NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #266 (Sunday, November 24 2024)

NYT Strands on a cellphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
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Need some assistance with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "Start small" — is somewhat vague, but will become clear with a couple of answers on the grid.

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #266, 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 #266, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #266.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #266 is... "Start small".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Words that can fit after the spangram".

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

  • LIVED
  • CORK
  • POPE
  • RIDES
  • SCARS
  • TOOL
  • SONS
  • ROSE

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

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's LITTLE.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #266?

Drumroll, please...

  • SPOON
  • FOOT
  • DEVIL
  • LEAGUE
  • ROCK
  • RASCALS
  • WOMEN
  • DIPPER

Strands #266

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was LITTLE.

Strands #266

“Start small”

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Hi Stands fans. Today's puzzle is maddeningly vague at first, and I only got my first answer on the board by chance when I accidentally found the word SPOON while hunting for clue words.

When it turned blue, I was a bit confused. So... small spoons? What does that even mean?

I had to use a clue, which revealed FOOT. I was still baffled, but the two answers I had cleared a route where the spangram might fit, so I followed it backwards and found the word LITTLE.

I then realized that this was - somewhat tenuously in my view - words that can sit after LITTLE. And that made things much easier. I quickly got DEVIL, LEAGUE and ROCK to complete the top half of the grid.

The bottom half was a bit more fiddly, but the shape of SPOON gave me a nice area to start, and I subsequently found RASCALS in the bottom-right corner. I was then able to get WOMEN diagonally from left to right, which left DIPPER in the 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 #265 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.