NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Tuesday, September 17 (game #198)

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

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

NYT Strands today (game #198) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• LOIN
• LORE
• CHART
• RING
• BRING
• RACK

NYT Strands today (game #198) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Up and down, back and forth

NYT Strands today (game #198) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: right, 4th row

Last: left, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #198) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #198, are…

• SPRING
• TRAMPOLINE
• ECHO
• BASKETBALL
• KANGAROO
• SPANGRAM: LETSBOUNCE

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

I have only one problem with today's Strands – and that's the spangram. Unless LETSBOUNCE is an Americanism that I'm not familiar with, I don't get why that's the answer, rather than just BOUNCE on its own.

That really tripped me up today; the combination of theme clue and uncovering SPRING by accident led me to the general concept, and I was able to find TRAMPOLINE, ECHO and BASKETBALL without too much trouble. But I couldn't make two more words out of the remaining letters. I could see BOUNCE was there, but it didn't turn blue (or yellow), and I couldn't work out what word could go before (or after) it. Eventually I used a hint, which gave me KANGAROO, at which point the spangram revealed itself.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday 16 September, game #197)

• CHEEK
• NOSE
• EARLOBE
• EYEBROW
• SEPTUM
• NAVEL
• TONGUE
• SPANGRAM: PIERCING

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.