From Mashable · Mashable Team · · 1m 10s
Today's Strands answers are pure spy talk
A James Bond brain gets you through the September 13 Strands grid in under ten minutes.
In brief
A James Bond brain gets you through the September 13 Strands grid in under ten minutes. The theme is counter-intelligence and the horizontal spangram is UNDERCOVER, so hunt for spy job titles. Originally reported by Mashable.
Spy week at Strands
The September 13 puzzle leans on espionage vocabulary. If you know your James Bond, the grid opens up fast.
“Today's NYT Strands hints will be easy if you know like James Bond.”
How Strands actually works
Link letters up, down, sideways or diagonally, and words can bend mid-path into odd shapes. Every letter in the grid belongs to some answer.
The spangram is the key
One special word or phrase sums up the day's theme and stretches the full width or height of the grid. Find it and the rest falls into place.
Why it takes longer
Strands gives you a vague theme and no word list, so it runs ten minutes or more. Wordle and Connections are quicker by design.
“By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game”
Theme hint: Top Secret
The words all relate to counter-intelligence work. Put plainly, every answer describes a spy.
“These words describe a spy.”
The full answer list
The horizontal spangram is UNDERCOVER. The other words: PLANT, AGENT, COUNTERSPY, ASSET, OPERATIVE and MOLE.
“Today's spangram is Undercover.”
What to remember
The theme is counter-intelligence and the horizontal spangram is UNDERCOVER, so hunt for spy job titles.
