Daily New York Times Reveals Clues and Solution for Puzzle on April 29, 2025
Gotta Solve 'Em All: Strands Hints for April 29, 2025
Ready to crack the code on today's Strands puzzle? Let's dive in, my friends, as I share some sneaky clues and eventually reveal the fantabulous solution to the puzzle themed "I've got you covered."
Want a simple way to always find our Strands secrets daily? ‘Bookmark this page’, you savvy sleuths! We've got all our past hints right here, in case you've missed a few groovy riddles.
In this section, I'll dish out some obscure hints about today's answers. Down the page, I'll unveil the spangram and the theme words. Take only the hints ya need and keep scrollin'!
Hint for the spangram in today's Strands puzzle
You're hunting for a term describing outer coverings, or things you may spot on a beach.
Hint for the theme words in today's Strands puzzle
We're chasing words for objects or creatures with a similar protective anatomical feature found in the spangram.
BEWARE: Spoilers lie ahead for today’s Strands puzzle!
We're about to spill the beans on today's Strands puzzle.
What is the spangram in today's Strands?
Today's spangram is none other than SHELLS.
What are the theme words in today's Strands?
The theme words today are: TACO, TORTOISE, NAUTILUS, ARMADILLO, WALNUT, and NUCLEUS.
Picture this when the puzzle's solved:
How I solved today's Strands
My initial hunch is that this puzzle will flaunt words for protective clothing. Let me think…
I notice TOUCAN, but it's not a theme word. SILT, MOLD, DOLL, ROLL, TROLL, and WAIL aren't theme words either. Guess I'll shot for a hint. 💡
It shines a light on COAT, but it's not the answer. But if I twist the letters of COAT into TACO, it's bingo! 🔵 Hmm, what's the connection to coverings?
I can almost jumble TORTILLA into the upper left, but I can't quite get it. Aha! It's TORTOISE! 🔵 So it's all protective critters with shells.
The puzzle's spangram: SHELLS. 🟨
NAUTILUS closes the upper half of the puzzle. 🔵
I'm starching my feels with this lower half, so far. CLAW surely ain't a theme word. I can almost piece together SNAIL, but not quite. What else has a shell? Pasta? Beaches? Turtles?
Ah, there's ARMADILLO. 🔵
There's WALNUT nestled to the right of ARMADILLO. 🔵
Lastly, NUCLEUS, which I'd venture to say assumes a protective position in a way? 🔵
How to play Strands
Find Strands on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app.
When you kick things off, you'll see a game board brimming with letters, flanked by a clue suggesting the board's theme (e.g. "Better with age"). Your task is to raid the board and discover words that reflect the puzzle's theme.
A crossword crossed with a word search
The big kahuna word to nab is the "spangram," which, when properly rearranged, screams the puzzle's theme. (For example, the spangram for the puzzle with the theme "Better with age" is FERMENTED, which signifies items that, oh yeah, are better with age.) Once found, the spangram will glow golden yellow. Sussing out the spangram marks the beginning of an extraordinary journey towards solving the puzzle.
In Strands, the magic letter bandits can travel in any direction (left, right, up, down, or diagonal), with only one of each letter used. Only one solution exists. When you correctly spot a word (like KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it magically morphs into a brilliant shade of blue.
If you're getting flustered, you can jettison any non-theme words you see (as long as they contain at least four letters) to earn credit toward a single hint. If you submit three non-theme words, the "Hint" button becomes active. One click will shine up all the letters in one of the theme words exclusively; you'll still have to rejig the highlighted letters in the correct order to form a theme word. If a hint is already activated and you employ another, the letters in that theme word's order will become transparently clear.
How to win Strands
Unlike Connections and Wordle, you can't fail Strands. When you send your guesses, you will either nab the answer, collect hint credit, or the screen will shake vigorously, signaling an incorrect guess. You won't run out of guesses, and there's no time limit.
You've earned a victory when you've productively employed all the letters on the board, meaning that you've discovered the spangram and all the theme words. Like other NYT games, once you've conquered the puzzle, you will be presented with a shareable card that represents your performance for that day: blue dots 🔵 symbolize theme words you found, the golden sun ☉ represents when you deciphered the spangram, and a light bulb 💡 denotes words you received a hint for.
- Today's Strands puzzle hints point towards protective objects or creatures, as indicated by the theme words TACO, TORTOISE, NAUTILUS, ARMADILLO, WALNUT, and NUCLEUS.
- In the given text, it is suggested that the spangram will reveal information about outer coverings or things typically found on a beach.
- The hint for the spangram in today's Strands puzzle shines a light on COAT, but the solution found by twisting the letters of COAT into TACO is a theme word.
- Four days from today, on April 29, 2025, the spangram for Strands will be revealed as SHELLS, and the theme words will revolve around objects or creatures with similar protective anatomical features found in the spangram.
