NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #197 (Monday, September 16 2024)

NYT Strands on a cellphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
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Need a bit of help with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "What a stud!" — isn't too tough to decode, but has some tricky answers to find all the same.

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #197, 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 #197, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #197.  

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #197 is... "What a stud!"

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Areas for jewelry."

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

  • VASE
  • VAPING
  • NAPE
  • SCARE
  • BONE
  • RACES
  • GLUE
  • MEETING

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

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's PIERCING.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #197?

Drumroll, please...

  • EYEBROW
  • NOSE
  • EARLOBE
  • SEPTUM
  • NAVEL
  • TONGUE
  • CHEEK

Strands #197

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

..and the spangram was PIERCING.

Strands #197

“What a stud!”

🟡🔵🔵🔵

🔵🔵🔵🔵

Hi Strands fans. A nice and simple one today. Once I established this wasn't about horses, I spotted the spangram of PIERCING spelt across the board from left to right and the rest was a doddle.

It quickly became a list of body parts, in fact, and I knocked them off consecutively rather than jumping around the grid. That included just three at the top: EYEBROW, NOSE and EARLOBE.

The bottom half was a little trickier, with four answers twisted around each other. SEPTUM started in the middle of the spangram, and NAVEL was to its left. TONGUE was underneath that, and that just left CHEEK to spell backwards in the bottom right-hand corner.

Easy enough - even for a boring piercing-free man such as your author!

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #196 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.