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 #980 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 #980, so read on if you need a little help.
Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #980.
Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints
The official theme for NYT Strands #980 is... "Disciplined combat."
And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Self-defense."
If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:
- DORK
- RATED
- WORK
- STATED
- TICK
- TOWNS
- GLARED
- RAKE
- TAKER
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 'M' and ends with 'S'.
Scroll down to find out what it is...
It's MARTIALARTS.
Today's Strands answers
So, what are today's Strands answers for game #980?
Drumroll, please...
- KICKBOXING
- JUDO
- KARATE
- TAEKWONDO
- NINJUTSU
...and the spangram was MARTIALARTS.
Strands #980
“Disciplined combat”
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Hi Strands fans. As straightforward a puzzle as I can remember today. The theme of "Disciplined combat" pointed directly to martial arts, and this was quickly confirmed when I connected the 'X' on the second row as part of KICKBOXING.
JUDO was to its left, and I then saw the spangram of MARTIALARTS running directly below my two answers.
Three words were left to find in the bottom half. KARATE was the obvious one, immediately below the spangram.
Now things got slightly trickier, as the two remaining answers were tougher to spell correctly.
I found TAEKWONDO immediately below KARATE, and that just left NINJUTSU in the bottom-left corner to complete the puzzle.
Yesterday's Strands answers
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #979.
- FLASH
- ZOOM
- RUSH
- WHIZ
- STREAK
- HURTLE
- WHOOSH
...and the spangram was WHATSTHEHURRY.
Strands #979
“In the blink of an eye”
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Hi Strands fans. A nice and easy one today. The theme of "In the blink of an eye" clearly points towards speed, and I quickly found three nippy synonyms at the bottom of the board.
FLASH was in the middle, with ZOOM and RUSH either side of it.
I then spotted "hurry" in the top-right corner. When that didn't connect as an answer, I followed it backwards to spell out the spangram of WHATSTHEHURRY.
Four answers were left to find in the top half, and given the shortage of letters, I knew they'd have to be on the shorter side. WHIZ made use of the mysterious 'Z', with STREAK to its left.
That just left HURTLE and WHOOSH on the left-hand side to complete the puzzle.
