For today’s emoji-driven puzzle, cracking the central theme gives you an immediate head start on the spangram.

Currently in its beta phase, The New York Times Strands puzzle reinvents the traditional word search. Its long-term survival depends entirely on maintaining daily active engagement from players.

A fresh puzzle drops daily, presenting a six-by-eight grid of letters. Players must uncover a hidden set of thematic words guided by a specific clue. Successfully located theme words stay highlighted in blue.

Additionally, players must track down the spangram—a defining word that stretches from one side of the board to the other, explicitly revealing the core theme. While regular theme words exclude proper nouns, the spangram can include them. Once found, the spangram glows in yellow.

Stay alert, as the challenge level shifts constantly.

Some themes are fill-in-the-blank phrases. They may also be steps in a process, items that all belong to the same category, synonyms or homophones, notes The New York Times. Just as she varies the difficulty of Wordle puzzles within a week, [Wordle and Strands editor Tracy] Bennett plans to throw Strands solvers curveballs every once in a while.

What Is Today’s Strands Hint?

Here is the official NYT clue followed by an extra guiding hint to push you in the right direction:

Today’s NYT Strands Opening Letters

If you prefer a gentle nudge rather than outright spoilers, these initial two letters will kickstart your search:

What Are Today’s Strands Answers?

Entering the solution phase, here is the complete breakdown of the spangram and all associated theme words:

  • PLAYGROUND
  • CIRCLE
  • GAME
  • WALK
  • SELECT
  • CHASE