Discovering the Strands: January 11, 2025 Puzzle Insights
For those in search of tips and clues for the Strands game dated January 11, 2025, continue reading. This guide will provide hints and ultimately unveil the solution to this week’s puzzle themed “Say when …”.
To easily revisit these hints daily, consider bookmarking this link. Historical hints are also available on the same page if you’re curious about missed clues from previous puzzles.
This post will outline several indirect hints for today’s Strands answers, and further down, the spangram and complete answers will be revealed. Take your time scrolling and collect only the clues you need!
Hint for the Spangram in Today’s Strands Puzzle
This word relates to concepts like scheduling, timeliness, and harmony. Think of it in the context of ensuring that “we’ll need to get the ___ just right.” It also pertains to the act of assessing duration.
Hint for the Theme Words in Today’s Strands Puzzle
These words describe various times or phases occurring during the day.
WARNING: The following section contains spoilers for today’s Strands puzzle!
Now, the answers to today’s Strands puzzle will be disclosed.
What is the Spangram in Today’s Strands?
The spangram for today is TIMING.
What are the Theme Words in Today’s Strands?
The theme words for today include: DAWN, NOON, MORNING, DAYBREAK, TWILIGHT, DUSK, EVENING.
Here’s a glimpse of the completed board:
How the Puzzle Was Solved Today
Initially, there was a thought that the words might involve toppings relevant to the phrase “say when,” yet it appears these examples are scarce.
The word AWNING appeared in the top left corner without any relevance—however, DAWN struck as a fit! 🔵 This indicates a possible focus on words tied to times of the day.
Indeed, NOON is situated below DAWN. 🔵
DUSK appeared at the upper right corner. 🔵
MORNING runs vertically down the center and fills the top row. 🔵 This confirms that the spangram stretches across the entire puzzle.
TWILIGHT is positioned to the right of MORNING. 🔵
DAYBREAK sits directly beneath it. 🔵 And there lies the spangram, flowing from right to left: TIMING. 🟡
Finally, the word EVENING rounds out the list. 🔵
Strands #314 “Say when ...” 🔵🔵🔵🔵 🔵🔵🟡🔵
Playing Strands: A Guide
The Strands game can be accessed via the New York Times website or the NYT Games application.
Upon beginning a new session, a game board filled with various letters along with a clue hinting at the theme—such as “Better with age”—will be displayed. Your task is to locate hidden words within the board that correspond to the theme of the puzzle.
A Fusion of Crossword and Word Search
The key term to identify is the “spangram,” which concisely expresses the theme of the puzzle. (For instance, the spangram associated with “Better with age” is FERMENTED, relevant to products that genuinely become better over time.) The spangram will stretch across the game board either horizontally or vertically. Locating the spangram usually simplifies the remainder of the puzzle.
In Strands, words can be arranged in any direction—upwards, downwards, sideways, or diagonally—with each letter utilized only once. There is precisely one correct resolution for the puzzle. Each time you successfully identify a word, such as KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI, it will be highlighted in blue.
If challenges arise while solving the puzzle, you have the option to input any non-theme words spotted (which must contain four letters or more) to earn credit towards a hint. For every three non-theme words submitted, the “Hint” button becomes accessible. Clicking it will illuminate all letters in one of the theme words. You will still need to arrange these highlighted letters correctly to compose a theme word. If a prior hint was already on the board and another hint is activated before solving, the letter order for that word will be disclosed.
Winning Strands
In contrast to other games like Connections or Wordle, Strands cannot be lost. Submissions will either lead to correct answers, offer hints, or display a shake animation if the inputted word lacks validity. There’s no limit to your guesses, nor is there a ticking clock.
Victory is achieved when all letters on the board have been correctly used, indicating that both the spangram and all theme words have been identified. Similar to other NYT games, a shareable card will be generated upon solving, showcasing your performance for the day: blue dots 🔵 signify theme words found, the yellow dot 🟡 indicates the spangram, and a lightbulb 💡 represents hints received.
