• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Riding the wind
NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, May 18 (game #441)

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 17 (game #440).
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 #441) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
NYT Strands today (game #441) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- STING
- HAIL
- DUET
- MILE
- TALL
- BLOG
NYT Strands today (game #441) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 8 letters
NYT Strands today (game #441) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 4th 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 #441) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #441, are…
- HELM
- MAST
- RIGGING
- KEEL
- TILLER
- HULL
- RUDDER
- STERN
- SPANGRAM: SAILBOAT
- My rating: Easy
- My score: 1 hint
Top marks, NYT, for giving us a Strands spangram that looks like a bright yellow SAILBOAT against a clear blue sky. Well, it does if you squint a bit.
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Although today’s edition was, indeed, plain sailing, once I’d gotten going, it took me a while to find my sea legs.
I’d found six unrelated words without a clue what today’s theme meant, so I opted for a hint word. HELM left me in little doubt, so I went about exhausting every boaty word I could think of.
Sailing is another one of those hobbies I like the sound of, but the reality is very different. For starters, it’s way above my pay grade – and then there’s my chronic motion sickness, which probably wouldn’t go down well with the salty sea dogs down at the boatyard. I’ll stick to laptops and word searches.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Saturday, May 17, game #441)
- LYNX
- WINGS
- STORM
- LIBERTY
- DREAM
- FEVER
- MERCURY
- SPANGRAM: BASKETBALL
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 Saturday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers…
Recent Posts
- The latest Nothing Phone 3 leak hints at chipset, camera, and battery specifications
- Epic asks judge to make Apple let Fortnite back on the US App Store
- The De’Longhi Primadonna Aromatic is an espresso machine with a personality, and after one week we’re already best friends
- Microsoft gets its own Spotlight-like feature with the Command Palette launcher
- The Verge’s 2025 graduation gift guide
Archives
- 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
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010