Today’s NYT Strands Puzzle for July 23, #142 Had an Odd Spangram [CNET]

Did the game-makers at the New York Times make a mistake?

We’re just going to spoil it right away: The spangram, meaning the word that spans the entire Strands board and also sums up the theme, was CHAMPION today. But one of the clue words, SUPERLATIVE, also spanned the board, and seemed like a better theme. Not sure if that was a mistake on the game-makers’ part, or if they just liked CHAMPION better. Read on if you want more answers for today’s Strands puzzle.

Also, here’s the answer for today’s Wordle, and here are the answers for today’s Connections. And do you grapple with the NYT Mini Crossword? Here’s today’s answer for that.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: You’re the best!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: High praise.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• SUPE, SUPER, CITE, NOPE, PUTS, CHAMP, REAL, REALS, EXCEL, SLUR, PRAT, TARE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• ICONIC, SUPREME, EXCELLENT, PERFECT, SUPERLATIVE.

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is CHAMPION. To find it, begin with the C that’s three letters up from the bottom on the far right row, and wind up and left.

How to play NYT Strands

1. Use today’s theme to look for words relating to that topic. See one? Drag or click the letters in order. Click on the last letter twice to submit your guess. If you’ve found a theme word, it’ll light up in blue and stay that way.

2. Other words you find are considered hint words that give you clues to the theme words. Find three hint words (they must have at least four letters each), and the game will reward you by showing you a theme word. But if you can’t unscramble it, find three more hint words and the game will highlight the theme word’s letters in order.

3. Hunt for the spangram, a special theme word that spans the entire puzzle, though it could flow across or top to bottom. It summarizes the puzzle theme.

4. When you’re done, you’ll have used every letter on the board in either a theme word or spangram. Theme words fill the entire board and do not overlap.