NYT Strands hints, answers for February 21, 2026
Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you love a cold ale.
Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: The beer necessities
The words are related to a popular drink.
Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe an alcoholic drink.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today's spangram is Home Brew.
NYT Strands word list for February 21
Water
Malt
Flavor
Hops
Home Brew
Yeast
Wheat
Sugar
Barley
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Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.