The Kremlin has said Putin and Xi plan to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries, but also "key international and regional issues."
(Image credit: Alexander Kazakov)
Putin visits China to reaffirm Russia ties
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Monday, May 18, 2026
Trump says he's called off Iran strike at request of Gulf allies
President Donald Trump says he is holding off on a military strike on Iran planned for Tuesday because "serious negotiations" are underway to end the war.
(Image credit: Vahid Salemi)
NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, May 19 (game #807)
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, May 18 (game #806).
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 #807) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… On the rise
NYT Strands today (game #807) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- MOCK
- HULL
- POKE
- ROLL
- GREEK
- DIRGE
NYT Strands today (game #807) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 12 letters
NYT Strands today (game #807) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: bottom, 1st column
Last side: bottom, 3rd column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #807) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #807, are…
- MOUND
- HILL
- KNOLL
- SLOPE
- RIDGE
- BUTTE
- HUMMOCK
- SPANGRAM: HIGHERGROUND
- My rating: Hard
- My score: Perfect
I had never heard of the word HUMMOCK before, but then I don’t frequent that many peat bogs, so I think I can be forgiven. It’s a great word to say, though.
The rest of the words describing HIGHERGROUND I am more familiar with, especially as I am currently training for a very hilly long-distance cycle ride in September and trying to build up the ability to get up any HILL without moaning, groaning and stopping. As a consequence I am recalibrating some things I used to regard as hills as now a mere SLOPE.
Meanwhile, BUTTE took me a little while as I initially thought it only had one T – which would instead be the rather rugged Scottish island, which I have discovered via a Google search contains a large number of hummocks.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, May 18, game #806)
- ORANGE
- CLEMENTINE
- LIME
- KUMQUAT
- POMELO
- TANGERINE
- SPANGRAM: CITRUS
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.
Drone strikes UAE nuclear plant highlighting risk of renewed war
A drone strike sparked a fire on the edge of the United Arab Emirates' sole nuclear power plant on Sunday in what authorities called an "unprovoked terrorist attack."
(Image credit: Arun Girija/Emirates News Agency)
Sunday, May 17, 2026
NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, May 18 (game #806)
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 Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, May 17 (game #805).
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 #806) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… The daily rind
NYT Strands today (game #806) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- SURE
- MULE
- CAMEL
- POLE
- GATE
- GNAT
NYT Strands today (game #806) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 6 letters
NYT Strands today (game #806) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 3rd row
Last side: right, 8th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #806) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #806, are…
- ORANGE
- CLEMENTINE
- LIME
- KUMQUAT
- POMELO
- TANGERINE
- SPANGRAM: CITRUS
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
Another easy game, although it was made slightly harder with the elimination of the most common of CITRUS fruits, the lemon.
In lemon’s place we had two lesser-spotted fruits: the KUMQUAT, which is like a miniature orange and which is often used to make marmalade, and POMELO, a pomegranate-melon hybrid which took me a couple of goes to get because I kept trying to connect it as polemo.
After finishing the game I was excited to discover that the polemo does actually exist and is famous (although not that famous, obviously) for being the largest citrus fruit.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, May 17, game #805)
- SCOREBOARD
- LANES
- PINS
- BALLS
- LOUNGE
- ARCADE
- SPANGRAM: BOWLINGALLEY
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.
What motivated Chinese-born Uyghers to fight in Syria's civil war
Thousands of Chinese-born Uyghur fighters fled China to fight in the Syrian civil war. They say generations of political persecution in China motivated them to take up arms.
Saturday, May 16, 2026
NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, May 17 (game #805)
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 Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, May 16 (game #804).
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 #805) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Strike one!
NYT Strands today (game #805) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- RACE
- BLADE
- SPIN
- LAND
- BREAD
- LACED
NYT Strands today (game #805) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 12 letters
NYT Strands today (game #805) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: top, 2nd column
Last side: bottom, 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 #805) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #805, are…
- SCOREBOARD
- LANES
- PINS
- BALLS
- LOUNGE
- ARCADE
- SPANGRAM: BOWLINGALLEY
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
I scored my 88th Spangram First today, although BOWLINGALLEY was not exactly hard to spot — they may as well have put flashing neon bulbs around it.
To say that I found this search easier than a game of Ten Pin Bowling would be an understatement. Although I love playing the game — I even like the shoes — I am shockingly bad at it and in the unlikely event that I ever get a strike I will follow it up with 1s and 2s that defy science.
I was, then, familiar with all the many aspects and attractions of a BOWLINGALLEY although I spent longest over the final word ARCADE.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, May 16, game #804)
- MOUSSE
- CROISSANT
- ECLAIR
- MACARON
- MERINGUE
- SPANGRAM: FRENCHBAKERY
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.