How to play
How to play Strands
Strands is the New York Times' daily word search with a theme. A grid of letters hides theme words and one spangram, a word or phrase that names the theme and runs from one side of the grid to the other. To play Strands, find the words that snake through neighbouring letters; when you are done every letter is used exactly once.
- One puzzle a day
- A theme
- One spangram
AwaCut Bulk background remover Remove the background from 500 photos at once
AwaCut removes the background from a whole folder of photos at once, right on your own computer. No uploadsNo credits$29 a year, unlimited images Try 10 photos free → awacut.comThe rules
A theme and a grid
You get a theme, here "Fruit bowl", and a grid of letters. The theme is a hint, not the answer: the words fit it, sometimes loosely.
- ✓ Right
Words snake through neighbours
A word runs through letters that touch: up, down, sideways or diagonally, turning as it goes. PEAR bends once.
- ✓ Right
The spangram crosses the grid
The spangram names the theme and touches two opposite sides of the grid, top and bottom or left and right. Here FRUITS runs from top to bottom.
- ✗ Not allowed
No jumps
A path cannot jump. This PLUM leaps from the U to an M two rows away; the real PLUM uses the M beside it.
Other words earn hints
Other words of four letters or more are not wasted: every three of them earn a hint, which shows the letters of one theme word.
- ✓ Right
Every letter, once
The theme words and the spangram fill the grid exactly: no letter is left over and none is used twice.
From the grid to every word
A grid of our own, theme "Fruit bowl":
The grid, theme "Fruit bowl"
The spangram FRUITS, then LEMON and MANGO
PEAR and PLUM: every letter used
Where to play, and the controls
- Open nytimes.com/games/strands in a browser, or Strands in the NYT Games app.
- Drag across the letters to spell a word, or tap them in turn and tap the last one again.
- The Hint button lights up after three non-theme words; tap it to see the letters of a theme word.
Tips that solve it faster
Decode the theme
Read the theme two ways. It is often a pun, and the spangram is the phrase that explains it.
Find the spangram early
The spangram is long and touches two opposite edges. Finding it early splits the grid and shows where the other words can be.
Start in the corners
Corners and edges have few neighbours, so their letters belong to few words. Start there.
Count the islands
Every letter is used once, so a found word leaves islands of letters. Count them: an island of five letters is a five-letter word.
Follow the rare letters
Rare letters such as Q, Z, X and J sit in very few words. Work out which theme word can hold them.
Buy a hint with words
Stuck? Spell any ordinary words you see: three of them buy a hint, and the hint shows a whole theme word.
Questions
What is Strands?
A daily themed word search from The New York Times: find the theme words and the spangram hidden in a grid of letters, using every letter once.
What is a spangram in Strands?
A word or phrase that names the theme and touches two opposite sides of the grid. Every puzzle has one.
How do hints work in Strands?
Find three words of four letters or more that are not theme words. The hint then shows the letters of a theme word, and you find its order.
Can Strands words go diagonally?
Yes. A word can go in any direction, diagonals included, as long as each letter touches the next.
How big is the Strands grid?
Six columns by eight rows, 48 letters, in the game. Our example is smaller so each rule can be seen at a glance.
Strands is a game by The New York Times. AWA GAMES is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The New York Times. The boards on this page are our own.
Last updated .