For convenient access to daily Strands hints, consider bookmarking this page. You’ll also have the opportunity to explore previous hints if you want to revisit past puzzles.

This post includes subtle clues for today’s Strands solutions, along with the official answers and spangram information later on. Feel free to scroll carefully to extract only the hints you need!

Credit: Strands/NYT

Spangram Hint for Today’s Strands

Look for two terms related to the design of a vehicle.

Theme Words Hint for Today’s Strands

Focus on components of a personal vehicle, including attached items.

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle are about to be unveiled.

What is Today’s Spangram?

The spangram for today is CARBODY.

What are Today’s Theme Words?

The theme words you are looking for are: BUMPER, DOOR, GRILLE, HOOD, WINDSHIELD, TRUNK, and MIRROR.

Here’s how the completed board appears:

Credit: Strands/NYT

Insights on Today’s Strands Solution

The current puzzle pertains to automatic functions, possibly referencing features found in vehicles, such as headlights.

The word POODLE appears in the upper left but isn’t a theme word.

HOOD is located in the upper right section, indicating we’re on a vehicle-oriented path. 🔵

Directly adjacent to HOOD, we find DOOR. 🔵

GRILLE can be located just beneath those two. 🔵

Near the bottom left, WINDSHIELD stands out. 🔵

Additionally, CAR is visible in a left-to-right sequence, likely contributing to our spangram—CARBODY. 🟡

BUMPER is also positioned in the upper left. 🔵

Nearby, MIRROR is found in the bottom right. 🔵

Lastly, TRUNK is included. 🔵

Strands #306
“On auto”
🔵🔵🔵🔵
🟡🔵🔵🔵

How to Play Strands

Access the Strands game via the New York Times website or their official NYT Games application.

Upon starting, players are presented with a grid of letters alongside a clue that hints at the overarching theme, typically framed as a catchy phrase like “Better with age.” The objective is to locate hidden words that embody the theme’s essence.

A Fusion of Crossword and Word Search

The pivotal word to uncover is the “spangram,” which succinctly defines the puzzle’s theme. For example, the spangram for the “Better with age” theme is FERMENTED, which refers to items that improve with maturity. This spangram will span the game board either horizontally or vertically, and when identified, it is highlighted in yellow. Discovering the spangram eases the resolution of the remaining words.

In Strands, words can be arranged in any direction (up, down, left, right, or diagonally), and each letter is exclusively used once. There is a singular correct answer for each puzzle. When a word is accurately identified (like KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it is marked in blue.

If puzzle-solving proves challenging, submit any non-theme words containing four letters or more to earn hints. Inputting three non-theme words unlocks the “Hint” button, which allows the letters of one theme word to be highlighted. Players must then correctly assemble these highlighted letters to recreate the intended word. If there is already a hint visible, using another hint before resolving that word will reveal its letter arrangement.

Winning Strands

Unlike other games such as Connections or Wordle, Strands does not impose failure conditions. Each attempt to submit guesses will either confirm a correct answer, earn points toward a hint, or display a shake animation indicating an invalid entry. There’s no cap on the number of guesses, nor is there a countdown timer.

Victory is achieved by utilizing all letters on the board, confirming both the spangram and theme words. Similar to other offerings from NYT, upon solving, a shareable performance card will detail the day’s accomplishments: blue dots 🔵 signify the theme words identified, the yellow dot 🟡 denotes when the spangram was found, and a lightbulb 💡 confirms words obtained through hints.