To conveniently revisit our Strands hints daily, bookmark this page. Additionally, previous hints are also archived here if you’re curious about what you may have overlooked in earlier puzzles.

Below, you’ll find some subtle hints for today’s Strands answers, and the complete spangram and solutions will be unveiled further down. Take your time and only gather the hints you deem necessary!

Clue for the Spangram in Today’s Strands Puzzle

A phrase that might suggest vulgar language, yet can also denote language that is literally dirty.

Clue for the Thematic Words in Today’s Strands Puzzle

If a child played vigorously and ended up dirty or messy, these are likely descriptors you would use.

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!

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

What is the Spangram for Today’s Strands?

The spangram for today is DIRTYWORDS.

What are the Thematic Words for Today’s Strands?

The thematic words are: FILTHY, GRIMY, UNKEMPT, STAINED, MUDDY, and POLLUTED.

Here’s a glimpse of the completed board:

Credit: Strands/NYT

Methods for Solving Today’s Strands

The phrase “get your mind out of the gutter” typically targets those with a curious sense of humor, but in the context of Strands, it might have a more literal meaning related to drainage systems. There’s potential for multiple interpretations.

Observing DOLLED and SODA reveals they are not part of the themed vocabulary, just as anticipated.

However, GRIMY appears on the left side. 🔵 This suggests we’re searching for words related to dirtiness.

Notably, FILTHY is in the top left corner. 🔵

There’s the spangram, written vertically: DIRTYWORDS. 🟡 Ingenious!

UNKEMPT can be spotted in the bottom left area. 🔵

STAINED occupies the upper right corner. 🔵

MUDDY is positioned next to STAINED. 🔵

The final cluster of letters is perplexing. It appears to hint at two separate words, yet with persistence, I finally discover POLLUTED. 🔵

Strands #405
“Get your mind out of the gutter”
🔵🔵🟡🔵
🔵🔵🔵

How to Play Strands

You can access the Strands game via the New York Times website or the NYT Games app.

Upon commencing play, a board filled with letters appears alongside a clue hinting at the theme—typically a phrase, such as “Better with age.” The goal is to identify the hidden words that align with this theme.

A Cross between Crossword and Word Search

The primary word to seek is the “spangram,” which clearly embodies the theme of the puzzle. For instance, in a puzzle themed “Better with age,” the spangram is FERMENTED, reflecting items that improve over time. The spangram stretches across the board, either horizontally or vertically (hence its name), and finding it simplifies the remaining puzzle considerably.

In Strands, words may navigate in multiple directions (up, down, left, right, and diagonally), with each letter used only once. There’s a single correct solution. When a word such as KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI is recognized, it highlights in blue.

If the puzzle proves challenging, submitting non-theme words (of four letters or more) grants hints. After submitting three such words, the “Hint” button becomes active; clicking it reveals one letter from a theme word. However, the letters must still be assembled in the correct order to form the word. If there is an existing hint in play and a new hint is requested without having solved the previous hint, that word’s letter arrangement will be unveiled.

Winning Strands

Unlike other games like Connections and Wordle, Strands presents no opportunity for failure. Submissions yield correct answers, hints towards suggestions, or a shaking effect if the answer is invalid. There are no boundaries on guesses or time constraints.

A win is declared when every letter on the board has been utilized, thus confirming the spangram and all theme words have been correctly identified. Similar to other NYT games, upon resolution, players receive a shareable card detailing their performance: blue dots 🔵 represent theme words found, a yellow dot 🟡 indicates the spangram discovery, and a lightbulb 💡 signifies hint-derived words.