Jump to:

Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #796, May 8

News
By last updated

Need help with Strands #796? 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 #796 as well as the answers, should it come to that.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #796.

Latest Videos From

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #796 is... "Garden variety."

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Signed off".

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

  • DEPTH
  • LIME
  • DEFT
  • TEAS
  • CRISES
  • MEMO
  • CLOMP
  • BASES

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 'R' and ends in 'L'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's RUNOFTHEMILL.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #796?

Drumroll, please...

  • ORDINARY
  • BASIC
  • PEDESTRIAN
  • COMMON
  • PROSAIC

Strands #796

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was RUNOFTHEMILL.

Strands #796

“Garden variety”

🔵🟡🔵🔵

🔵🔵

Hi Strands fans. A nice easy one today. "Garden variety" is a way of saying something isn't unusual, and sure enough I found ORDINARY in the bottom-left corner right away.

I then spotted the spangram to make it even easier, with RUNOFTHEMILL neatly splitting the board in two.

Starting with the left-hand side, I found BASIC in the top corner, with PEDESTRIAN below it to finish the half.

Moving on to the right-hand side, I found COMMON at the bottom, with PROSAIC above it to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #795.

Strands #795

(Image credit: Alan Martin)
  • SANCTION
  • ALLOW
  • PERMIT
  • APPROVE
  • BLESS
  • LICENSE

...and the spangram was GIVETHENOD.

Strands #795

“Go right ahead”

🔵🔵🟡🔵

🔵🔵🔵

Hi Strands fans. It took me a while to figure out what this puzzle was about, but when I finally got my first correct answer, the flood gates quickly opened.

With the theme of "Go right ahead", I was looking for something related to directions, when actually it was all about approval. This finally clicked when I found SANCTION in the bottom-left corner, having convinced myself that the word "give" to its right was part of the spangram.

I was then able to get ALLOW in the top-right corner, and subsequently returned to my theory above the spangram. It was indeed correct, and I linked GIVETHENOD spelt backwards from the bottom of the board to the top.

All that was left was to find four more answers, neatly divided into two sets of two. On the left-hand side, I found PERMIT in the middle, with APPROVE above it.

Moving onto the remaining section, I found BLESS in the middle with LICENSE below it to complete another puzzle without using any clues.

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.