NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, September 15 (game #196)

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… On the rocks

NYT Strands today (game #196) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• WHISK
• STET
• WHEAT
• CHEAT
• SLED
• FARE

NYT Strands today (game #196) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Mad Men tipple

NYT Strands today (game #196) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: left, 4th row

Last: left, 7th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #196) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #196, are…

• WHISKEY
• BITTERS
• WATER
• CHERRY
• ORANGE
• SUGAR
• SPANGRAM: OLDFASHIONED

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

Thank heavens for Mad Men. I devoured the brilliant AMC show during lockdown, having somehow missed it when it originally aired about a decade before, and without it I probably would have found today's Strands to be far, far tougher. As it was, I remembered lead character Don Draper's favorite drink and therefore the spangram OLDFASHIONED.

Not that I knew the ingredients as such – but I remembered enough that finding the likes of BITTERS, WATER, CHERRY and SUGAR wasn't an impossible task. It might have been without WHISKEY, but fortunately the theme clue of 'On the rocks' had set me on the path to searching for that, making the whole thing more manageable than it would otherwise have been.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday 14 September, game #195)

• BELT
• HANDBAG
• SCARF
• JEWELRY
• WATCH
• GLASSES
• SPANGRAM: ACCESSORIZING

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.