Strands doesn’t get as much attention as its New York Times gaming siblings Wordle and Connections, but it can be just as challenging and entertaining. Strands just got out of beta, so it’s now on the official New York Times Gaming app, which could attract more fans. I delve into the Strands rules in this story.
If you’re reading this, you probably need help with the thread puzzle, so here we go. Warning: scroll down too far too fast and you’ll see spoilers.
Need more answers? Here is the answer for today’s Wordle and here are the answers for today’s Connections.
Read more: NYT Connections turns 1 year old: These are the 5 hardest puzzles yet
Clue for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands topic is: It’s way over your head.
But if that doesn’t help you, here’s a hint: The final frontier.
Keywords to unlock tracks in the game
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the theme of the puzzle. If you’re stuck, find the words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those suggestions, but any word of four or more letters you can find will work:
- TILE, TEETER, CAMP, PLANE, TASTE, SITE, COME, LANE, READ, PLANE, RHYTHM, RACE, STEROID, LETTER
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that relate to the topic. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a themed word that goes from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have them all (I originally thought there would always be eight, but I discovered that the number can vary), all the letters on the board will be used. Here are the non-spangram answers:
- MOON, COMET, PLANET, GALAXY, ASTEROID, SATELLITE
Today’s Strands Spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is OUTER SPACE. To spell it, start with the O that is four letters down on the far left and work your way up.
The stars have come out.
Screenshot by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper/CNET
How to play NYT Strands
1. Use today’s topic to look up words related to that topic. See one? Drag or click the letters in order. Click the last letter twice to submit your guess. If you’ve found a topic word, it will light up blue and stay that way.
2. Other words you find are considered keywords that give you clues about the theme words. Find three keywords (they must have at least four letters each) and the game will reward you by showing you a theme word. But if you can’t figure it out, find three more keywords and the game will highlight the letters of the theme word in order.
3. Hunt the spangrama special theme word that encompasses the entire puzzle, although it can flow across or from top to bottom. It sums up the theme of the puzzle.
4. When you are done, you will have used each letter on the board, either in a topic word or in a spangram. Theme words fill the entire board and do not overlap.
