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Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #801, May 13

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Need help with Strands #801? Here are some hints and the answers

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(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
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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 #801 as well as the answers, should it come to that.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #801.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #801 is... "You've got..."

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Prove your mettle".

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

  • STRAFE
  • TITTER
  • RAFTS
  • SPREE
  • BIKES
  • PUTTER
  • GUTTER
  • BATTER

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 'W' and ends in 'S'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's WHATITAKES.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #801?

Drumroll, please...

  • GRIT
  • PLUCK
  • SPUNK
  • FIBER
  • HEART
  • NERVE
  • GUMPTION

Strands #801

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was WHATITTAKES.

Strands #801

“You've got ...”

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Hi Strands fans. A fairly straightforward one today. The phrase "You've got..." makes me think of praise for determination, and sure enough I found GRIT on the right-hand side, with PLUCK immediately above it.

I then spotted SPUNK on the left-hand side, with FIBER and HEART across in the bottom-right section of the grid.

This formed enough shape to give me the gist of the spangram, and I was able to connect WHATITTAKES from the top of the board to the bottom.

Two answers were left to find, both isolated in their own sections on the left-hand side. NERVE was at the very top, with GUMPTION at the bottom to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #800.

Strands #800

(Image credit: Alan Martin)
  • HAREM
  • GAUCHO
  • TUXEDO
  • PALAZZO
  • SAILOR
  • TOREADOR

...and the spangram was FANCYPANTS.

Strands #800

“Quite the pair”

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🔵🔵🔵🟡

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Hi Strands fans. I really went the wrong way on this one.

I saw the theme of "Quite the pair" and assumed this would be about duos - especially when I could see the word "deux" at the bottom. In my head, I had a spangram of "what a to-deux" or similar lined up.

But, of course, there was no such thing, because the theme was actually related to pants, something that became clear to me after I used two clues revealing HAREM and GAUCHO in the top-left of the board.

I then found TUXEDO in the bottom-right corner, followed by PALAZZO in the top right. SAILOR was in the bottom-right corner - a word discovered by chance, rather than me being familiar with the style of pants.

Still, I had enough to get the spangram now: FANCYPANTS spelt across the middle of the board. That just left TOREADOR below it 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.