Having trouble with today's NYT Strand puzzle? Today's puzzle theme, "Cut & Color," is a difficult one, even once you know what is involved.

Below are the clues and answers for Strands #119. First, some clues will help you to find the complete answer to Strands #119.

WARNING: There are spoilers for Strands #119.

The official theme for NYT Strands #119 is... "Cut & Color."

And here's an unofficial tip from me: "Put it in the ring"

If you're still in the dark, here's a handy word that gives you a valuable hint token:

Still having trouble? Spangram gives you a hint on conjunctions. Today it starts with 'J' and ends with 'S'.

Scroll down to see what it is.

JEWELTONES.

Now, what's the answer to today's game #119 strand?

Drumroll please.

... And Spangram is JEWELTONES

Strand #119

"Cut and color"

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Hello Strand fans! I really struggled with today's puzzle. I know basically nothing about jewelry and gems, so it's no wonder, but the spangram didn't help either.

I saw the word "jewel" fairly early on, but I had never heard of "jeweltones."

At first I assumed that the theme, "cut and color," had something to do with hair styling, but when I had to use a clue, it didn't work. The clue gave me RUBY, and I was able to get some answers simply by reciting the gems I had heard of, such as SAPPHIRE to the right of it and TOPAZ in the lower left. There was also EMERALD in the lower right corner.

After that, I struggled. When I was forced to use the second clue, I found the word GARNET, which I had never heard of. However, I had heard of the word AMETHYST and was quite disappointed not to see it wrapped around the "Y" in the middle of the board.

Spangram remained, but this was one of the words I could not decipher until I traced a full circle. I fully understand that it is a well-known word, but apparently not to me!

Hopefully tomorrow's topic will be something I know inside out after this shameful performance!

Are you reading this late in the day? You can read the full article about Strand's solution to yesterday's Round 118 here.