Jump to:

Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #711, February 12

News
By last updated

Need help with Strands #711? Here are some hints and the answers

NYT Strands on a cellphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
Jump to:
Strands today: Quick menu

1. Today's hints

2. Today's answer

3. Yesterday's answer

Need a bit of help with NYT Strands today? No shame in that, and you've come to the right place. Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #711 as well as the answers, should it come to that.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #711.

Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints

The official theme for NYT Strands #711 is... "Sink or swim".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Big calls".

If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:

  • RIVET
  • CRICK
  • SIGHS
  • VICE
  • TAKERS
  • STACK
  • DICE
  • LASH

Still struggling? The spangram touches two opposite sides of the board (but can start and end anywhere), and will give you a hint about the connection between the answers. Today, it starts with 'H' and ends with 'S'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's HIGHSTAKES.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #711?

Drumroll, please...

  • PIVOTAL
  • RISKY
  • CRITICAL
  • DECISIVE
  • IMPERATIVE

Strands #711

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was HIGHSTAKES.

Strands #711

“Sink or swim”

🔵🔵🔵🟡

🔵🔵

Hi Strands fans. A slightly obscure theme today, but I was still able to get through without clues.

That's because I found "pivot" while looking for words for clue list above. I then saw I could extend that to PIVOTAL, and suddenly the theme of "Sink or swim" became a bit clearer.

I then connected RISKY above it, followed by CRITICAL in the bottom-right corner. That cleared space for the spangram, and I worked backwards to spell HIGHSTAKES from top to the bottom of the board.

This neatly cordoned off a word in the top-right corner, which I was able to unpick to spell DECISIVE.

I was very close to using a clue at this point, because I thought I had to break down the remaining letters into two answers. Thankfully I noticed that there was only one answer left in time, and then decoding the anagram into a single answer became easy. I connected IMPERATIVE and completed the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #710.

Strands #710

(Image credit: Alan Martin)
  • PECAN
  • MACADAMIA
  • FILBERT
  • ALMOND
  • CASHEW
  • PISTACHIO

...and the spangram was GONUTS.

Strands #710

“Crack and snack”

💡🔵🔵🔵

🟡🔵🔵🔵

Hi Strands fans. I was kicking myself when I used a clue to start things off here, as my mind went straight to nuts when I saw the theme of "Crack and snack".

Yet, somehow, I managed to miss the word on the board and used a clue to reveal PECAN in the top-left of the grid. No ambiguity there, and I set to work finding other kinds of nut.

I found MACADAMIA to its right, which cleared the space for FILBERT at the top. Immediately underneath my three answers was the spangram of GONUTS.

Three words were left to find in the bottom section. I found ALMOND on the right first, followed by CASHEW to its left. That meant I just needed to connect PISTACHIO at the bottom of the board to complete the puzzle.

Alan Martin
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. He also handles all the Wordle coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game for the last several years in an effort to keep his streak forever intact.

Back To Top