NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Wednesday, September 18 (game #199)

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Handy helpers

NYT Strands today (game #199) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• LIVE
• LIVER
• LIVID
• WEAR
• CLOSE
• CLOSET

NYT Strands today (game #199) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Essential DIY collection

NYT Strands today (game #199) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: right, 7th 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 #199) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #199, are…

• KNIFE
• PLIERS
• HAMMER
• SCREWDRIVER
• WRENCH
• LEVEL
• SPANGRAM: TOOLCHEST

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Deep in my shed, behind assorted boxes, no-longer-working gadgets and unneeded cables, covered in dust and surrounded by oh-so-many spiders there is a box. That box contains my DIY tools. There is a HAMMER, a rusty one admittedly, but it's there all the same. There are many SCREWDRIVERs, some of which I even occasionally use. There is a LEVEL, a KNIFE, a couple of WRENCHes and some PLIERS – the latter of which are entirely rusted up and now useless.

So, solving this Strands puzzle was simply a matter of me thinking about what lurks within my TOOLCHEST. I didn't actually go out there and look – because a) that would be cheating, b) it would be far more effort than I was willing to put in this early in the day and c) those spiders. So. Many. Spiders.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday 17 September, game #198)

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

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.