NYT Strands hints today for #564: Clues and answers for Thursday, Sept. 18

I start each morning with the New York Times Strands word game, and sometimes I need a little extra help. Luckily, if you need a few extra clues, I’m here to give some hints (and spoilers) to get you through Thursday’s puzzle: #564. Peeking at these hints isn’t cheating — the game is supposed to be challenging.

Since I’m a daily Strands player, I’ll also share how I did each day. Puzzle #564 is a fun one. I only needed one in-game hint.

If you're new to NYT Strands, we’ll show you how to get started. Also, check out today's Wordle hints and answer.

How to play NYT Strands

NYT Strands is similar to a word search. The player is presented with a grid of seemingly random letters, 6 across and 8 down. There are around 7 words hidden within the board, and the goal is to hunt them down. Letters to the right, left, below, above or diagonal can be connected, so be prepared to see some funky shapes. Every single letter will be used in the puzzle.

Your job is to find all the hidden words and the final “spangram,” which refers to the overall theme connecting all the words. For instance, in one recent puzzle, the theme was “That’s so sweet!” and the spanagram was “sugary.” Each of the hidden words had to do with a type of sugar.

If you get stuck, Strands lets you unlock in-game hints. For each four-letter word that you find that is not an answer to the puzzle, you earn progress towards a clue. Every three words you find illuminates a Hint icon in the bottom left corner of your screen. Click on it, and the puzzle will highlight which letters make up the next answer — just not how they connect. Still stuck? Unlock another hint, and the game will walk you through the word letter by letter. However, be aware that the number of hints you use will be reflected in your final score.

Even if you find yourself obsessed with this game after just one puzzle, you can only play once a day. Just like Wordle and Connections, the timer resets each night at midnight.

Today’s NYT Strands theme: Practice makes perfect

The theme for today’s puzzle is practice makes perfect.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s another hint: Black and white.

In-game words for clues

If you need a few extra hints for hidden words, you can always find other four-letter words within the puzzle. The game will give you a hint for each three words with four or more letters. Here are some you can use:

• SAND, CHAD, RAIL, CIRE, LICE, TRAIT, RICE, LESS, TEEN

Today's NYT Strands answers (spoilers)

Here are the words you can find in today’s puzzle.

• CHORD, TECHNIQUE, SCALE, TUNE, THEORY, RECITAL

Today's NYT Strands spangram (spoilers)

Today's Strands spangram is PIANOLESSONS. You can find the first P in the top row, third from the left. It snakes downward and ends on the S in the last row, second letter from the right.

My results today

I started off searching for words you can practice, such as sports or music. I found PIANO first, but I didn’t link it to LESSONS until after I spotted CHORD. Even though I grew up playing piano, I did have to use a hint for the last two words: RECITAL and THEORY. Safe to say, piano was never my strong suit.

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Did this puzzle strike a chord? Let me know how you did in the comments.