Need help with today's NYT strand? Today's theme of “Gnaw-it-alls” is a bit puzzling, but it's easy once you know what it refers to

Below are some helpful hints for Strand #204 and the answer when you need it We will start with the hints and then lead you to the full solution for Strand #204

WARNING: There are spoilers for Strand #204

The official theme for NYT Strands #204 is “Gnaw-it-alls”

And here's an unofficial hint from me: “Hairy creatures”

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 conjunctions Today it starts with 'R' and ends with 'S'

Scroll down to see what it is

RODENTS

Now, what's the answer to today's 204 game strand?

Drum roll please

Spangrams were RODENTS

Strands #204

“Gnaw-it-alls”

?

??

Hello Strands fans! This was a difficult one After spending fruitless hours searching for the type of tooth, I reluctantly used a clue and the word HAMSTER was revealed

Having had a hamster some 30 years ago and still having vivid memories of its incessant gnawing, I am surprised I did not recognize it, but this is what it is

Then the sluice opened I found a MUSKRAT to its left, a RODENTS spangram above it, and then a SQUIRREL to complete the lower half of the board

Two more obscure answers were hidden in the top half, but when I found CHINCHILLA on the right, it was very easy to find the last word; I connected PORCUPINE to complete the puzzle, and then I found the word “PORCUPINE

Are you reading this late in the day? The full text of Strand's solution to yesterday's Round 203 can be found here