Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #865, July 16

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

We'll start off with some clues, before building up to the full answer for Strands #865, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #865.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #865 is... "Rerouting..."

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Shifting directions".

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

  • CHEERS
  • SKATER
  • SCANT
  • TRUER
  • GAZE
  • HENCE
  • GIVE
  • VIEWER

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 'C' and ends with 'E'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...


It's CHANGECOURSE.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #865?

Drumroll, please...

  • ZIGZAG
  • VEER
  • SWERVE
  • TURN
  • PIVOT
  • TACK
  • DEVIATE

Strands #865

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was CHANGECOURSE.

Strands #865

“"Rerouting ..."”

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Hi Strands fans. Today's was a hugely satisfying puzzle: the perfect mix of quickly understandable and brainteasing.

As ever when there's an unusual letter, my eyes were drawn to the two 'Z's in the top-left corner. Sure enough, I was able to connect ZIGZAG, which got me thinking of synonyms.

VEER was down the left-hand side, with SWERVE on the right, and TURN below it. PIVOT was above, which neatly isolated TACK at the bottom of the grid.

That made it clear where the spangram started or ended, and I was able to connect CHANGECOURSE from the left-hand side to the bottom corner.

All that was left was to connect DEVIATE in the top-right corner to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #864.

Strands #864

(Image credit: Alan Martin)
  • ROMANTIC
  • QUIXOTIC
  • IDEALISTIC
  • IMPRACTICAL

...and the spangram was PIEINTHESKY.

Strands #864

“Rose-colored glasses”

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Hi Strands fans. I found today's puzzle pretty straightforward, chiefly because I found ROMANTIC in the top-left corner right away.

I then saw 'Q' and 'X' on the opposite side, and was able to link them up with QUIXOTIC. This was clearly a puzzle about idealism.

Sure enough, I found IDEALISTIC in the bottom-right corner, and then IMPRACTICAL on the left.

All that was left was to fill in the spangram in a straight line from the bottom of the grid to the top. It was, of course, PIEINTHESKY.

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.