NYT Strands today – my hints and answers for October 17 (#593)

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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, October 16 (game #592).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Gait keeping

NYT Strands today (game #593) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• PERCH

• CLASP

• SAUCY

• WELLY

• ROTA

• LAKES

NYT Strands today (game #593) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #593) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #593) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #593, are…

• CAPER

• CAVORT

• GALUMPH

• SCUTTLE

• TRAIPSE

• PRANCE

• SPANGRAM: SILLYWALKS

• My rating: Hard

• My score: 1 hint

Funny topic aside, this was a really tricky game, featuring several words that I’d heard of but never had cause to spell.

Fortunately, I discovered plenty of non-game words and a hint gave me CAPER, which launched my slow progress around the board.

I immediately thought that the theme was referring to walking styles, but it wasn’t until I got the spangram that I realised the category was SILLYWALKS.

I’m sure this search went down well in the Czech city of Brno, as they stage a Silly Walks Festival each March in honour of the Monty Python sketch, The Ministry of Silly Walks. But I can’t help but be offended that TRAIPSE is considered “silly”, as it’s something I’m often told I do – being someone not fond of walking at anything resembling speed.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, October 16, game #592)

• SPORTS

• GEOGRAPHY

• MUSIC

• HISTORY

• MOVIES

• NEWS

• SPANGRAM: TRIVIANIGHT

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.