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.
Todays NYT Strands puzzle might be tricky. The words all relate to each other, and maybe to the NCAA tournament and baseball games going on, but not all of the words are easy to find. One of them, especially, is more a slang word than one I think of as an actual word, and it was tough to unscramble. (Hint: It describes three championships in a row by the same team.) If you need hints and answers, read on.
I go in-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 ‘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: In it to win it.
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Let’s go, team!
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:
- BACK, BACKS, MACE, MACK, MACKS, SLAT, SLATE, TAPE, REGS, WEEP, WEEPS, MOCK, MOCKS, MAKE, COME, GAME, NAPS.
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 reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I initially 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:
- ROUT, RALLY, SWEEP, UPSET, COMEBACK, THREEPEAT
Today’s Strands spangram
The completed NYT Strands puzzle for April 5, 2025, #398.
Today’s Strands spangram is GAMECHANGERS. To find it, start with the G that’s five letters down on the far left, and wind across.
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
