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Below, hints for today’s Strands answers will be shared, with the full solution revealed further down. Feel free to scroll carefully and grab just the hints you need!

Clue for the Spangram in Today’s Strands Puzzle

Identify the musical group associated with the song embedded in the puzzle theme.

Clue for the Theme Words in Today’s Strands Puzzle

Words extracted directly from the lyrics of “Don’t stop believin.’”

ALERT: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!

The answers to the Strands puzzle are about to be disclosed.

What is the Spangram for Today’s Strands?

The spangram for today is JOURNEY.

What are the Theme Words for Today’s Strands?

The theme words include: SMALL, TOWN, GIRL, LONELY, WORLD, TOOK, MIDNIGHT, TRAIN.

Here’s how the completed board appears:

Credit: Strands/NYT

Strategy for Solving Today’s Strands

The theme links back to the song by Journey, setting the stage for uncovering related terms from the band and lyrics.

Indeed, JOURNEY serves as the spangram. 🟡

TRAIN resides in the bottom right corner. 🔵 Thus, focusing on specific lyrics from the song is key.

MIDNIGHT is positioned in the bottom left. 🔵

TOOK can be found just above TRAIN. 🔵

SMALL occupies the upper left corner. 🔵

TOWN lies directly beneath it. 🔵

GIRL appears below TOWN. 🔵

LONELY is situated in the upper right corner. 🔵

Lastly, WORLD rounds out the list. 🔵

Strands #346
“Don't stop believin'”
🟡🔵🔵🔵
🔵🔵🔵🔵
🔵
        

Playing the Strands Game

Find the Strands puzzle featured on the New York Times website and the NYT Games app.

When launching the game, you will encounter a grid adorned with various letters, accompanied by a clue hinting at the theme—a phrase, such as “Better with age.” Your mission is to uncover the concealed words on the board that align with the theme.

A Word Search Meets a Crossword

Among the key words to locate is the “spangram,” which explicitly expresses the puzzle’s theme. For example, if the theme is “Better with age,” the spangram would be FERMENTED, describing items that indeed improve with time. This spangram will span the entire board, either horizontally or vertically (hence its name). Discovering the spangram typically facilitates solving the rest of the puzzle with greater ease.

In Strands, word placement is flexible (moving up, down, horizontally, or diagonally), with letters used only once per word. There’s a unique solution for each puzzle. Successfully finding a word (think KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI) will highlight it in blue.

If the challenge seems daunting, you can submit any non-theme words you recognize (provided they are four letters or longer) to earn hints. Submitting three non-theme words will activate the “Hint” button; upon clicking it, all letters in one of the theme words will glow to assist you. However, you’ll still need to connect these glowing letters correctly to form a theme word. If another hint is already activated on the board, using an additional hint will reveal the letter order for that word.

Winning Strands

Unlike other word games, Strands does not allow you to fail. Submitting your guesses will either yield a correct answer, contribute toward hints, or show a shaking text indicating that the input is invalid or too brief. There’s no limit on attempts and no countdown timer.

Victory is achieved upon correctly utilizing all letters displayed on the board, thereby identifying both the spangram and all theme words. As with other NYT games, once the puzzle is complete, a shareable card will detail your daily performance: blue dots 🔵 indicate words located, while the yellow dot 🟡 highlights the spangram, and the lightbulb 💡 signifies words for which hints were received.