You know that one island chain everyone pretends they aren’t obsessed with? Today’s New York Times Strands puzzle.
If you need help with Wordle, Connections, or the Mini Crossword, skip ahead. This isn’t about those. But if you are stuck on today’s grid, read on.
The theme? I love Hawaii.
Doesn’t ring a bell? Think “50th state.”
It’s fun, mostly. Unless you hate unscrambling words. Which you might, since some of these answers are tricky to spot.
Find any three words of four or more letters and the game unlocks a hint for the actual theme words.
That’s how the hint system works. Don’t overthink it. Just grab whatever you see.
I found these useful starters:
- RITE
- MEAL
- DEAN
- DEAL
- LEAD
- LONE
- PONE
- SPIRIT
You don’t need these exact words. Just three words. Four letters long. That’s the deal.
The Answers
The goal is simple. Find every word that fits the theme. And the spangram.
That’s the big one. It stretches from one side of the board to the other. Using every letter counts. Always has to.
Here is the non-spangram list. These are the bits and pieces you’ll be hunting:
HULA, LUAU, POke, UKULELE, MACadamIA, PINEAPPLE.
Wait, is it poke? Or PoKe? Doesn’t matter. You know the dish.
The Spangram
The main event is ALOHA SPIRIT.
Finding it requires some mental gymnastics. Start at the very bottom left. That ‘A’. Work your way up and over the grid.
It’s satisfying when it clicks.
Hardest Strands Yet
Some days are worse than others.
Number one hardest topic? Dated slang.
Who uses that anymore? Maybe the lingo wasn’t cool to you anyway. The hardest word was PHAT.
Number two?
Marine biology. Or a whaling documentary.
“Thar she blows.”
The hardest words?
BALEEN or RIGHT.
Depends on if you’re looking at a whale or a moral compass.
So there you go. Your weekend read is over. Or has it just begun?
