NYT Strands Today - Hints, Spangram & Answers for August 21
Mastodon“Celebrate!”
Ready to test your skills?
Solve today's Strands board on our free interactive game board with live letter tracing!
Clue Meaning & Thought-Starters
Understand the theme category without spoiling the answers.
The clue “Celebrate!” hints at a unified group of items, common phrases, or objects that all share a single overarching concept.
Today's Spangram Hints
Gentle clues for the board's most powerful word.
Theme Words Progressive Revealer
Reveal one word at a time if you are stuck on a specific spot.
Today's Letter Grid Visualizer
Each theme word is shown in its own distinct shade of blue so you can clearly see and trace every word path on the grid.
Complete Solution Summary
Click any colored word badge below to isolate and highlight its path on the letter grid above.
THEME WORDS (6 TOTAL — COLOR-CODED):
Yesterday's Strands Recap (August 20)
Missed yesterday's board? Here is the previous answer set.
Theme: “Split superlatives”
Spangram: YOURETHE
How to Solve NYT Strands Like a Pro
1. How do you find the Spangram quickly?
The spangram always spans between two opposite sides of the grid (left-to-right, right-to-left, top-to-bottom, or bottom-to-top). Scan the outer edges first for distinct starting letters that relate to the overall clue topic.
2. How do in-game hint points work?
You can select any valid English word of 4 or more letters—even if it's not a theme word! Every 3 non-theme words you find fill up your Hint meter and reveal the exact letter coordinates of a theme word.
3. Can theme words touch diagonally?
Yes! Letters can connect horizontally, vertically, or diagonally in any direction, but each letter on the 48-letter grid is used exactly once across all theme words and the spangram.