Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a very decorative, elegant, sumptuous and special puzzle. Does that hint push you in the right direction? If you need more hints and the answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Well, fancy that!
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Think about the crown jewels.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- RULE, SLUR, SHOO, SHAVE, STERLING, SANG, SLOG, LOON, LONG, TANG, HEART, ZANY, NANNY, HAVE, SEAR, GAVE, VASE.
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that runs from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- GAUDY, DELUXE, LAVISH, ORNATE, SNAZZY, EXTRAVAGANT
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is OOHSHINY. To find it, start with the O that’s four letters to the right on the top row and go straight down! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a spangram that followed a completely straight line before!
Toughest Strands puzzles
Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.
#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.
#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.
#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK
