For those on the hunt for clues and answers for today’s Strands puzzle dated April 30, 2025, keep reading! This post will provide insights and ultimately unveil the solution for the theme titled “Best in Class.”

To easily revisit our daily Strands hints, consider bookmarking this page. You’ll also discover previous hints here, allowing you to catch up on missed puzzles.

Below, brief hints concerning today’s Strands answers will be shared. Further down this article, the spangram and the actual answers will be disclosed. Take your time and extract only the hints you need!

Clue for the Spangram

Consider the book filled with images that children often receive at the culmination of the academic year. It’s typical to ask classmates and teachers to sign these books.

Clue for Today’s Theme Words

These are examples of categories that students frequently cast their votes on, typically prefixed with the word “best.”

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!

The answers for today’s Strands puzzle are about to be revealed.

Today’s Spangram

The spangram featured today is YEARBOOK.

Today’s Theme Words

The theme words are: ATHLETE, SMILE, COUPLE, DRESSED, HAIR, FRIENDS, and EYES.

Here’s how the completed board appears:

Credit: Strands/NYT

Strategy for Solving Today’s Strands

The puzzle’s theme evokes thoughts of a classroom, possibly hinting at relevant terms like “valedictorian” or adjectives like “smart.”

After scanning for several random words, the term COUPLE appears in the lower left corner, signaling progress. This might connect to yearbook superlatives such as “best dressed” or “cutest couple.”

The word YEARBOOK is observed moving vertically from bottom to top.

I spot DRESSED in the upper right corner.

ATHLETE is positioned in the top left section.

SMILE is directly beneath ATHLETE.

HAIR is located below DRESSED.

FRIENDS rests beneath HAIR. (Is “best friends” a category in yearbooks? Absolutely!)

Ultimately, EYES completes the list.

Strands #423
“Best in class”

Guide to Playing Strands

The Strands game can be found on the New York Times platform and within the NYT Games app.

Upon starting, a game board filled with assorted letters will appear, accompanied by a clue hinting at the theme—typically a phrase like “Better with age.” The objective is to find the concealed words that align with this theme.

A Blend of Crossword and Word Search

The primary word to identify is the “spangram,” which directly indicates the puzzle’s theme. For instance, the spangram for the theme “Better with age” is FERMENTED, representing items that improve over time. This key word expands across the board either horizontally or vertically. Discovering the spangram often simplifies the remainder of the puzzle.

In Strands, words can be arranged in any direction, and each letter can only be used once. Solutions are singularly correct. When a word is identified accurately (for instance, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be marked in blue.

If challenges arise when solving the puzzle, players can submit non-theme words of four letters or more to gain hints. Providing three such words makes the “Hint” button accessible; upon clicking it, letters from one of the theme words will be highlighted for guidance. Players will still need to connect these highlighted letters in the correct sequence to form the theme word. If a hint is already on the board, using another will reveal the letter order of that word.

Tips for Winning Strands

Different from games like Connections or Wordle, Strands does not allow for failure. Any guesses submitted will either yield a correct answer, earn a hint, or result in a shake on invalid attempts signifying the word is too short or not valid. There are no limits on guesses, nor is there a timed challenge.

Victory is achieved when all letters have been successfully utilized, confirming the identification of both the spangram and all theme words. Similar to other New York Times games, a shareable card illustrating daily performance emerges after solving the puzzle, where blue dots showcase the theme words identified, a yellow dot indicates the spangram found, and a lightbulb highlights words assisted by hints.