Nautical Ink: Strands Puzzle Tips for February 28, 2025
Searching for clues and solutions for the Strands puzzle dated February 28, 2025? Look no further! This post will unveil hints and guidance along with the complete answers to the theme “Nautical Ink.”
To revisit our daily Strands clues effortlessly, save this page as a bookmark. You’ll also find previous hints here in case you’re curious about past puzzles!
In the sections below, find some subtle hints regarding today’s Strands answers, and for those eager to see the solutions, a complete spangram and answers will be presented at the end. Take your time scrolling—only grab the hints you need!
Clue for Today’s Spangram
“Ink” often signifies permanent body art, while the spangram hints at a specific style associated with sailors.
Clue for Today’s Theme Words
Think of popular motifs you might associate with characters like Popeye or Captain Jack Sparrow.
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!
The answers to today’s Strands puzzle are about to be revealed.
What is Today’s Spangram?
The spangram for today is SAILORTATTOO.
What are Today’s Theme Words?
The theme words are: MERMAID, ANCHOR, COMPASS, SHIP, EAGLE, SWALLOW.
Here’s how the completed board looks:
Solving Today’s Strands Puzzle
Today’s puzzle appears to focus on common boat-themed tattoos. (This theme recently appeared in a previous Connections puzzle!)
Indeed, the word SHIP is located prominently in the upper right. 🔵
Just to the left, the word ANCHOR can be seen, and it’s shaped like an anchor too! 🔵
The term TATTOO caught my eye, and I suspect it’s part of the spangram. There it is: SAILORTATTOO. 🟡
COMPASS sits above the right side of the spangram. 🔵
MERMAID resides in the upper left corner. 🔵
SWALLOW is positioned in the bottom right. 🔵
Lastly, there’s EAGLE in the mix. 🔵
Strands #362 “Nautical ink” 🔵🔵🟡🔵 🔵🔵🔵
Guide to Playing Strands
Strands can be accessed via the New York Times website or within the NYT Games app.
Upon beginning, players are presented with a board displaying various letters and a clue hinting at the overall theme—typically articulated as a phrase, such as “Better with age.” Your goal is to uncover the hidden words that are related to the established theme.
A Fusion of Crossword and Word Search
The primary word to spot is the “spangram,” which directly reflects the theme. For instance, in a puzzle with the theme “Better with age,” the spangram is FERMENTED, as it highlights items that improve over time. This spangram stretches across the board, either horizontally or vertically. Detecting the spangram generally simplifies the completion of the remaining puzzle.
Within Strands, words can be found in any direction—up, down, sideways, or diagonally—and each letter may only be utilized one time. Solutions are unique, meaning there is only one accurate answer. Successfully identifying a word (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI) will highlight it in blue.
If you’re finding the puzzle challenging, you can submit any non-themed words you spot (provided they are four letters or longer) to earn a hint. Submitting three non-themed words will enable the “Hint” feature, allowing you to highlight letters from one theme word. You’ll still need to arrange these highlighted letters correctly to form a theme word. Should there be a hint already on the board and you trigger another hint, it will reveal the order of that word’s letters.
Tips for Winning Strands
Unlike games like Connections and Wordle, there’s no possibility of failing in Strands. When guesses are made, you’ll either find a correct answer, earn a hint credit, or receive an indication (via a shaking motion) that your submission is too short or invalid. There are no limits on guesses, nor is there a countdown clock.
Your victory is achieved once you’ve utilized all the letters on the board, signifying that both the spangram and all theme words have been correctly identified. Post-puzzle completion, a shareable card displaying your performance that day will appear, with blue dots 🔵 indicating found theme words, a yellow dot 🟡 showing when you discovered the spangram, and a lightbulb 💡 representing words you received hints for.
