Looking for Friday’s Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here:
Hey there, folks! Welcome to the weekend. I’m back in the Strands saddle after my colleagues Paul Tassi and Erik Kain had the reins over the last couple of weeks. I’m happy to get back to puzzling through this game with you all, though I’ve been playing for fun in the meantime. Let’s get down to business, shall we?
Today’s NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers are coming right up.
How To Play Strands
The New York Times’ Strands puzzle is a play on the classic word search. It’s in beta for now, which means it’ll only stick around if enough people play it every day.
There’s a new game of Strands to play every day. The game will present you with a six by eight grid of letters. The aim is to find a group of words that have something in common, and you’ll get a clue as to what that theme is. When you find a theme word, it will remain highlighted in blue.
You’ll also need to find a special word called a spangram. This tells you what the words have in common. The spangram links two opposite sides of the board. While the theme words will not be a proper name, the spangram can be a proper name. When you find the spangram, it will remain highlighted in yellow.
Every letter is used once in one of the theme words and spangram. You can connect letters vertically, horizontally and diagonally, and it’s possible to switch directions in the middle of a word. If you’re playing on a touchscreen, double tap the last letter to submit your guess.
If you find three valid words of at least four letters that are not part of the theme, you’ll unlock the Hint button. Clicking this will highlight the letters that make up one of the theme words.
Be warned: You’ll need to be on your toes. Sometimes you’ll need to fill the missing word(s) in a phrase. On other days, the game may revolve around synonyms or homophones. The difficulty will vary from day to day, and the puzzle creators will try to surprise you sometimes.
What Is Today’s Strands Hint?
Scroll slowly! Just after the hint for today’s Strands puzzle, I’ll reveal what the answer words are.
The official theme hint for today’s Strand puzzle is…
Walk this way
Need some extra help? Here’s another hint…
What Are Today’s Strands Answers?
Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Strands answers.
I’ll first tell you the spangram and show you where that is on the grid. I’ll then tell you the other words and show you how they fit in.
This is your final warning!
Today’s Strands spangram is…
PEDESTRIAN
Here’s where you’ll find it on the grid…
The rest of today’s Strands theme words are…
- STRUT
- MARCH
- STROLL
- SAUNTER
- TREK
- TRUDGE
Here’s what the completed grid looks like…
I saw STRUT in the top left immediately, which led me to think that I was hunting for ways of walking. Pretty straightforward theme.
MARCH in the top right both confirmed that, plus the fact the spangram would run from left to right or vice-versa.
After finding STROLL (which I just knew had to be in there somewhere) on the left, I found the spangram sneaking around it. That siloed AMBLE on the right. TRUDGE, TREK and SAUNTER wrapped up a perfect game for me.
I didn’t use a hint and the spangram was the fourth theme word I found.
That’s all there is to it for today’s Strands clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.
