Credit: Strands/NYT

Spangram Hint for Today’s Strands Puzzle

A combined word denoting the season currently embraced by the northern hemisphere.

Clue for Theme Words in Today’s Strands Puzzle

Traditional symbols that herald the arrival of this vibrant season. (Think terms connected to water, plants, and animals.)

Caution: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!

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

What is the spangram for today’s Strands?

The spangram today is SPRINGTIME.

What are the theme words for today’s Strands?

Today’s theme words include: BLOSSOMS, ROBINS, POLLEN, BUDS, SHOWERS, PUDDLES.

This is how the completed board looks:

Credit: Strands/NYT

Approach to Solving Today’s Strands

The puzzle might revolve around zodiac signs (as in, “what’s your sign?”), troublesome omens, or possibly actual signs like advertisements.

SHOWERS make an appearance in the lower left corner, and it’s a match. 🔵 Perhaps this relates to meteor SHOWERS? The connection is unclear.

PUDDLES appear in the upper right section. 🔵 Still pondering how that connects.

Noticing SPRING in the lower right—it’s part of the spangram: SPRINGTIME. 🟡 Hence, we’re identifying signs of spring. SHOWERS might allude to the saying “April SHOWERS bring May flowers.”

MOSS found in the upper left isn’t a match.

BUDS (one can assume flower BUDS) are above SHOWERS. 🔵

POLLEN is found to the right of BUDS. 🔵

BROOMS (conjuring thoughts of spring cleaning) is not a match.

BLOSSOMS is present. 🔵

Lastly, ROBINS. 🔵

Strands #394
“It's a sign!”
🔵🔵🟡🔵
🔵🔵🔵

How to Play Strands

The Strands game can be accessed via the New York Times website and the NYT Games application.

Upon starting, a game board filled with various letters appears, along with a clue hinting at the board’s theme—usually a phrase like “Better with age.” Your task is to uncover hidden words that align with this theme.

A Blend of Crossword and Word Search

The primary word to uncover is the “spangram,” which explicitly conveys the theme of the puzzle. (For example, in the puzzle themed “Better with age,” the spangram is FERMENTED, denoting items that improve over time.) The spangram will stretch across the entire board, either horizontally or vertically. Spotting the spangram will usually make it significantly simpler to solve the rest of the puzzle.

In Strands, words can be arranged in any manner (up, down, left, right, and diagonally), utilizing each letter just once. There’s only one precise solution. When a word is correctly identified (such as KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will illuminate in blue.

For those grappling with the puzzle, any four-letter or longer non-theme words can be submitted for a hint. Providing three such words enables access to a “Hint” feature; clicking it highlights all letters from one of the theme words. However, they must still be linked correctly to form the word. If hints are previously used, the letter arrangement for that word will be displayed.

Winning Strands

Unlike other games like Connections and Wordle, failing at Strands is not an option. When guesses are submitted, they will either yield a correct answer, provide hint credit, or shake to show that the word is invalid or too short. There is no limitation on guesses, nor is there a time constraint.

You win once all letters on the board are used, confirming both the spangram and all theme words. Similar to other NYT games, once the puzzle is solved, a shareable card showcasing your results for the day will be presented: blue dots 🔵 denote found theme words, the yellow dot 🟡 indicates spangram discovery, and a lightbulb 💡 shows words for which hints were solicited.