Daily NYT Strands Puzzle: Hints, Clues, and the High-Stakes Spangram (Game 711)

Strands, the NYT’s current word game, releases a fresh daily puzzle at midnight in each time zone. That means some readers chase today’s round while others are still on yesterday’s. If you’re after Wednesday’s puzzle, you can find the hints and answers for game #710 here. Strands sits alongside Wordle, Spelling Bee, and Connections as one of the NYT’s newer word games, and it can be pretty tricky. Here’s a concise spoiler-filled rundown of today’s clues and solutions.

Spoiler alert: the rest of this post reveals today’s Strands solutions.

Today’s Strands (game #711) — theme

• Theme: Sink or swim

Clue words to trigger in-game hints

• GRATE, SLACK, GIVE, TAKE, POSIT, CAST, HIVE

Spangram details

• Spangram length: 10 letters
• Spangram position: On the first side, in column 3; on the last side, in column 5

Today’s answers

• PIVOTAL
• RISKY
• CRITICAL
• DECISIVE
• IMPERATIVE
• SPANGRAM: HIGHSTAKES

My assessment: Hard My score: 1 hint

I found the opening words PIVOTAL and RISKY, which gave a sense of the theme, but the rest didn’t fall into place immediately. A hint helped reveal CRITICAL, which in turn highlighted “stakes” and then the phrase HIGH STAKES for the spangram.

Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (game #710)

• PECAN, FILBERT, PISTACHIO, ALMOND, CASHEW, MACADAMIAS
• SPANGRAM: GONUTS

What is NYT Strands? Strands is the NYT’s word game follow-up to Wordle and a few other puzzle staples. It’s now a full feature of the NYT Games lineup and can be played on desktop or mobile via the NYT Games site. A comprehensive guide to Strands with solving tips is available if you’re trying to beat it daily.

About the author Johnny is a freelance journalist covering pop culture, the internet, music, football, and famous faces. Formerly known as the Pop Detective, his career began with some playful (and not strictly true) stories about Madonna’s sausage-roll habit. His resume includes interviews with Elton John and Blur, as well as less glamorous moments like talking to Right Said Fred, appearing in a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking a German cooker manual. He enjoys living in North London, cycling, and shouting at pigeons.

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