NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #135 (Tuesday, July 16 2024)

NYT Strands on a cellphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
Strands today: Quick menu

Need a bit of help with NYT Strands today? Today's puzzle theme — "Were you raised in a barn?" — is pretty straightforward, once you've got what it means.

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #135, as well as the answers, should it come to that. We'll start off with some clues, before building up to the full answer for Strands #135, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #135.  

Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints

The official theme for NYT Strands #135 is... "Were you raised in a bard?"

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Farm life".

If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:

  • FOLK
  • KING
  • DUAL
  • BALK
  • LINK
  • CHIN
  • BACK

Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with 'B' and ends with 'L'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's BABYANIMAL.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #135?

Drumroll, please...

  • PIGLET
  • CALF
  • DUCKLING
  • CHICK
  • FOAL
  • LAMB
  • GOSLING

Strands #135

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was BABYANIMAL.

Strands #135

“Were you raised in a barn?”

🔵🔵🟡🔵

🔵🔵🔵🔵

Hi Strands fans. Today's puzzle took me an embarrassing amount of time to get, even though I spotted the word 'animal' spelt across the board almost immediately. 

Because I couldn't find 'farm' near it, I just discounted it - until I spotted PIGLET below and realized the answer had been staring me in the face. This is a puzzle about baby animals - as confirmed when I got CALF right below it.

I returned to 'animal' and found the word 'baby' next to it, successfully spelling BABYANIMAL across the board for the spangram. That neatly cordoned off DUCKLING to complete the bottom half.

Four answers were hidden on the other side. I found CHICK in the gap created by the spangram, and then FOAL immediately above that. With LAMB to its right, I was left with the trickiest answer practically written out for me. I connected GOSLING and completed the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #134 right here.

Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.