theme to look for words relating to that topic. See one? Drag or click the letters in order. Click on the last letter twice to submit your guess. If you’ve found a theme word, it’ll light up in blue and stay that way.

2. Other words you find are considered hint words that give you clues to the theme words. Find three hint words (they must have at least four letters each) and the game will reward you by showing you a theme word. But if you can’t unscramble it, find three more hint words and the game will highlight the theme word’s letters in order.

3. Hunt for the spangram, a special theme word that spans the entire puzzle, though it could flow across or top to bottom. It summarizes the puzzle theme.

4. When you’re done, you’ll have used every letter on the board in either a theme word or spangram. Theme words fill the entire board and do not overlap.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Name of the game.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: With a candlestick, in the conservatory.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

CARE, COPE, DENS, LUMP, PEEK, KEEP, KEEPS, SEEK, STAR, RUSE, SHIM, CARD

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: