NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, October 25 (game #966)

(Image credit: New York Times) 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 Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, October 24 (game #965).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 #966) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Something to build onNYT Strands today (game #966) - hint #2 - clue wordsPlay any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.KNOTSTEELWORKDRAWSUNKSLEETLARDNYT Strands today (game #966) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?• Spangram has 11 lettersNYT Strands today (game #966) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?• First side: bottom, 5th column• Last side: bottom, 1st columnRight, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.NYT Strands today (game #966) - the answers (Image credit: New York Times)The answers to today's Strands, game #966, are…SCAFFOLDINGFRAMEWORKSTRUCTURESKELETONSPANGRAM: FOUNDATIONSMy rating: EasyMy score: PerfectI decided to take the theme literally and went hunting for FOUNDATIONS, which I was delighted to spot as a rare right-to-left, bottom-to-bottom spangram towering impressively across the board.Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.This was my 113th Spangram First.From here, SCAFFOLDING was the only other construction word I knew — but I was able to build on my confident start with some easily spottable words.Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, October 24, game #965)BASKETWASHERSINKRACKDETERGENTIRONSPANGRAM: LAUNDRYDAYWhat 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. Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.