NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, October 23 (game #599)

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 Wednesday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, October 22 (game #598).

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.

NYT Strands today (game #599) – the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 599 on a blue background — (Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today’s Strands, game #599, are…

AZALEA
HEMLOCK
FOXGLOVE
BELLADONNA
OLEANDER
SPANGRAM: POISONOUS

My rating: Hard
My score: 1 hint

I think this is the longest I’ve ever spent completing a Strands game – especially one where I used a hint.

After grabbing a few non-game words, I spotted the spangram first, quickly followed by AZALEA, the letter Z hanging out usefully in the bottom left-hand corner.

The hint gave me HEMLOCK and I made slow progress from there. OLEANDER was my final, a word I never would have got if the letters would have been connected in a less easy fashion.

Mercifully it came together despite me not knowing what i was looking for. Such ignorance is also how one falls foul of POISONOUS plants too, so I will treat this game as an education.