• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… In the ballpark
NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, July 12 (game #496)
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 Friday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, July 11 (game #495).
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 #496) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
NYT Strands today (game #496) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- DOLE
- CLUE
- ANGER
- STUN
- PLUMP
- BUNCH
NYT Strands today (game #496) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 7 letters
NYT Strands today (game #496) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 5th row
Last side: right, 4th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #496) – the answers

The answers to today’s Strands, game #496, are…
- GLOVE
- PEANUTS
- HELMET
- PITCHER
- BULLPEN
- JAMBOTRON
- SPANGRAM: STADIUM
- My rating: Hards
- My score: 2 hints
I managed to scrape through today’s search without any knowledge of baseball apart from Field of Dreams and League of Their Own – not that either movie had a JUMBOTRON – and needed two hints to complete the search.
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
One of the things I find most annoying about watching live sport on TV is crowd shots and in particular that moment when a fan is just about to spot themselves on the big screen as someone close to them taps them on the shoulder and the camera cuts away before we see their reaction.
That said, if you ever take a child to a live game in a STADIUM this will often be the thing that excites them the most. Not the world class athletes performing in front of them or the thrill of being in a crowd, no it’ll be the Mexican wave and the moment they almost appeared on the jumbotron.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Friday, July 11, game #495)
- SONNET
- LIMERICK
- EPIC
- ELEGY
- HAIKU
- BALLAD
- ACROSTIC
- SPANGRAM: POETRY
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 Friday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers…
Recent Posts
- Got a new Kindle Colorsoft or Paperwhite? I’ve scoured the web for the best cases to personalize it and protect it from scapes and bumps
- US states are reportedly planning to sue to block Paramount’s Warner Bros. takeover
- Argentina vs Honduras free streams: How to watch World Cup warm-up from anywhere in the world
- The Trump administration is reportedly in talks about taking a stake in OpenAI
- Hand-drawn interactive searching game Hidden Folks 2 is coming next year
Archives
- June 2026
- May 2026
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023