What Strands Is#
Each Strands puzzle is a 48-letter grid concealing a set of theme words tied to a cryptic clue. Unlike a printed word search, words snake in any direction and bend mid-word. The theme words tile the board perfectly — every letter is used exactly once, with no overlaps — and one special answer, the spangram, describes the theme itself and touches two opposite sides of the grid.
The Times launched Strands in beta on March 4, 2024, and after roughly four months of testing moved it out of beta in late June 2024, adding it to the NYT Games app alongside Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, and the Crossword. Its puzzles are edited by Tracy Bennett, who also edits Wordle.
How to Play#
Drag or tap letters to chain them into words of four or more letters. Found theme words lock onto the board highlighted in blue; the spangram locks in yellow. Wrong-but-valid words are not wasted: every three non-theme words you find earn a hint, which highlights the letters of one theme word and leaves you to trace their order. Because theme words never overlap and must fill the grid, each solve shrinks the search space — finding the spangram early often splits the board into manageable halves.
Inside the NYT Games Lineup#
Strands emerged from the same internal pipeline that produced Connections, and by mid-2024 CNN was describing it as the Times' next hit. As of mid-2026 the daily puzzle remains free to play on the web and in the NYT Games app, though — as with the Times' other games — extras such as access to the archive of past puzzles are tied to a paid NYT Games subscription, and the site may prompt you to log in with a free account to keep stats and streaks.
Our rating:
Frequently Asked Questions#
What is a spangram?
The one answer in each Strands puzzle that describes the day's theme and touches two opposite edges of the board. It can be a word or a short phrase, and it highlights in yellow when found.
Is Strands free to play?
The daily puzzle is free on the NYT website and Games app as of mid-2026; archive access and other extras are part of the paid NYT Games subscription.
When did Strands launch?
It entered beta on March 4, 2024, and joined the NYT Games app as a full member of the lineup in late June 2024.
More Games Like NYT Strands#
Wordle without the once-a-day limit: pick any word length from four to eleven letters and play as many rounds as you like.
No coloured tiles: each guess only narrows where the target sits alphabetically between your words.
Six words baked into a waffle-shaped grid arrive pre-scrambled; you have 15 swaps to set them all straight, and five stars means a perfect solve.
Or browse all of them on our games like Wordle.
Daily Puzzles, Our Way
Play today's NerdleBuddy puzzle, or use the Classic Nerdle solver to choose a next guess from your tile feedback.