NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #254 (Tuesday, November 12 2024)

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

Need some assistance with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "Spell it out" — is tricky at first, but becomes obvious when you have a few answers on the board.

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #254, 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 #254, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #254.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #254 is... "Spell it out".

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

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

  • DEBT
  • GRAPH
  • GRANT
  • FELT
  • VETO
  • CHAT
  • VOTE
  • CHAP

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

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's NATOALPHABET.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #254?

Drumroll, please...

  • FOXTROT
  • DELTA
  • GOLF
  • BRAVO
  • TANGO
  • VICTOR
  • ECHO

Strands #254

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was NATOALPHABET.

Strands #254

“Spell it out”

🔵🔵🔵🔵

🟡🔵🔵🔵

Hi Strands fans. I cottoned on to the fact that this was about phonetic spellings of letters pretty quickly, and spotted the word "alphabet" right away. Unfortunately, the official name for this escaped me, so I didn't get the spangram for a little while.

Still, the 'X' led me straight to FOXTROT, so I knew I was on the right track, and it was then just a case of trotting out other words in the series until I could fully excavate the spangram. With that in mind, I found DELTA and GOLF to its right, setting me up nicely.

BRAVO is another word I associate with the theme, and I found that near the top on the left. That cleared enough space to complete the spangram - NATOALPHABET. Of course!

Thankfully, I didn't have to recite all 26 words in the code, and only had three left to find on the grid. TANGO was nestled in the top-left corner, with VICTOR diagonally down to its right. That only left ECHO in the top-right corner to complete 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 #253 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.