The New York Times has a compelling new puzzle game called Strands, and it feels like a mix of a traditional word search and a topic-focused puzzle like Connections. If you need help getting used to the new game or want some extra hints to help you solve the latest puzzle, we're here to offer as much or as little help as needed.
How to Play Strands
You're dealing with a 6 x 8 grid of letters and need to find words, but unlike a traditional word search, the flow of each word can travel in different directions. In other words, the "strands" of letters pivot all over the place. You can tap or trace your finger on your mobile device to submit a word.
Each day's puzzle has a somewhat obtuse theme that reads like a crossword clue. Official puzzle words are all related to that theme, but there's also a way to receive further hints: if you submit three words unrelated to the theme, you'll receive a hint. All letters needed for a word related to the theme will be highlighted with circles. Note that all words, whether on theme or not, must be at least four letters long. These always need to be four letters or longer.
It'll then be up to you to guess the flow of that particular strand. As you unlock official guesses, they'll be highlighted in blue. Eventually, you'll uncover the theme's name in gold — called a Spangram! — as it bisects the rest of the puzzle and touches two opposite sides of the board.
"Picture this" is the clue for the above example from April 6, which is an obtuse hint that all of the associated words in the puzzle are related to PHOTOGRAPHY (which was the Spangram shown above in yellow). That included words like LENS, TRIPOD, and LIGHT.
April 7 Puzzle Hints
"This'll all blow over" is the April 7 hint, which evokes Edgar Wright's beloved 2004 horror-comedy Shaun of the Dead. But could that actually be the theme? Probably not, but we'll see.
Today's Non-Theme Words for Strands
As always, once you submit three off-theme words, you'll get a hint highlighting all the letters used in an on-theme word. Every word, whether on- or off-theme, must have at least four characters. Here's an assortment of off-theme words we found that helped us get hints.
- ABLE
- APER
- BEAT
- WART
- WARTS
- THERE
- THAW
- PEAT
- GOON
- TOOL
- GRILL
- BATE
- ABATE
- GASH
- BASH
- BALL
- LOON
- TAGS
- LIGHT
- WEIGHT
- EIGHT
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Today's On-Theme Words for Strands
Once we submitted three words and got a hint, we uncovered the on-theme word of STRAW. But you can also use those letters for WART and WARTS, so be sure to submit those as well. The pattern quickly emerges that we're dealing with things that blow in the wind.
- STRAW
- PAPER
- BUBBLE
- FEATHER
- BALLOON
- EYELASH
- LIGHTWEIGHT (Spangram)
