NYT Strands today, Aug. 18 -- the spangram for puzzle #898 is CHARLATAN, and the theme is "Fool me once .". Six theme words sit alongside it, and every one of them is a verb.

If you would rather solve it yourself, the Strands hints come first and the answers follow further down.

NYT Strands Hints Today, August 18, 2026 (Puzzle #898)

The theme is about being tricked, and the board is not being subtle about it.

All six theme words are things one person does to another. The spangram is the person who does them.

Two of the answers are only four letters long, which makes them the easiest to walk straight past.

Two others are the kind of playful compound word that sounds older than it is.

The spangram is nine letters and names a fraud wh...