Discovering the Strands Puzzle for April 21, 2025: A Showcase of Talent
Searching for guidance and solutions for the Strands puzzle dated April 21, 2025? You’ve arrived at the right place! Expect insightful clues, helpful tips, and ultimately, the answers to today’s intriguing puzzle themed around “What talent!”
To effortlessly revisit our daily Strands hints, bookmark this page. You’ll also discover previous hints here, making it easy to catch up on past puzzles that you may have overlooked.
What follows are some subtle hints to assist you in unraveling today’s Strands answers. If you scroll a bit further, the spangram and complete answers will be unveiled. Take your time, and only grab the hints you feel are necessary!
Clue for the Spangram in Today’s Strands Puzzle
The spangram hints at two words that evoke the essence of performances you might witness at a circus or large-scale entertainment venue, such as a Las Vegas show or during a televised conversation.
Clue for Theme Words in Today’s Strands Puzzle
These are descriptors for performers known for their specific talents.
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Strands Puzzle!
The solutions for today’s Strands puzzle are about to be disclosed.
What is the spangram in today’s Strands?
The spangram for today is VARIETYACTS.
What are the theme words in today’s Strands?
The theme words for today include: ACROBAT, MAGICIAN, COMIC, DANCER, DUET, JUGGLER.
Here is how the finished board appears once the puzzle is solved:
Approach to Solving Today’s Strands
Today’s puzzle appears to revolve around commonly celebrated talents, such as dancing or performing arts.
The words GURGLE and GURGLED are not part of the theme, nor is DANCE. However, DANCER fits perfectly! 🔵
JUGGLER is located along the left edge, utilizing some letters from GURGLE. 🔵
ACROBAT is positioned in the upper right corner—signaling a possible circus theme. 🔵
Though I can almost assemble MAGICIAN, it remains elusive for now.
COMIC slots into the right edge, confirming that the spangram runs from top to bottom. 🔵
Now, the spangram reveals itself: VARIETYACTS. 🟡
What do you think about this?
DUET completes the lower section. 🔵
Finally, MAGICIAN can indeed be formed. 🔵
Strands #414 “What talent!” 🔵🔵🔵🔵 🟡🔵🔵
Guide to Playing Strands
The Strands game is accessible via the New York Times website or the NYT Games app.
Upon commencing gameplay, a board filled with an array of letters will greet you, accompanied by a clue hinting at the board’s overarching theme—this could be a phrase like “Better with age.” Your task is to identify the concealed words that align with this theme within the letters provided.
A Fusion of Crossword and Word Search
Finding the “spangram” is crucial, as it explicitly defines the puzzle’s theme. (For instance, in a puzzle themed “Better with age,” the spangram is FERMENTED, which denotes items that improve over time.) The spangram will traverse the entire board, either horizontally or vertically. When discovered, it showcases in yellow, easing completion of the rest of the puzzle.
In Strands, words can be arranged in any direction (upward, downward, horizontally, or diagonally), and each letter can only be utilized once. There’s a single correct solution. Identifying any of the theme-related words—like KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI—will highlight them in blue.
For those facing difficulty, submitting any non-theme words (minimum four letters) grants credit for hints. By entering three such words, the “Hint” button activates; clicking it will highlight letters from one of themes. It’s still your task to properly arrange these highlighted letters to form the intended word. Should another hint be used prior to solving a word, the letter order of that word will be revealed.
Achieving Success in Strands
Unlike other word games like Connections or Wordle, failing Strands is not an option. Submissions can either result in a correct identification, earn hint credits, or initiate a shake effect if the input is too brief or invalid. There is no limited number of guesses or time constraints.
A win is declared once all letters on the board have been properly utilized, signifying you’ve identified the spangram and all theme words. As with other NYT games, a shareable card will be displayed upon completion, showcasing your performance: blue dots 🔵 represent identified theme words, the yellow dot 🟡 marks the spangram, and a lightbulb 💡 indicates words for which hints were provided.
