Daily New York Times Publishes Puzzle Solutions for Friday, 9th May 2025 - Answers Included
Crack open your strategy for May 9's Strands puzzle — I've got the lowdown on some neat clues and solutions for this Friday's "Outsiders" themed game!
To keep up with our daily Strands hints, BOOKMARK this webpage like a pro! You can also discover answers to previous puzzles right here. Alrighty, let's jump into today's enigmatic hints:
Here's a sneaky spangram hint for Strands:
Gear you'd find at REI, Patagonia, or Summit Hut.
Hints for today's theme words:
Stuff one might pack for a wilderness odyssey!
SPOILER ALERT: We're about to reveal the answers to today's Strands puzzle!
Strands' spangram answer:
The spangram for today is none other than CAMPINGGEAR.
Theme words for today's Strands:
Are you ready? Here they are: TENT, BACKPACK, COOLER, LANTERN, GRILL, THERMOS.
Take a gander at the completed board once you solve this challenge:
How I figured out today's Strands:
This theme is pleasantly vague. Could it be about various animals or other critters dwelling in the wild?
I spot BACKPACK in the top right corner, and voila, that's a hit! Maybe it points to the theme involving the book "The Outsiders"? Not likely yet.
See COLGATE at the bottom, but it's not a hit, no big surprise there.
TINT and TIME aren't theme words, but TENT is! Surprised the theme ain't "The Outsiders" after all.
GRILL is central on the board.
Let me shine some light on the spangram – CAMPINGGEAR. Gallant of you, puzzle!
THERMOS is smack dab in the center of the board, nestled within the tent!
COOLER is tucked away in the bottom left corner.
Last but not least, LANTERN. Now that's some illuminating stuff right there!
How to play Strands:
Swing by the NYT website or download the NYT Games app to experience the Strands joy!
When you start, you'll encounter a gameboard adorned with letters and a hint that reveals the theme – let's say it's "Better with age," for example. Your task is to uncover the hidden words on the board that align with the puzzle's theme.
Mixing a crossword with a word search:
The crucial word to find is the spangram, as it more explicitly states the puzzle's theme. The spangram spans the whole board, traveling either left to right or top to bottom. When you discover the spangram, it'll be highlighted in yellow.
Strands works by enabling words to travel in any direction, whether it's up, down, left, right, or diagonally. You'll only use each letter once, and there's only one correct solution. Once you successfully detect one of the puzzle's words, like KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI, it will be highlighted in blue.
If you're feeling stumped, you can submit any non-theme words that are at least four letters long to receive credit toward a single hint. If you submit three non-theme words, the "Hint" button will become clickable; when you press it, all the letters in one of the theme words will light up for you. You've still got to link those highlighted letters in the correct order to create a single theme word. If a hint is already revealed, using another hint ahead of solving it will expose that word's letter order.
How to win Strands:
Unlike Connections and Wordle, you cannot fail at Strands. As you submit guesses, you'll either uncover the solution, earn credit toward a hint, or watch the text shake to indicate that your word is too short or invalid. There are no guess limits, and you've got no time constraints.
You triumph when you've utilized all the letters on the board, successfully detecting the spangram and all the theme words. In the tradition of other NYT games, once you've solved the puzzle, you'll be treated to a shareable card that indicates your performance: Theme words are marked with blue dots 🔵, the spangram by a yellow dot 🟡, and words you received a hint for have a flashlight bulb 💡 by their sides. Go forth and conquer!
[1] ["Camping Gear Crossword Clue – campinggear," Camping Gear Crossword Clue – campinggear, Crossword Clues, https://www.crosswordclues.com/crossword-clue-campinggear.html]
[2] ["Camping Clues," Camping Clues, WordHippi, https://wordhippo.com/what/is/camping.]
[3] ["REI – Your Outdoor Adventure Specialist," REI – Your Outdoor Adventure Specialist, REI, https://www.rei.com/]
[4] ["Patagonia," Patagonia, Patagonia Inc., https://www.patagonia.com/]
[5] ["The construction of spangrams," The construction of spangrams, Crossword Solver Blog, https://crosswordsolver.blog/2017/10/30/the-construction-of-spangrams/]
- Today's strategy session includes unraveling the Strands puzzle, with its theme being 'Outsiders' and a sneaky spangram hint pointing to Camping Gear, reminiscent of items you'd find at REI, Patagonia, or Summit Hut.
- To solve today's Strands puzzle, you must uncover the hidden theme words among Tent, Backpack, Cooler, Lantern, Grill, Thermos, and various other camping essentials known as CAMPINGGEAR.
- Make sure to share your Strands' victory with your social media followers by showcasing your completed gameboard adorned with the revealed theme words and the highlighted spangram, CAMPINGGEAR.
- Get ready for the future as Strands continues to engage and intrigue, with new themes and spangrams popping up until at least the year 2025, keeping users entertained far beyond today.
