Clues and Solutions for Strands – May 2, 2025
Discover hints and solutions for today’s Strands puzzle featuring the intriguing theme “What a trill!”
For easy access to daily Strands hints, bookmark this page. Historical hints are also available here, allowing you to catch up on any puzzles you missed previously.
Below, you will find some indirect clues that will guide you to today’s Strands answers. Further down, the spangram and the answers will be unveiled. Scroll thoughtfully and take only the hints you truly need!
Spangram Hint for Today’s Strands Puzzle
These avian creatures are known for their melodious abilities.
Hints for Today’s Theme Words
Particular species of birds you might catch singing during this season.
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!
The answers to today’s Strands puzzle are about to be disclosed.
What is Today’s Spangram?
The spangram for today is SONGBIRDS.
What are the Theme Words for Today’s Puzzle?
Today’s theme words include: CHICKADEE, SPARROW, LARK, WARBLER, CARDINAL, WREN.
Here’s how the completed board appears:
Approach to Solve Today’s Strands
The term “trill” may refer to a fluttering sound produced by instruments like flutes, but it could also describe a bird’s song or the rolling of “R” sounds, akin to the Spanish word “perro.”
Notably, the word WARBLER features prominently in the lower left section. 🔵 That certainly belongs to the bird category!
Identifying the spangram: SONGBIRDS. 🟡
LARK appears just below the left part of the spangram. 🔵
CARDINAL fills the space beneath the right half. 🔵
The bottom portion is finalized with WREN. 🔵
CHICKADEE sits in the upper left corner. 🔵
Lastly, SPARROW can be found in the remaining open spot. 🔵
Strands #425 “What a trill!” 🔵🟡🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵
How to Engage with Strands
Access the Strands game via the New York Times website or through the NYT Games app.
Upon starting, a board filled with assorted letters will appear, accompanied by a theme hint—typically a phrase like “Better with age.” Your challenge is to uncover hidden words corresponding to the puzzle’s theme.
A Fusion of Crossword and Word Search
The key word to identify is the “spangram,” which directly articulates the puzzle’s theme. For instance, in the puzzle themed “Better with age,” the spangram is FERMENTED, which indeed aligns with the theme of aging. The spangram covers the entire board, either horizontally or vertically. Discovering it usually simplifies the challenge ahead.
In Strands, words can be formed in any direction (up, down, sideways, or diagonally), utilizing each letter only once. There is a singular correct solution for each puzzle. When a word is successfully pinpointed, it will be highlighted in blue.
Should challenges arise, players can submit non-theme words (at least four letters long) for hints. By submitting three such words, the “Hint” option becomes active; selecting it will highlight letters in a theme word, although they still need to be arranged correctly. If a hint was previously activated, any further hints will reveal the letter arrangement of that word.
Winning Strategies for Strands
Unlike other games like Connections and Wordle, Strands does not allow for failure. Each guess made will either yield a correct answer, earn hint credits, or show a shaking effect to indicate an invalid or overly short submission. There are no limits on guesses or any time restrictions.
Completion occurs once every letter has been used, meaning both the spangram and theme words have been successfully identified. Upon solving, a shareable card revealing performance for the day is displayed: blue dots 🔵 correspond to found theme words, a yellow dot 🟡 signals the spangram discovery, and a lightbulb 💡 indicates words that received hints.
