For your convenience, you can bookmark this page and easily revisit our daily Strands hints. Historical hints are also available here if you’re curious about previous puzzles you might have missed.

Below, insightful clues will guide you through today’s Strands answers; further down you’ll find the spangram and the complete solutions. Take your time and only grab the clues you find helpful!

Hint for Today’s Spangram

Think of a term that describes an individual exceptionally skilled in a particular area—often used in the context of a ‘child’ who showcases talent beyond their age.

Hints for the Theme Words

Words that might characterize someone’s exceptional abilities or qualities.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands!

Prepare for the reveal of today’s Strands puzzle solutions.

What is Today’s Spangram?

The spangram for today is: PRODIGY.

What are the Theme Words for Today?

Today’s theme words include: KNACK, TALENT, PROWESS, STRENGTH, FLAIR, SKILL, CHOPS.

Here’s the completed puzzle board:

Credit: Strands/NYT

Approaching Today’s Strands Puzzle

The theme “bearing” might play on words—perhaps in connection to actual bears—but the term “gifts” feels intentionally meaningful. Could it hint at something about Goldilocks? The connection remains unclear.

Non-theme words like ROSE, ROSES, SHOPS, PROSE, SILL, and STILL appear as distractions.

However, CHOPS links back to a theme word, potentially referring to one’s natural abilities, such as “comedy CHOPS.”

Indeed, SKILL is present above CHOPS, and KNACK can be found tucked in the upper left corner.

Below that, TALENT is visible, while PROWESS is situated in the upper right part of the board.

The spangram comes into view as PRODIGY. Yes!

Longing for STRENGTH as it hugs the lower edge of the spangram, and finally, FLAIR completes the tapestry.

Strands #374
“Bearing gifts”
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Playing Strands: A Guide

Access the Strands game via the New York Times website or through the NYT Games app.

Upon launching the game, a board with various letters presents itself, accompanied by a clue reflecting the theme—a phrase like “Better with age.” The goal is to identify the hidden words that relate to this theme.

A Unique Blend of Crossword and Word Search

The key word to find is the “spangram,” which illustrates the theme explicitly. For instance, if the theme is “Better with age,” the spangram could be FERMENTED, which directly indicates items that improve over time. The spangram will fill the board either horizontally or vertically. Once identified, it is highlighted in yellow, simplifying the identification of other words.

Words in Strands can flow in any direction—up, down, sideways, or diagonally—and each letter can only be utilized once. A single correct solution exists for the puzzle. When a word is identified correctly, such as KOMBUCHA or MISO, it is marked in blue.

If puzzling through the clues feels daunting, submitting any non-themed words (four letters or longer) can earn hints. After submitting three such words, the “Hint” button activates, allowing a letter from one of the theme words to be highlighted. It requires piecing together those highlighted letters in the correct order to form the chosen theme word. If a hint has already been revealed and further assistance is requested, that hint’s letter sequence will be shared.

Winning Strands

Unlike other games like Connections or Wordle, Strands offers an endless opportunity to play. After submitting guesses, you will receive either validation for finding an answer, hints, or a shake indication if the input is too short or invalid. No guess limitations exist, nor is there a time constraint.

The reward for solving comes when all letters on the board have been used correctly, which includes identifying both the spangram and the theme words. Upon completion, a shareable summary displays your performance with blue dots indicating the theme words located, a yellow dot for the spangram discovered, and a lightbulb for words that obtained hints.