NYT's Thursday, May 1, 2025 Crossword Puzzle Includes Cryptic Clues and Solutions
If you're hunting for Strands tips and solutions for Thursday, May 1, 2025, you've landed on the right spot! I'm here to provide some clues to help you out, as well as the final answer to the day's puzzle with the theme "I get around."
Want a quick way to revisit our Strands hints every day? Bookmark this page! You can also check out our past hints here, just in case you missed the previous one.
To begin, here are some indirect hints for the answers of today's Strands:
Hint for the spangram in today's Strands puzzle
A risky acrobatic maneuver a BMX rider might "pop," requiring a ton of balance.
Hint for the theme words in today's Strands puzzle
Mobility solutions with two or four rotating items that help riders move forward.
SPOILER ALERT: Strands solutions for today's puzzle are coming up!
We're about to reveal the answers to today's Strands puzzle.
What is the spangram in today's Strands?
Today's spangram is WHEELIE.
What are the theme words in today's Strands?
The theme words for today are: SKATEBOARD, SCOOTER, ROLLERBLADES, BICYCLE, WAGON.
Here's what the completed puzzle looks like:
How I solved today's Strands
This puzzle might contain items that move, such as trains, cars, planes. It might also play on the word "around" and consist of things with circular motion. Let's see:
First, WAGON is found in the lower right corner.
Next, BICYCLE is in the lower left corner. OK, so it looks like it's probably items on wheels.
Now, the spangram is above the last two words we found: WHEELIE.
ROLLERBLADES takes up the upper right corner and part of the right edge.
SCOOTER makes it way up the side of ROLLERBLADES and into the upper left corner.
Lastly, SKATEBOARD.
How to play Strands
To play Strands, head on over to the New York Times website or use the NYT Games app. When you start, you'll find a game board full of letters, along with a hint giving you a clue about the puzzle's theme – this might be a phrase like "Better with age." Your task is to locate the hidden words on the board that reflect the puzzle's theme.
A crossword crossed with a word search
The most important word to find is the "spangram," a word that explicitly states the puzzle's theme. (For example, the spangram for a puzzle with the theme "Better with age" is FERMENTED). The spangram will span the entire game board, either from left to right or top to bottom. Once you find the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Solving the spangram usually makes the rest of the puzzle much easier to complete.
In Strands, words can travel in various directions (up, down, left, right, and diagonal), and you will only use each letter once. There is only one right solution. When you correctly identify one of the puzzle's words (e.g., KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.
If you're having trouble solving the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words that are at least four letters long to receive credit towards a single hint. If you submit three non-theme words, the "Hint" button will become clickable; if clicked, all the letters in one of the theme words will be highlighted for you. You'll still have to link these highlighted letters in the correct order to come up with one of the theme words. If there's already a hint on the board and you use another hint before solving for that word, the word's letter order will be revealed.
How to win Strands
differential to Connections and Wordle, you cannot fail Strands. When you submit guesses, you will either correctly identify an answer, receive credit towards a hint, or the text will dance around wildly, suggesting that the word you entered is inappropriate or too short. You can't run out of chances, and there's no time limit.
You win when you've used up all the letters on the board, meaning that you have identified the spangram and all of the theme words. As with other NYT games, upon solving the puzzle, you will be awarded a shareable card that shows how well you performed that day: blue dots (🔵) indicate theme words you discovered, the yellow dot (💡️) shows when you found the spangram, and a lightbulb (💡) indicates words to which you were granted a hint.
- Bookmark this page for daily Strands tips and solutions, including the one for Thursday, May 1, 2025, themed "I get around."
- Apart from the daily puzzle, explore our past hints as well to stay updated on entertainment, social-media trends, and pop-culture.
- As a sneak peek, today's Strands spangram is WHEELIE, hinting at mobility solutions like skateboards, scooters, rollerblades, bicycles, and wagons.
- Stay tuned for the official solutions coming up soon! Remember, Strands often includes words that travel in various directions and only uses each letter once.
- To play Strands, visit the New York Times website or use the NYT Games app, where you'll find a game board full of letters to solve the theme puzzle.
