
As Friday afternoon lingers toward the weekend, the atmosphere changes, less hurried, more expectant. With lunch out of the way and to-do lists dwindling, minds turn to something lighter, something more carefree. The New York Times’ Strands puzzle steps forward, combining nostalgia with a puzzle and relaxation, precisely when you require it.
Today’s puzzle makes players explore the carefree chaos of childhood, handful by handful of sand.
This issue of Strands is a celebration of warm afternoons spent outdoors, scaly fingers, and the creative instruments of childhood imagination. Around its sandbox toys, it evokes the pure pleasure of digging and constructing, no screens, no rules, just discovery in plastic guise.
It’s a tiny, old-fashioned burst of weekend power, served in a 6x8 grid.
Every puzzle has a 6-by-8 grid in which multiple theme words are concealed.
The correct theme words are shown in blue.
There is one spangram, a word that bridges opposite ends of the grid, shown in yellow when discovered.
Theme words are never proper nouns; the spangram may be.
SANDBOXTOYS – The category for all the digging, dumping, molding, and sifting of playground creativity.
MOLD – For molding sea life, bricks, or whatever imagination can shape.
TRUCK – A plastic truck engineered for sand drives and demolition fantasies.
SHOVEL – The tried-and-true trade tool, small but powerful.
BUCKET – For constructing castles or simply carrying creativity for the day.
SIFTER – A mesh wonder that sifts sand and raises eyebrows.
RAKE – Scythed across the sandbox to ‘plow’ or smoothen.
FUNNEL – For contained flow and tiny construction puzzles.
This puzzle arrives just in time for weekend unwinding. With each word you discover, you’re not only filling in a grid, you’re revisiting simpler days, when the grandest ambition was a perfectly filled bucket or a successful hole.
Whether you’re counting down to the end of the day or already coasting into weekend relaxation, today’s Strands provides the ideal blend of nostalgia, challenge, and low-stakes joy. A mind sandbox, no cleanup necessary.