At the bar – Strands NYT hints and answers (May 21)

I hate to tell all the social drinkers in our audience that today’s NYT Strands is about a different kind of bar. I tried looking for “drink” and “martini” when I saw the theme was “at the bar,” but the Spangram confirms it’s actually a virtual kind of bar.

How to play NYT Strands and find the Spangram

The “virtual bar” hint I gave you will help you get closer to finishing today’s Spangram. No matter what device you use, pay attention to the types of bars that show up when you scroll up or down your screen. Is there anything written on them, or in the windows, that pops up when you click or tap a button? The features and actions in these bars are part of the solution words, and one of these bars on your screen is part of the Spangram.

Today’s SPANGRAM is MENUITEMS, starting from the “M” in the top row and ending with the “S” in the bottom row. All valid words on the board relate to the menu items you see on the bar of your web browser or applications like Word and PowerPoint, especially on a computer. Another way to get hints is to open the menu on these bars and see what actions are listed—you’ll find some of them in today’s Strands.

Full list of words in At the bar Strands (May 21):

• MENUITEMS (Spangram)
• FILE
• EDIT
• HELP
• TOOLS
• WINDOW
• HISTORY
• FAVORITES

You can play a new Strands puzzle at midnight in your time zone.