If you seek guidance and solutions for the Strands game dated February 3, 2025, continue reading for a collection of hints, tips, and eventually the answers to today’s puzzle themed “Order Up!”

For easy access to our daily Strands hints, consider bookmarking this page. Previous hints are also available here, which can be useful if you’re curious about what you missed in earlier puzzles.

Below are some subtle hints to help you navigate today’s Strands solutions. Further down the page, the spangram and answers will be unveiled. Take your time and extract only the guidance you require!

Credit: Strands/NYT

Spangram Hint for Today’s Strands

This spangram consists of two terms that describe the action involved in preparing a breakfast dish, which can be made in various styles. (A diner employee might inquire, “How would you like your ___?”)

Theme Words Hints

The following words are verbs illustrating the different methods of preparing the food highlighted in the spangram.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!

The answers to today’s Strands puzzle are coming up next.

What is Today’s Spangram?

Today’s spangram is MAKINGEGGS.

What are the Theme Words for Today’s Strands?

The theme words include: SCRAMBLE, CODDLE, BOIL, BASTE, POACH, PICKLE, and BAKE.

Here’s what the completed board looks like:

Credit: Strands/NYT

Solving Today’s Strands Puzzle

The phrase “Order up!” immediately brings to mind the hustle of a busy diner and the bell that rings fervently when meals are ready. This must be related to food.

Spying the word SCRAMBLE in the top left corner became my first clue. 🔵 I pondered on words such as “hash” or “pancake.”

Then, I noticed the term MAKING positioned centrally—confirming its inclusion in the spangram: MAKINGEGGS. 🟡 Thus, SCRAMBLE related to a method of cooking eggs.

CODDLE appears in the upper right area. 🔵

BOIL fills the center spot of the spangram. 🔵

POACH extends along the bottom section of the spangram. 🔵

BASTE appears in the lower left corner. 🔵

PICKLE is found right next to it. 🔵

Finally, BAKE concludes the set. 🔵

Strands #337
“Order Up!”
🔵🟡🔵🔵
🔵🔵🔵🔵

Playing Strands

The Strands game can be accessed via the New York Times website or through the NYT Games app.

Upon starting, you’ll encounter a game board filled with letters, accompanied by a clue that provides an idea of the board’s theme—often a phrase like “Better with age.” Your task is to discover the hidden words within the letters that resonate with the theme.

A Unique Blend of Crossword and Word Search

Central to the game is the identification of the “spangram,” a word that clearly encapsulates the puzzle’s theme (e.g., for a puzzle themed “Better with age,” the spangram is FERMENTED, which directly relates to items that improve over time). The spangram will stretch across the entire board, either horizontally or vertically. Finding it will typically simplify the puzzle.

In Strands, words can be arranged in any direction—vertically, horizontally, or diagonally—and each letter may only be used once. There exists a single correct solution. Successfully identifying a puzzle word, like KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI, will result in it being highlighted in blue.

If facing challenges in solving the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words of four letters or more to gain hints. Submitting three non-theme words will enable the “Hint” button, which, when clicked, will highlight the letters of one of the theme words. These highlighted letters must still be arranged correctly to form the word. If additional hints are used before solving an already hinted word, the order of its letters will be revealed.

How to Achieve Victory in Strands

Unlike some other games, Strands lacks failure conditions. As you make guesses, you will either identify an answer correctly, earn credit towards hints, or see the text shake, indicating that your submission is either incorrect or too short. There are no limits on guesses, and no timer to contend with.

Victory is secured upon successfully using all the letters on the board, which includes identifying both the spangram and all themed words. Similar to other NYT games, upon completing the puzzle, a shareable card will display your performance: blue dots 🔵 signify theme words found, a yellow dot 🟡 denotes the spangram completion, and a lightbulb 💡 indicates words that received hints.