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NYT Strands Answers and Hints for April 9, 2025
On a balmy, warm Wednesday, the ideal middle of a spring week, The New York Times’ Strands puzzle provided a sweet surprise that was half word game, half phonetic puzzle. While the day encouraged folks to venture outdoors, Strands presented an equally welcome incentive to remain indoors: a theme that promised something “tasty” and yielded a linguistic surprise instead.
With colorful hints that suggested fruits and vegetables, today’s puzzle initially seemed to be a picnic of produce. But look (or sound) again, and the actual magic was uncovered, each word was a mouthful, literally.
What Is Strands?
For newcomers, Strands is NYT Games’ latest word puzzle, a clever development of the classic word search. Players are given:
A 6x8 grid of letters.
A few hidden words on a daily theme.
A “spangram”, a unique word or phrase that runs from one edge of the grid to the other, disclosing the puzzle’s general concept.
The game is a reward for lateral thinking and a keen eye for patterns, and it frequently gives a surprise as clever as it is rewarding.
Theme Breakdown: A Puzzle You Can Sound Out
This morning’s theme, “That’s quite a (tasty) mouthful”, appeared to set us firmly in the produce section. Vocabulary such as WATERMELON, AVOCADO, and CAULIFLOWER jumped out early, all of them suggesting fruits and vegetables. It was simple to assume we were on salad ground.
But Strands is never that straightforward.
The real surprise? Each of the main words in the puzzle had four syllables, a truth made clear by the spangram FOURSYLLABLES. The theme wasn’t about diet; it was about pronunciation. A salute to the rhythm and form of language, the puzzle subtly transitioned from being about what we eat to about how we say it.
Hints That Keep the Game Moving
One of Strands’ best features is its intuitive hint system. Discover three four-letter or longer non-theme words, and the game will reveal one of the theme words by itself. It pays to experiment with it not spoiling the experience.
Example Non-Theme Words You Might Work With:
FOUR
GONE
TART
VINO
SLOP
These aren’t related to the day’s overall idea, but they’re helpful stepping stones to discover what is.
Theme Words & Meanings
FOURSYLLABLES (Spangram): The solution to the puzzle, every word showcased has four syllables.
WATERMELON: A sweet, juicy fruit commonly linked with summer and picnics.
AVOCADO: A green, creamy fruit full of nutrients and a base for guacamole.
CAULIFLOWER: A cruciferous, versatile vegetable commonly utilized in healthy cooking.
ARUGULA: A peppery leafy green, frequently used in salads and garnishes.
Though they all fall under the food category, their selection wasn’t about flavor, it was about form.
Final Thoughts: A Linguistic Treat Disguised as Produce
Today’s Strands was not just a vibrant food-themed grid, it was a sly phonetic puzzle disguised in tasty distractions. What appeared to be a fruit and vegetable celebration became an ear-based challenge that rewarded keen ears rather than keen eyes. It reminded players that in the realm of word games, sometimes the most significant patterns are not what the words say, but how they’re constructed.
By interweaving syllables into the blend, Strands illustrated the way that language can be playful, coherent, and seemingly poetic. With the week winding on, it leaves puzzle-solvers pondering: if the puzzle of today was all about words sounding like words, where will the next puzzle lead, meaning, spelling, or perhaps even rhyme?
