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September 15 NYT Strands focuses on Tarot cards, mixing some fun with word skills.
Identifying TAROTCARDS as a spangram helps link the theme words and efficiently solve puzzles.
Using hints, alongside intentional scanning for patterns, helps develop faster pattern recognition, vocabulary, and puzzle-solving skills.
Word puzzle enthusiasts got yet another new challenge with today's edition of the New York Times Strands. Combining features of word search with theme word lists, it is an enchanting mix of vocabulary-building, logic, and pattern recognition.
For Monday, September 15, the puzzle centered on a well-known mystical tool designed to stimulate both the skill and aptitude of players.
The theme for today was Tarot cards, a deck usually associated with fortune-telling, symbolism, and storytelling. The task was to find words related to the deck and the special spangram simultaneously.
A spangram in Strands stretches from side to side across the letter grid and ties in with the overall theme. While the theme words are just common nouns or concepts, the spangram can be a proper name.
Tarot deck is a mixture of major and minor arcana; names such as Fool, Devil, and Magician are sometimes seen as key identifiers in storytelling or popular culture. If players recognize these names, they may instantly spot them in the grid and find themselves closer to identifying the spangram.
To help solvers navigate the grid, hints for today’s words focus on their connection to Tarot. The NYT provides a theme-based hint, and an additional hint can offer clarity. Here’s a helpful guide:
Fool: 4 letters, starts with F. Often seen as the first card of the major arcana.
Devil: 5 letters, the first being D. Represents temptation or materialism.
Moon: 4 letters, begins with M. It is related to intuition and illusion.
Empress: 7 letters, the first being E. Nurturing and abundance.
Lovers: 6 letters, the first being L. Partnership and choices.
Magician: 8 letters, starts with the letter M. Actions, skills, and manifestation.
Spangram hint: For a fortune, or it’s in the cards.
These clues lead a solver toward individual words and, much more broadly, toward the spangram that ties into the theme.
Once the puzzle is solved, the words corresponding to today’s Tarot theme are:
Fool
Devil
Moon
Empress
Lovers
Magician
Star
Tarot Cards
These cards represent some of the more iconic and widely recognized figures in the Tarot deck.
The spangram for today is:
TAROTCARDS
The word links all the theme words together as a comprehensive explanation for the entire puzzle. Being a spangram, it literally spans the grid, tying the theme words visually and conceptually. Those who fail to identify this spangram quickly struggle to finish the puzzle efficiently.
Strands test both pattern recognition and vocabulary knowledge:
Firstly, working on the theme will help the players. Identifying the category and concept of the words that belong to it will help the players narrow the possibilities.
Scan systematically. Trace one row or column at a time to avoid missing any words hidden diagonally.
Use letter repetition. Common letters can indicate likely word placements.
Spot the spangram early. Once the theme is clear, look for a longer word or proper name spanning the grid.
Think about the word associations. Often associated with Tarot terms, there are their synonyms, or words or phrases linked to the theme.
Today's NYT Strands puzzle will challenge those who enjoy Tarot card knowledge while allowing vocabulary-building and logical thinking processes to unfold.
With a bit of practice, one strengthens one's ability to recognize words and formulate strategies to solve puzzles, thus turning each daily edition into a rehabilitative exercise for the brain.
Whether tackling themes from culture, history, or language, Strands continues to engage a wide range of players with clever wordplay and thematic twists.
