Strands Puzzle Solutions for February 16, 2025
Seeking insights and solutions for the Strands puzzle dated February 16, 2025? Look no further! This article will provide valuable hints, tips, and ultimately reveal the solution to the theme centered around “Flour power.”
To easily return for daily Strands clues, bookmark this link. This site also archives previous hints, making it convenient to catch up on any missed puzzles.
The following sections will offer subtle hints related to today’s Strands answers, and if you scroll further down, the spangram and full answers will be unveiled. Proceed at your own pace and take only the hints you need!
Clue for Today’s Spangram in Strands
This refers to a food option that individuals with celiac disease would likely request at restaurants.
Clue for Today’s Theme Words in Strands
These are flours missing a certain key ingredient.
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!
The following section will disclose the answers for this edition of Strands.
Today’s Spangram
The spangram for today is GLUTENFREE.
Today’s Theme Words
The theme words for today are: ALMOND, CORN, CHICKPEA, BUCKWHEAT, RICE, TAPIOCA.
Here’s an illustration of the completed puzzle board:
Decoding Today’s Strands Puzzle
It’s likely that baked products will be the focus today. (In reality, the search for baked goods is a daily endeavor.)
The word GLUTEN prominently displays itself at the center. Ah, that’s a part of our spangram: GLUTENFREE. 🟡
Above the spangram, on the right side, is CHICKPEA. 🔵 Thus, we’re concentrating on gluten-free flours.
ALMOND is found along the left margin. 🔵
CORN occupies the top left corner. 🔵
BUCKWHEAT weaves along the base of the spangram. 🔵
RICE is situated just below that. 🔵
And lastly, there’s TAPIOCA. 🔵
Strands #350 “Flour power” 🟡🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🔵
Playing the Strands Game
The Strands game can be accessed on the New York Times website as well as within the NYT Games app.
Upon starting the game, a board filled with assorted letters will be displayed, accompanied by a clue that hints at the theme of the board—usually presented as a phrase, such as “Better with age.” Your task is to unearth the hidden words within the board that align with the puzzle’s theme.
A Blend of Crossword and Word Search
Among the words to find is the key “spangram,” which directly articulates the puzzle’s theme. For instance, if the theme is “Better with age,” the spangram would be FERMENTED, indicating products that indeed improve with age. The spangram runs across the entire board either horizontally or vertically, which is how it got its name. Once the spangram is found, it will be highlighted in yellow, simplifying the completion of the rest of the puzzle.
In Strands, words can be arranged in any direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonally), with each letter being used only once. There is one definitive solution. If one of the words (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI) is correctly recognized, it will be marked in blue.
If difficulties arise while trying to solve the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words that are four letters or longer to earn a hint. By submitting three non-theme words, the “Hint” button will become active, allowing you to highlight the letters of one of the theme words. You will still need to connect these highlighted letters in the correct order. If a hint has already been utilized and another is used before solving that specific word, the order of that word’s letters will be disclosed.
Strategies for Winning Strands
Unlike games like Connections and Wordle, failure is not an option in Strands. When guesses are made, they will either yield a correct word, earn credits toward a hint, or the input will shake, indicating the term is too short or invalid. There’s no risk of exhausting guesses, nor is there a time constraint.
Victory is achieved once all letters on the board have been effectively utilized, signifying identification of both the spangram and all theme words. Similar to other NYT games, a shareable card documenting the day’s performance will appear upon solving the puzzle: blue circles 🔵 represent identified theme words, the yellow circle 🟡 signifies discovery of the spangram, and a light bulb 💡 denotes words for which hints were utilized.
