Daily NYT Unveils Hints and Solution for Saturday Crossword Puzzle on April 19, 2025
Welcome back, friend! Today's Strands hints and solutions are here, bearing the theme " a ." For easy access to our daily hints, remember to bookmark this page. You can also catch up on past puzzles right here.
Here are some enticing hints to help you master today's Strands board. Further down, you'll find the spangram and the theme answers. Take just the hints you require, and don't forget to scroll slowly!
Spangram Clue for Today's Strands
A phrase you holler after trouncing an opponent in Mario Kart, or any other game, for that matter. This expression starts with a verb that's synonymous with "snatch" or "nab." That verb also goes in the first blank of today's puzzle's theme.
Theme Word Clue for Today's Strands
To snap a shot of yourself, you might say, "I'm gonna '_ a _.' " What alternatives could fit in the last blank?
Beware: Spoilers ahead for today's Strands!
We're about to unveil the answers to today's Strands puzzle.
Today's Strands Spangram
The spangram today is TAKETHAT.
Today's Strands Theme Words
The themes today are SELFIE, GANDER, HIKE, BREATHER, HINT, CHANCE, and NUMBER.
Here's what the board looks like when the puzzle is complete:
My Strategy for Today's Strands
I reckon this puzzle might involve pals and buddies forming phrases, similar to words like "take a seat." Let's examine.
Well, I found TAKE and SEAT, but neither are theme words.
BATH, BATHE, TALK, READ, BRAT, GREAT, and FILE are unrelated words.
Aha! But HIKE is! 🔵 Alright, so that could fit with the phrase "take a HIKE." Maybe it's all things you can take?
I've got it: the spangram is TAKETHAT. 🟡 Intelligent.
SELFIE is in the upper left corner. 🔵
GANDER is in the bottom left corner. 🔵
BREATH is not a theme word, but BREATHER is! 🔵
NUMBER is in the bottom right corner. 🔵
CHANCE is above NUMBER. 🔵
Lastly, HINT. 🔵
Studying Strands
To test your Strands skills, head to the New York Times website or check out the NYT Games app.
When you fire up the game, you'll notice a board with letters, patrolled by a clue giving a hint about the board's theme (such as "Better with age"). Your mission is to find the concealed words that reflect the puzzle's hidden message.
A dash of crossword and a sprinkle of word search
The essential word to find is the "spangram," which more explicitly expresses the puzzle's theme. For example, the spangram for the puzzle with the theme "Better with age" is FERMENTED, a term describing products that mature well. The spangram runs the entire length of the game board sideways or lengthwise (hence its name). Once found, it is highlighted in yellow. Unraveling the spangram tends to make the rest of the puzzle much easier to solve.
In Strands, words move any direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonally), and you will only use each letter once. There is only one correct solution. Once you find one of the puzzle's words (for instance, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.
If you're having trouble with the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words you see (provided they're four letters or more) to receive credit toward a single hint. If you submit three non-theme words, the "Hint" button will become activated; if you click it, all the letters in one of the theme words will be highlighted for you. You still need to arrange these highlighted letters in the proper sequence to form one of the theme words. If a hint is already in play and you utilize another hint before finding the word, the word's letter order will be revealed.
Winning Strands
Unlike Connections and Wordle, you can't lose Strands. Submitting guesses will either uncover an answer, grant credit for a hint, or set the text rocking back and forth, suggesting the submitted word is too short or invalid. You can't exhaust your guesses, and there is no time limit.
You prevail when you've used all the letters and solved the spangram and each of the theme words. Like other NYT games, upon cracking the puzzle, you'll see a sharable card indicating how you fared that day: blue dots (🔵) denote theme words discovered, the yellow dot (🟡) indicates the spangram identified, and a lightbulb (💡) signifies words that earned a hint.
- The expression to holler after winning a game, starting with a verb synonymous with "snatch" or "nab," found in today's Strands spangram, is 'TAKE'.
- To 'TAKE A SELFIE' or any other equivalent would fit as alternatives in the last blank of the theme words.
- On Saturday, you might join a group for a social-media event themed around 'ENTERTAINMENT'.
- To complete today's Strands, one of the theme words is 'HIKE', similar to suggesting a term that can be 'TAKEN'. When finding the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow.
