How to Play Strands: Full Guide to The New York Times Game

Strands, one of the New York Times' latest word games, is a fun but tricky spin on traditional word search puzzles. Whether you love other NYT games like Wordle, Connections, and Spelling Bee, or are just looking for a new game to play and share results with your friends, we have you covered! This guide will teach you how to play Strands, covering everything from the basic rules to the mysterious spangram, and give you the best tips and tricks for winning the game every single time.

Playing Strands: A Quick Overview

Strands is a daily New York Times word search game with a theme. To play, find the 6 words or phrases ("strands") that fit the theme. If a guessed word turns blue, it's a theme word. If it turns yellow, it's the spangram–a longer word that explains what the strands have in common.

Section 1 of 6:

How to Play Strands

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The goal of Strands is to find the 6 hidden words that match a theme. The theme, which is typically a play on words, appears at the top of a 6 x 8 grid of letters. In that grid, you need to find and highlight 6 words or phrases (made of connected letters, like in a traditional word search) that match the theme. Letters can connect horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Here's how the game works:^{[1]
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- When you find a word, drag your finger across the letters, then lift your finger.
- If the word you found is part of the theme, it will turn blue.
- When you find the spangram–more on the spangram soon–it will turn yellow.
- Words that aren't part of the theme can also be selected. For every 3 non-themed words you find, you'll unlock one hint.
- Every letter in the grid can only be used once.
- When you complete the puzzle, all letters will be used.

Section 2 of 6:

The Spangram

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Every game of Strands contains one Spangram. In Strands, a spangram is a long word that touches two opposite sides of the board, either horizontally or vertically.^{[2]
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Research source} But that's not all it is–the spangram also gives more context to the puzzle's theme, which is usually kind of vague and confusing on its own. If you can find the spangram early, finding the other themed words will be a piece of cake.
- For example, let's say the puzzle's theme is "In Your Feed." The spangram might be "socialmedia", and other theme words might be Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, and Twitch.

Section 3 of 6:

Getting Hints

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You can get one hint for every 3 non-themed words you find. When a hint is available, just tap the Hint button at the bottom to reveal it. Strands hints are extremely straightforward–when you get a hint, it'll be the word you need to find instead of a clue. Hints are great when you're stuck, but if you want to share your results, others will see a lightbulb on the words you've used hints for.
- If you need more help solving the puzzle but don't want to use hints, click the lightbulb icon at the top to check out Strands Sidekick, the Strands community forum. While the community is discouraged from giving answers outright, sometimes the hints can be pretty on-the-nose, so don't go there if you're worried about potential spoilers.^{[3]
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Section 4 of 6:

Strands Tips & Strategies

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1
Search for common word stems or letters that often appear together. For example, many words end with "tion" or "ing," or contain strings like "con," "able," "cha," or "per." If you see a "q", there's bound to be a "u" beside it. Once you identify a stem, it may be part of a strand–look for other connecting letters that can transform it into a complete word.
- This Reddit post from u/Gkbuck suggests a similar strategy–looking for unique letters, "like Z, Y, K, etc, or letter combos like SH, CK, LY, and going from there."
2
Start at the corners. Looking for combinations of letters in the 4 corners of the puzzle is a popular approach. The letter at each corner can only be a part of 3 potential strands, while the letter at the center can be part of 8 possible strands.^{[4]
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3
Once you find the first theme word, try to guess the spangram. Finding the spangram early is a surefire way to win Strands quickly. Once you get one blue strand, compare it to the theme and try to guess what the spangram might be.
4
Don't be afraid to use hints and Strands Sidekick. Using hints, especially when you're new to Strands, will help you get better at deciphering themes over time–especially if you're not used to crossword-style wordplay. Similarly, reading through the Strands Sidekick forum (the lightbulb at the top of Strands) will introduce you to new strategies that work for other players.

Section 5 of 6:

Strands Stats & Sharing

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The results give you some praise–for example, you'll see "Perfect" if you solved the puzzle using no hints, and "Great" if you used a hint. To share your results with a friend, tap Share your results at the bottom, then choose a sharing method.
2
Log in to your NYT account to keep track of your statistics. When you're signed in to the NYT Games app or on the web, your Strands progress will be saved over time. To check your stats, open Strands and tap the bar graph icon at the top. Your stats include:^{[5]
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- The number of completed Strands puzzles
- Your solve rate (percentage of puzzles you've played that you've finished)
- Your current streak
  - Play Strands every day before midnight to maintain your streak!
- Your max (longest) streak
- How many times you've guessed the spangram before other words
- How many puzzles you've solved without hints

Section 6 of 6:

Where to Play Strands

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Strands is free to play on the web and in the NYT Games app. You can currently play Strands on the web at nytimes.com/games/strands, or by installing the NYT Games app from the App Store (iPhone and iPad) or the Google Play Store (Android).^{[6]
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- Be sure to log in to your New York Times account before playing to keep track of your stats!
- If you have an All Access, Home Delivery, or Games subscription, you can also play old Strands puzzles in the Strands Archive. To get there in the Games app, tap Archive under "Strands." On the web, point your browser to nytimes.com/games/strands/archive.

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