• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Fowl business
NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, June 26 (game #480)

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, June 25 (game #479).
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 #480) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
NYT Strands today (game #480) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- HEAT
- PAGES
- MESH
- STIR
- GRAD
- GASP
NYT Strands today (game #480) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 9 letters
NYT Strands today (game #480) – 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 #480) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #480, are…
- TURKEY
- QUAIL
- GOOSE
- PARTRIDGE
- GROUSE
- PHEASANT
- SPANGRAM: GAME BIRDS
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
“Fowl business” immediately had me searching for the letter K, as I was convinced our search would include chicken. Instead, we were looking for fancier GAME BIRDS than the common junglefowl.
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The K search led me to TURKEY, which set me on the way for an easy stroll around the grid as I asked myself the questions: how many of these birds have I eaten (1).
PHEASANT was the only word that slowed me down, as I saw “birds” before seeing the accompanying “game”.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, June 25, game #479)
- WATCH
- HANDBAG
- JEWELRY
- PERFUME
- CONVERTIBLE
- SPANGRAM: LUXURY GOODS
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.
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…
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