Strands Hints and Solutions for May 3, 2025
Explore some insightful clues and solutions for this puzzle themed “Say ‘ah.’”
To easily revisit our daily hints for Strands, consider bookmarking this page. Historical hints are also available here, should you wish to catch up on any prior puzzles.
Here are some indirect clues leading to today’s Strands answers, followed by later sections where the spangram and solutions will be unveiled. Move through the hints at your pace.
Clue for the Spangram
Think of two words that depict the tools a healthcare provider typically carries and utilizes regularly.
Clue for the Theme Words
These are specific kinds of implements found in a medical setting.
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Puzzle!
Answers for today’s Strands will be disclosed shortly.
What is Today’s Spangram?
The spangram for the day is DOCTORSKIT.
What are the Theme Words for Today’s Strands?
The identified theme words are: STETHOSCOPE, THERMOMETER, SYRINGE, TAPE, GAUZE.
Here’s how the completed board looks once the puzzle is finalized:
Solving Today’s Strands
The phrase “Say ‘ah’” brings to mind situations at a doctor’s office; thus, it’s reasonable to consider terms linked to a medical consultation.
Observing the vertical letters, the words DOCTOR and DOCTORS appear prominently, indicating they might lead to the spangram.
Upon focusing on the word DOCTOR, STETHOSCOPE can be discovered in the upper left section. 🔵
THERMOMETER follows below. 🔵
The spangram aligns as DOCTORSKIT. 🟡 Correct!
In the lower right corner lies GAUZE. 🔵
SYRINGE is found in the upper right quadrant. 🔵
Lastly, TAPE appears. 🔵
Strands #426 “Say "ah"” 🔵🔵🟡🔵 🔵🔵
Playing Strands
The Strands game can be accessed on the New York Times website and via the NYT Games application.
Upon initiating the game, a board filled with various letters will be presented alongside a hint pertaining to the board’s theme—this might be a phrase such as “Better with age.” The goal is to unveil the hidden words that correlate with the theme indicated.
A Blend of Crossword and Word Search
The primary focus lies on identifying the “spangram,” a term that encapsulates the essence of the puzzle theme. For instance, in the case of the theme “Better with age,” the spangram is FERMENTED, referring to items that improve over time. The spangram will stretch across the entire grid, either horizontally or vertically. Once discovered, it will be marked in yellow. Finding the spangram often simplified solving the remaining parts of the puzzle.
In Strands, words can link in any direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonally), and each letter may only appear once per word. A singular correct answer exists. When identifying a word correctly (think KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it gets highlighted in blue.
Should challenges arise during the game, players can submit any non-theme words that contain four letters or more to earn hints. After submitting three non-theme words, the “Hint” button becomes active; clicking it will illuminate the letters forming one of the theme words. Although the highlighted letters will guide you, they still require arrangement in the correct sequence. Should there already be an active hint, using another hint will reveal the arrangement for that word’s letters.
Winning Strategies for Strands
Unlike other games such as Connections and Wordle, there is no failure in Strands. Submitting guesses leads to either confirming an answer, gaining credit towards a hint, or receiving a visual shake indicating the guess was incorrect (either too short or invalid). There’s no limit on the number of guesses, nor is there a timer.
Victory occurs once all letters on the board have been utilized, confirming both the spangram and all the theme words. Similar to other NYT games, upon completing the puzzle, a shareable card detailing performance will appear: blue dots 🔵 signify found theme words, yellow dots 🟡 denote the spangram discovery, and a lightbulb 💡 indicates words revealed through hints.
