NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Friday, October 11 (game #222)

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

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

NYT Strands today (game #222) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• PEEL
• BLARE
• BARE
• MEET
• MOTE
• MORE

NYT Strands today (game #222) - hint #3 - spangram

What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Elemental place

NYT Strands today (game #222) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First: bottom, 4th column

Last: top, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #222) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #222, are…

• BEAKER
• FLASK
• PIPETTE
• GOGGLES
• THERMOMETER
• SPANGRAM: CHEMISTRYLAB

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Ah, the CHEMISTRYLAB. The pop of hydrogen/oxygen, the flash of magnesium, the smell of burning hair from someone getting too close to the Bunsen burner… those were the days. Fortunately, there's a lot less risk involved in solving Strands. And that's particularly true today, because it's likely to be an easy one for most people.

The second I saw the theme clue of 'Let's experiment' I thought 'Science!' and knew what would be expected here. And I was right, with BEAKER and FLASK, my first two, confirming the concept. After that it was a simple matter of thinking back to those days spent messing around with potassium, phosphorus and all the other chemicals I should probably never have been allowed near at the age of 13…

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday 10 October, game #221)

• JUMBLE
• SUDOKU
• JIGSAW
• MAZE
• CROSSWORD
• CRYPTOGRAM
• SPANGRAM: PUZZLES

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.