NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Friday, August 30 (game #180)

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 #180) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Let's play

NYT Strands today (game #180) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• WATCH
• HATCH
• LOAF
• FUND
• FIND
• THAT

NYT Strands today (game #180) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Console yourself

NYT Strands today (game #180) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: left, 5th row

Last: right, 4th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #180) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #180, are…

• FALLOUT
• UNCHARTED
• MINECRAFT
• HALO
• OVERWATCH
• SPANGRAM: VIDEOGAMES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Ah, now this is more like it! Or at least it is as far as I'm concerned; if you're not a gamer, and never have been, this will likely have been absolutely impossible, because there's really nothing that links these words beyond the fact that all are popular VIDEO GAMES.

I am a gamer and have played (and loved) FALLOUT, UNCHARTED and MINECRAFT. And though I've never been into HALO or OVERWATCH, I am well aware that they exist and are very popular. So this was a cinch for me, from the second I found FALLOUT (which is probably in my top 10 favorite games ever, assuming we're talking about FALLOUT 3 – no need to email me stating that New Vegas is better, it isn't). But if you don't own a PlayStation, Xbox or gaming PC… well, you're probably looking at a fail today.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday 29 August, game #179)

• LATTE
• MOCHA
• ESPRESSO
• CAPPUCCINO
• BLACK
• ICED
• SPANGRAM: COFFEEORDER

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.