NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #227 (Wednesday, October 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 theme — "How Poe-tic" — isn't too tough to figure out, but needs some specific knowledge to complete.

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #227, 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 #227, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #227.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #227 is... "How Poe-tic".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Sorrow for the lost Lenore."

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

  • KINDER
  • GRIND
  • GRAY
  • MINDER
  • RIND
  • YEAH
  • YEAR

Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with 'T' and ends with 'N'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's THERAVEN.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #226?

Drumroll, please...

  • DREARY
  • NEVERMORE
  • MIDNIGHT
  • WEARY
  • WEAK
  • PONDERED

Strands #227

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was THERAVEN.

Strands #227

“How Poe-tic”

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Hi Strands fans. Puzzles centered around a single work of art are always tricky if you're unfamiliar with the source material. Fortunately, am indeed familiar with Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven - which is just as well, because if it were about his work more generally I would certainly have struggled.

With that in mind, I looked for the word "raven" right away and was relieved to find it was the spangram: THERAVEN, spelt out from top to bottom.

Okay, great, so what was in The Raven again? After scanning for Lenore, I couldn't see her, but did find DREARY in the top-right corner. NEVERMORE had to be part of it, and sure enough, I found it on the opposite side twisted around itself. MIDNIGHT was to its right.

Then I remembered the phrase "WEAK and WEARY" and discovered both words near the bottom to complete the left-hand side.

That left just one word left to complete the puzzle. It took me a while, but eventually I decoded the anagram of ONPDRDEE to be PONDERED.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #226 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.