Having trouble with the NYT Strand puzzle? Today's puzzle theme - “You're the best!” - isn't too hard to decipher, but the actual answer is trickier than you might think.

Below are the clues and answers for Strands #142. Start with the hints to get the complete answer for Strands #142.

WARNING: There are spoilers for Strands #142.

The official theme for NYT Strands #142 is... “You're the Best!”

And here's an unofficial tip from me: “High praise indeed.”

If you're still in the dark, here are a few useful words that give you valuable hint tokens:

Still struggling? Spangram gives you a hint on conjunctive words. Today, it starts with a 'C' and ends with an 'N'.

Scroll down to see what it is.

It's a champion.

Now, what's the answer to today's Strand game #142?

Drum roll please.

... And Spangram was the champion.

Strands #142

“You're the best!”

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Hello Strands fans! Despite a good start today, we quickly ran out of steam.

The theme is “You're the best!” - I thought it was very obvious, especially when I immediately spotted the word EXCELLENT in the upper right corner.

I followed that up with what appeared to be a spangram: SUPERLATIVE, but in fact this was just another answer, even though it spanned from the top left to the middle of the right side.

But there I was stumped. Unable to find a compliment that came to mind, I reluctantly used a clue. ICONIC was found in the lower right corner.

The “C” and “H” went into a little tunnel on the right, and I was ready to follow them to understand the spangram. This was the champion.

There were two answers left, neither of which was that obvious to me. After staring at the board several times in confusion, I finally found the SUPREME spelling backwards just below the spangram. This left the PERFECT to be found under it to complete the game.

Reading this late in the day? The full article on Strand's solution to yesterday's game #141 can be found here.