NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
(Image credit: New York Times)
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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, April 3 (game #396).
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 #397) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Step on it!
NYT Strands today (game #397) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
MEAT
WOOD
TIRE
REAL
WHALE
MATE
NYT Strands today (game #397) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 8 letters
NYT Strands today (game #396) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: right, 7th row
Last side: left, 7th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #397) - the answers
NYT Strands answers for game 397 on a blue background
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Strands, game #397, are…
CONCRETE
HARDWOOD
LINOLEUM
LAMINATE
TERRAZZO
SPANGRAM: FLOORING
My rating: Moderate
My score: 2 hints
The beauty of Strands is that it gets you thinking about things you wouldn’t normally think about, like today’s search for FLOORING.
There’s a town not far from where I live in London called Staines – they’ve rebranded as Staines-on-Thames because a) they think it sounds more classy than Staines and b) Sacha Baron Cohen based his character Ali G in the town and it’s not something they’re proud of.
What they are proud of, though, is that LINOLEUM made in Staines was once world-famous and was exported around the globe. What Carrara in southern Tuscanny is to marble, Staines in northwest Surrey is to solidified linseed oil. There is a beautiful statue in the city center of two men carrying a roll. A very rare example, in the UK at least, of a statue that honors working people instead of some major on a horse.
Despite my deep love for lino – and indeed CONCRETE (something my father used to tell me my head was made from) – I struggled with today’s search and needed a couple of hints to get me going. You could say I was floored.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, 3 April, game #396)
LADY
STINK
DOODLE
LIGHTNING
POTATO
ASSASSIN
SPANGRAM: ENTOMOLOGY
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.
Contributor
Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.
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