Today’s NYT Strands: Clues, Anagrams, and Solutions for Friday, May 17

The New York Times has introduced a new daily puzzle called Strands, adding a twist to the classic word search game. This challenging puzzle requires a sharp eye and a knack for word manipulation to solve.

Similar to popular games like Wordle and Connections, Strands can be tricky on some days, prompting players to seek help when needed. The goal of the game is to find the “theme words” hidden in the grid of letters by crafting words through dragging or tapping. Once a correct word is found, it will be highlighted in blue and no longer selectable.

For every three non-theme words that are at least four letters long, players receive a hint by revealing the letters of one of the theme words to unscramble. The puzzle contains a special theme word called a “spangram,” which describes the puzzle’s theme and touches two opposite sides of the board, highlighted in yellow when found.

Today’s theme for the Strands puzzle is “Looking for a mate,” with a hint that these things come in sets of two. The answers for today’s puzzle include words like PLIER, CHOPSTICK, MITTEN, POOKEND, TONG, WING, and EARPLUG.

The goal is to complete the puzzle quickly without using too many hints, making it a fun and engaging challenge for puzzle enthusiasts. So, if you’re up for a brain-teasing game, give Strands a try and see if you can crack the code of today’s theme.