Everything from the rules and board layout to finding the Spangram and using progressive hints without ruining the fun.
Strands is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times, available alongside Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword. Each puzzle presents an 8×6 grid of letters hiding a set of theme words and one special word called the Spangram.
The goal: find all the theme words and the Spangram. There’s no timer — take as long as you need.
The grid is 8 rows by 6 columns — 48 letters in total. Every letter in the grid belongs to exactly one word. Words can run in any direction: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Letters in a word must be connected, touching at edges or corners.
When you find all the words, the entire grid is filled.
Before you start, you see a short theme clue — a phrase that hints at what the words have in common. It’s intentionally vague. The theme clue is the only in-game hint the puzzle gives you by default.
Example: The clue “By any other name…” means the theme words are all varieties of a specific flower — but it won’t tell you which one.
To select a word, tap the first letter and drag through each consecutive letter. If the word is correct, the letters light up in blue and lock in. If not, they shake and reset.
The puzzle tells you how many theme words there are, but not how long they are or where they start.
Every Strands puzzle has one Spangram — a word or phrase that spans the entire board, touching both left and right edges (or top and bottom). The Spangram always names or captures the theme.
When you find it, the letters light up in yellow. Finding the Spangram often unlocks the rest of the puzzle because it reveals the theme directly.
Tip: The Spangram is usually longer than the theme words. If you see a word that seems to cross the whole board, try it.
If you’re stuck, you can earn a hint by finding three non-theme words — valid English words hidden in the grid that aren’t part of the puzzle’s answers. After finding three, the game highlights the first letter of one theme word.
You can earn up to one hint per theme word this way.
This site gives you three levels of progressive hints for both the theme and the Spangram — so you can get just enough help without spoiling the experience:
The Spangram gets its own three levels, separate from the theme — because it deserves its own reveal moment.
Tap any word pill or the Spangram card in the Answers section to reveal it individually, or use Reveal all when you’re ready to see everything at once.
Get spoiler-free Strands hints at three levels — use exactly as much help as you need, no more.
