Taking advantage of the electoral defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orban, European Union countries have moved to approve a $100 billion loan to Ukraine.
After being held up for months, Ukraine set to get $100B loan from EU
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Trump administration flies 10-year-old back from Cuba amid custody fight
President Trump's Department of Justice sent a plane this week to Cuba to return a 10-year-old from Utah who is at the center of a custody fight involving the child's gender identity.
(Image credit: Hannah Schoenbaum)
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, April 23 (game #781)
Looking for a different day?
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, April 22 (game #780).
Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #781) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Provinces of the pantheon
NYT Strands today (game #781) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- ROAM
- RAGE
- STING
- GLAMOR
- DEVIL
- MORE
NYT Strands today (game #781) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 6 letters
NYT Strands today (game #781) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 5th row
Last side: right, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #781) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #781, are…
- THUNDER
- UNDERWORLD
- MARRIAGE
- LOVE
- HARVEST
- WISDOM
- SPANGRAM: DOMAIN
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 hint
Seeing as yesterday’s game paid homage to Earth Day, I was fully expecting today’s round to be a nod to World Book Day — the most feared day in a parent's diary, thanks to the tradition of kids dressing up as fictional characters for school.
A friend of mine’s mother got the wrong day for this back in the day and he had to spend the entire school day dressed as Voldemort while the rest of the school were in their uniforms.
Anyway, I digress. Instead of books and Harry Potter we were treated to a search for some words associated with ancient mythology — I know this now after Googling, but at the time it seemed entirely random.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, April 21, game #779)
- REPAIR
- RECYCLE
- DONATE
- REFILL
- REUSE
- REDUCE
- SPANGRAM: CONSERVATION
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Mexico to beef up security at tourist sites after shooting at pyramids
Mexico's government is boosting security at tourist sites in preparation for the World Cup after a man opened fire at the Teotihuacan pyramids.
NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, April 22 (game #780)
Looking for a different day?
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 21 (game #779).
Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #780) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Earth Day
NYT Strands today (game #780) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- RINSE
- SORE
- CREATOR
- LATER
- DOVE
- REPAID
NYT Strands today (game #780) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 12 letters
NYT Strands today (game #780) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 4th row
Last side: top, 4th column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #780) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #780, are…
- REPAIR
- RECYCLE
- DONATE
- REFILL
- REUSE
- REDUCE
- SPANGRAM: CONSERVATION
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
Today, is of course Earth Day, an annual event where we all, as a human race, can show our support for the environment by behaving sustainably and thinking about how we can protect the planet for the future. Not blowing it up would be a good start, perhaps.
Despite the theme being obvious I was quite slow to get going today and saw plenty of words that I should have clocked as game words.
In fact, I saw “repaid” before I saw REPAIR, “conserve” before the spangram CONSERVATION and “cycle” before RECYCLE.
Unlike previous games this one was decidedly lacking in ridiculously long words — perhaps the game makers were choosing not to be wasteful with their letters.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, April 21, game #779)
- BOLD
- INTREPID
- GUTSY
- COURAGEOUS
- ADVENTUROUS
- SPANGRAM: DAREDEVILS
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
Monday, April 20, 2026
NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 21 (game #779)
Looking for a different day?
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, April 20 (game #778).
Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #779) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Risky business
NYT Strands today (game #779) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- ROUTE
- ROUTER
- DIET
- RATE
- GATE
- CRATE
- SUET
- CRUET
- VIRAL
NYT Strands today (game #779) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #779) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 5th row
Last side: right, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #779) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #779, are…
- BOLD
- INTREPID
- GUTSY
- COURAGEOUS
- ADVENTUROUS
- SPANGRAM: DAREDEVILS
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 hint
Initially, I briefly entertained, then eliminated, the possibility that today’s search was about Tom Cruise films… Then I found BOLD and deduced that we were searching for words associated with people for whom risks are occupational hazard.
With this in mind I went looking for “stunt performer”, but managed to find DAREDEVILS instead — a word which sums up people in this profession. After a run of long spangrams we returned to a relatively short one today, and one in which there was a game word (ADVENTUROUS) that was longer.
It is hard to imagine a less daring pursuit than Strands — unless of course you completed today’s puzzle whilst hanging upside down from a trapeze suspended over a ravine. And if you did then I applaud you.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, April 20, game #778)
- GLINT
- GLITTER
- GLISTEN
- GLEAM
- GLOW
- GLIMMER
- SPANGRAM: CATCHTHELIGHT
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
Canada's PM Carney indicates a move away from economic reliance on the U.S.
Canada's close economic ties with the U.S. are now a "weakness," not a strength, Prime Minister Mark Carney says. In a video address to the nation, he outlines plans to expand trade beyond America.
