NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, May 16 (game #439)

Looking for NYT Strands answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, including the spangram.

May 15, 2025 - 16:46

NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, May 16 (game #439)

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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, May 15 (game #438).

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 #439) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… To a degree

NYT Strands today (game #439) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

CHIP
CHEEP
SPORES
SINS
SORT
RACES

NYT Strands today (game #439) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #439) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 8th row

Last side: right, 1st row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #439) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 439 on a blue background — (Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #439, are…

GOWN
PHOTO
SPEECH
DIPLOMA
TASSEL
PROCESSION
SPANGRAM: GRADUATION

My rating: Easy
My score: Perfect

There are many universal traditions associated with GRADUATION ceremonies, from paying far too much to hire a GOWN to posing for a PHOTO that will be given pride of place in your parents' house until the zombie apocalypse – and even then it’ll still be there, just with added cobwebs and a splatter of green blood.

There is also a whole legend surrounding the tassels on the mortarboard hat. Traditionally, tassels are worn on the right side and moved to the left during a special portion of the ceremony for high-school graduates. For college graduates, Bachelors again wear tassels on the right side until their degrees are conferred, then move to left.

Goodness knows what might happen to you if you move your tassel from the left to the right – maybe you get burdened with a lifetime of debt or something awful like that. Erm, hang on a sec…

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, May 15, game #438)

BEETLE
BRONCO
MUSTANG
RABBIT
IMPALA
JAGUAR
SPANGRAM: AUTOMOBILES

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.