Searching for clues and solutions for Strands dated April 2, 2025? This article provides insightful hints and ultimately reveals the answer to the day’s challenge themed “Shine On.”

To easily revisit our daily Strands hints, consider bookmarking this page. Here, you’ll also find insights from previous puzzles, in case you’re curious about any you might have missed.

Following are some subtle clues for today’s Strands answers. As you scroll down, the spangram and solutions will be disclosed. Proceed at your own pace and take as few or as many hints as you require!

Clue for Today’s Spangram

A popular individual known for their charm may possess this two-word trait that captures attention effortlessly.

Clue for Theme Words

Action words associated with light reflection and brilliance, such as those exhibited by diamonds or shining personalities.

WARNING: Answers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!

The answers to the current Strands puzzle are about to be unveiled.

Approach to Today’s Strands Solution

Could it be that today’s puzzle involves sources of illumination? Uncertain at this moment.

Observing two Z letters… they are part of the word DAZZLE. 🔵 Thus, it seems the answers pertain to terms relating to brightness and glitter.

SPARKLE is located in the lower right. 🔵

TWINKLE can be found in the upper left. 🔵

Looks like the spangram stretches vertically. STAR… found it—POWER! A clever touch. 🟡

RADIATE appears in the upper right. 🔵

GLEAM is nestled in the bottom left. 🔵

Finally, SHIMMER completes the set. 🔵

Strands #395
“Shine on”
🔵🔵🔵🟡
🔵🔵🔵

Guide to Playing Strands

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

Upon starting, you will encounter a game board filled with assorted letters, accompanied by a clue hinting at the primary theme—this could be a phrase, such as “Better with age.” Your task is to uncover hidden words on the board that reflect the specified theme.

A Fusion of Crossword and Word Search

The primary word to uncover is the “spangram,” which more clearly defines the theme of the puzzle. (For instance, the spangram linked to the theme “Better with age” is FERMENTED, relating to items that indeed improve over time.) The spangram spans the entirety of the board, moving either horizontally or vertically. Finding the spangram is often the key to easily completing the rest of the puzzle.

In Strands, words can appear in any direction (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally), and each letter can only be utilized once. Only one correct solution exists for the puzzle. When a word is correctly identified (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.

If you find yourself struggling, you may submit any words that do not connect to the theme (as long as they are at least four letters long), which grants you credits toward a single hint. Submitting three non-theme words activates the “Hint” button; clicking it highlights the letters of one of the theme words, though you will still need to arrange these letters correctly to form the full word. If a hint has previously been utilized on the board, using another hint before completing that word will reveal the letter order for the word.

Winning at Strands

Unlike other word games such as Connections and Wordle, there’s no way to fail at Strands. When guesses are made, responses will either confirm an answer, provide a hint, or shake the text indicating the submission was either too short or invalid. There’s no limit to the number of attempts or time constraints.

Your success is marked by correctly utilizing all the letters on the board, meaning you have identified both the spangram and the complete set of theme words. Like other games from the NYT, successful completion results in a shareable card illustrating your performance for the day: blue dots 🔵 signify theme words identified, the yellow dot 🟡 highlights finding the spangram, and a lightbulb 💡 indicates words hinted at.