NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Saturday, August 17 (game #167)

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today , NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #167) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Carle classic

NYT Strands today (game #167) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• SLANG
• GLEE
• WHELP
• HELP
• MICE
• RAIL

NYT Strands today (game #167) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Bedtime story

NYT Strands today (game #167) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 3rd row

Last: right, 6th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #167) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #167, are…

• LEAF
• APPLE
• PICKLE
• SALAMI
• WATERMELON
• SPANGRAM: HUNGRYCATERPILLAR

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 5 hints

OK, so what we have here is the most difficult, stupidest Strands puzzle for weeks – unless you happen to a) know what the reference to 'Carle classic' means and b) remember what all of the things eaten by the HUNGRYCATERPILLAR were.

I did not recall that Eric Carle was the author of that classic children's book, until after I got the spangram and realized what linked these answers. In my defense, my daughters are 14. It is at least 11 years since I read that book to them, and expecting me (or anyone else) to remember the dietary choices of a growing insect after more than a decade is, well, stupid. Plus, it's called the VERY Hungy Caterpillar, but 'very' doesn't feature in the spangram.

Anyway, I needed clues for every single one of the answers other than PICKLE, which I got by accident, so this was deeply unsatisfying.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday 16 August, game #166)

• SINK
• SWIM
• MAKE
• BREAK
• FEAST
• FAMINE
• DOUBLE
• NOTHING
• SPANGRAM: OPTIONS

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to h ow to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.