The New York Times has a new game, Strands (Picture: New York Times)
If you’re still doing a daily Wordle and are now hooked on Connections, we have news for you.
The New York Times (NYT) has added a new puzzle to its stable – Strands.
And although it is essentially a word search – described by the Atlantic as ‘perhaps the lowest form of puzzle’ – don’t think for one second it will be easy. (Be warned, a screenshot below contains a spoiler for today’s puzzle.)
No, this is a New York Times game, so you will likely be stumped at first, then mildly frustrated, and finally elated when (or if) you solve it.
And as you’d expect, this is no ordinary wordsearch. First of all, every letter in the 6×8 grid has to be used.
Secondly, you can also change direction while finding words, so the letters won’t all be in a straight line.
Wordle took the world by storm during lockdown(Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
They will, however, all be linked to a central theme, the answer to which is also a word on the grid which stretches from one side to the other, called a spangram.
(Reminder, a spoiler coming up.)
In addition, you can earn a hint by finding three words in the grid that are not part of the theme.
But be warned. With so many words to be created when you can move in all directions, finding the right ones – those part of the daily theme – can be incredibly tricky.
Also, once you’ve found three non-theme words to reveal the hint, there’s no benefit to finding unrelated words in the grid – they won’t get you extra points.
How to play Strands on the New York Times website
If you love a puzzle though, and want to train your brain a bit more every day, it’s the perfect addition to your gaming routine.
Strands is still in beta however, so you won’t find it on the NYT’s news or puzzle apps, only on your browser. But if it passes the paper’s strict popularity test, it will become a fully-fledged NYT game alongside Wordle, Connections, the Mini, Letter Boxed and more.
How to play Strands, according to the NYT
The objective is to find theme words that all have something in common, and a spangram that describes what they have in common
The spangram must touch two opposite sides of the game board
Today’s Theme is a clue on the board meant to guide gameplay
Finding three words that are not part of the theme will unlock the “Hint” button and highlight the letters that make up a theme word
Players can connect letters vertically, horizontally and diagonally, and can switch directions in the middle of a word
Theme words fit the grid perfectly, with no letter used more than once
Wonderful Wordle
Do you Wordle? If not, where were you during the pandemic?
The game was invented by software engineer Josh Wardle for his puzzle-loving partner during the height of lockdown, but after sharing it among friends and family, he decided to go public with the highly addictive daily dose of word-based fun.
It quickly spread from the US to the UK and across the world, becoming so popular that the New York Times snapped it up for an undisclosed seven-figure sum in January 2022.
The premise is simple – players have six chances to guess a five-letter word. Correct letters in the right place turn from grey to green, correct letters in the wrong place turn yellow.
The answers, however, are less simple – and often controversial. UK players had a collective meltdown the first time a US spelling made an appearance – favor – followed a few weeks later by humor.
Players were also upset by the inclusion of snafu, strictly speaking an acronym for the phrase ‘Situation normal: all f***ed up’, a snippet of military slang.