Need help with today's NYT strand? Today's theme - “No way!” - is a little hard to figure out, but once you do, it's a fun puzzle

Below is a list of hints and what-if answers for Strand #216 We will start with the hints and then lead you to the full solution of Strand #216

WARNING: There are spoilers for Strand #216

The official theme for NYT Strands #216 is No way!”

And here's an unofficial tip from me: “Don't believe everything you read”

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

Still struggling? Spangram gives you a hint on conjunctive words Today it starts with a “T” and ends with an “L”

Scroll down to find out what it is

THATSUNREAL

Now, what's the answer to today's strand?

Drumroll, please

Spangram was “THATSUNREAL”

Strand #216

“No way!”

??

??

Hello Strand fans! This puzzle may be my favorite puzzle of all time

The theme “No way!” It started with the “No way! - It started with the theme “No way! However, there were a few letters that were useful to start with, such as “Q” and “X”, and it was the latter that gave me the first answer: “HOAX” on the right side of the grid

This confirmed that the theme was about disinformation, and then the words kept coming Just above it was CHARLATAN, whose “Q” could be placed in QUACK; “FAKE” and “SHAM” were to the left of it, and were easy to find; “HOAX” was to the right of the grid, and “HOAX” was to the left of the grid, and was easy to find

Even though I had the topic figured out, I still couldn't understand the spangram, so I kept looking for the word However, when I found PHONY in the lower right, I had a clear path to reverse the spangram I added “thats” to spell THATSUNREAL from the top left to near the bottom right

This left me with just one word to complete today's strand, and I connected HUMBUG to complete the puzzle, feeling a bit proud

Are you reading this late in the day? Yesterday's solution to the 215th round of the Strand can be found here