Need a bit of help with NYT Strands today? No shame in that, and you've come to the right place. Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #629, as well as the answers, should it come to that.
Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #629.
Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints
The official theme for NYT Strands #629 is... "Ivy league".
And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Working body, not mind".
If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:
- SQUARE
- BEATS
- SERMONS
- TAKERS
- GERM
- GODS
- TELL
- TIERS
Still struggling? The spangram touches two opposite sides of the board (but can start and end anywhere), and will give you a hint about the connection between the answers. Today, it starts with 'S' and ends with 'M'.
Scroll down to find out what it is...
It's SPORTSTEAM.
Today's Strands answers
So, what are today's Strands answers for game #629?
Drumroll, please...
- BEARS
- LIONS
- BULLDOGS
- TIGERS
- QUAKERS
- CRIMSON
...and the spangram was SPORTSTEAM.
Strands #629
“Ivy League”
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Hi Strands fans. Today's puzzle is horrible if you're not American, which made me relieved to get through using only one clue.
When I saw the theme of "Ivy League", I (rightly) assumed it was to do with academic institutions like Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Brown. What I didn't know was the name of each of these institutions' sports teams, which isn't everyday knowledge to Brits like me.
After failing to find the names of the universities themselves, I used a clue which revealed BEARS. Thankfully, I'm familiar enough with sports that I know a team nickname when I see one, and began looking for other likely names.
Having looked up each one since, I can now confirm for those as ignorant as I was which name goes with each institution. BEARS is Brown, and I then found LIONS (Columbia) in the bottom-right corner.
BULLDOGS (Yale) followed in the opposite corner, and I now had enough space cleared to get the spangram of SPORTSTEAM, spelt from top to bottom of the grid.
This made finding the last three quite a bit easier, and I found TIGERS (Princeton) in the bottom-left corner to complete the half.
I then figured out that the 'QU' in the top-right corner was part of QUAKERS (Pennsylvania). This in turn let me find CRIMSON (Harvard) below it to complete an extremely frustrating puzzle.
Yesterday's Strands answers
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #628.
- PIVOT
- ALIGN
- LIAISE
- DISRUPT
- SCALE
- IDEATE
...and the spangram was CORPORATESPEAK.
Strands #628
“Heard at the board meeting”
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Hi Strands fans. Well, today's puzzle gave me nasty flashbacks to actually having a job, before my freelance days. I've definitely found myself doing an internal eye roll at many of these terms, and I'm sure you have too.
I could see the word "corporate" written across the board right away, but couldn't see how to land it. Fortunately, I quickly found ALIGN above it, followed by PIVOT below. This framed enough of the letters that I was able to spell out CORPORATESPEAK to split the grid in two.
I then found LIAISE at the very top of the board, and DISRUPT below it to complete the top half.
Two words were left to untangle in the second half. I found SCALE first, which fortunately only left one way to spell the final word of IDEATE. Just as well, because that's one bit of corporate speak I remain blissfully unfamiliar with!
