Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #712, February 13

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

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #712.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #712 is... "See what I mean?"

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Not just text".

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

  • HIVE
  • MOLD
  • LADS
  • GOATS
  • CHATS
  • GUARDS
  • LIVED
  • RAIDS

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 'V' and ends with 'S'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...


It's VISUALAIDS.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #712?

Drumroll, please...

  • CHART
  • DIAGRAM
  • INFOGRAPHIC
  • PHOTO
  • VIDEO
  • MODEL

Strands #712

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was VISUALAIDS.

Strands #712

“See what I mean?”

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Hi Strands fans. A tricky one to get started with. "See what I mean?" is a somewhat vague theme, and I found myself using a clue.

When said clue revealed CHART, I was kicking myself. Of course, this is about ways of presenting things without text!

I quickly found DIAGRAM spelt diagonally alongside CHART. That left a neat gap between the two for the spangram of VISUALAIDS.

I then found INFOGRAPHIC in the bottom-left corner, with PHOTO above it to complete the half.

Two answers were left to find in the top-right corner, and with only ten letters left on the board, they were both going to be short. I found VIDEO spelt backwards on the left, with MODEL in the corner to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #711.

Strands #711

(Image credit: Alan Martin)
  • PIVOTAL
  • RISKY
  • CRITICAL
  • DECISIVE
  • IMPERATIVE

...and the spangram was HIGHSTAKES.

Strands #711

“Sink or swim”

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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.

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.