Looking for a different day?
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Tuesday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 8 (game #401).
Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc’s Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #402) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… That’s quite a (tasty) mouthful
NYT Strands today (game #402) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- SAILOR
- WILL
- FART
- FLOUR
- DOLLS
- CODA
NYT Strands today (game #402) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 13 letters
NYT Strands today (game #402) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 3rd row
Last side: right, 1st row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #402) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #402, are…
- WATERMELON
- ARUGULA
- AVOCADO
- CAULIFLOWER
- SPANGRAM: FOUR SYLLABLES
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
A lovely, easygoing edition of Strands with a mighty long Spangram snake eating up a good chunk of the puzzle.
The hardest find for me was ARUGULA, which I know in the UK as rocket.
Arugula is, along with two other plants with four syllables – pomegranate and radicchio – something I never finish. I like all three but I can also very easily live without them. AVOCADO, on the other hand, I can’t live without.
All of this reminds me of the brilliant sketch in Portlandia (look it up on YouTube if you’ve not seen it) starring Steve Buscemi as the poor marketing man in charge of making celery go viral.
In a 2025 sequel to Buscemi’s ill-fated hook-up with the creepy bacon guy, I can imagine him doing anything to get celery into a Strands puzzle, only to be thwarted by a suddenly imposed four-syllable rule.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 8 April, game #401)
- GRAVITY
- ARRIVAL
- DUNE
- ALIEN
- MEGALOPOLIS
- SPANGRAM: SCIENCE FICTION
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I’ve got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you’re struggling to beat it each day.
