Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #738, March 11

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

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 #738 as well as the answers, should it come to that.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #738.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #738 is... "Survival mode".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Staying safe."

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

  • TRACTS
  • GIFT
  • FUEL
  • RIDES
  • FORGO
  • LIFT
  • CAFE
  • MINER
  • MULE

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 'D' and ends with 'S'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...


It's DEFENSES.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #738?

Drumroll, please...

  • ARMOR
  • AGILITY
  • MIMICRY
  • CAMOUFLAGE
  • DISTRACTION

Strands #738

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was DEFENSES.

Strands #738

“Survival mode”

💡🔵💡🔵

💡🔵🟡🔵

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Hi Strands fans. As you can see from the summary above, I was not at the races today.

I needed no fewer than three clues to get started. The first revealed ARMOR on the right-hand side, the second AGILITY on the left, and the third MIMICRY in the middle.

What do these things and the theme of "Survival mode" have in common? The spangram of DEFENSES, spelt diagonally from the top-left corner to the bottom right.

With that divider in place, I was able to stumble over the line without using any more clues.

CAMOUFLAGE was the only word that could be made from the remaining letters in the top-right corner, while DISTRACTION is what you get with the characters left at the bottom.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #737.

Strands #737

(Image credit: Alan Martin)
  • HELLO
  • WELCOME
  • HOWDY
  • SALUTATIONS
  • GREETINGS
  • AHOY

...and the spangram was GOODDAY.

Strands #737

“Hey"”

🔵🔵🔵🔵

🔵🔵🟡

Hi Strands fans. A nice and easy one today. What else could the theme of "Hey" mean excepts different kinds of greeting?

That was confirmed almost instantly with HELLO in the top-right corner, and then doubled down on with WELCOME directly below it.

HOWDY was to the right of these, and I then found the slightly more archaic SALUTATIONS in the bottom-right corner.

I then spotted GREETINGS spelt diagonally upwards from the bottom-left corner, which took me right to the edge of AHOY spelt backwards up the right-hand side.

That made the spangram clear. I connected GOODDAY backwards in the one remaining gap to complete the puzzle.

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.