Strands is a new daily puzzle from The New York Times, offering a more challenging take on the classic word search. If you enjoy puzzles like Wordle, Connections, and The Mini Crossword, Strands will provide an engaging challenge, especially on trickier days.
How to Play Strands
In Strands, your goal is to find “theme words” hidden within a grid of letters. You can manipulate the letters by dragging or tapping to form words. Once you form a correct word, it gets highlighted in blue and can no longer be selected.
While finding the theme words is the main task, finding non-theme words can also help. Every three non-theme words (at least four letters long) that you find will reveal one scrambled letter from a theme word, giving you a hint.
Each puzzle contains a special “spangram,” a theme word (or words) that runs from one side of the grid to the opposite side. When you find the spangram, it’s highlighted in yellow.
The key to solving the puzzle quickly is to minimize hints and maximize your word-finding skills!
Hint for Today’s Strands Puzzle
The theme for today’s puzzle is “Board certified.” Here’s a hint to help you along: crafting techniques for a specific material.
Today’s Spangram
The spangram for today’s puzzle is: WOODWORKING. Finding this word will give you insight into the puzzle’s theme.
Today’s Strands Answers
Here are the answers to today’s puzzle:
- SANDER
- PLANE
- CHISEL
- JIGSAW
- LATHE
- VISE
- DRILL
By solving the puzzle, you’ll learn about key tools and techniques used in woodworking, which ties into the theme. Try playing tomorrow’s puzzle for another challenge!