The New York Times’ Strands puzzle for April 12 challenges players to uncover themed words hidden in a letter grid — with a twist. Unlike traditional word searches, Strands allows words to bend and turn in any direction, including diagonals, making it trickier to solve. Every letter on the board is used, and all words are tied to a central theme.
Players are also tasked with identifying a special “spangram” — a word or phrase that reflects the puzzle’s theme and stretches across the entire grid, either horizontally or vertically.
Today’s theme hint
The clue for April 12 is: “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
What the theme means
This puzzle is all about dirty words — not in a slang sense, but literally. Think of adjectives and terms you’d use to describe something messy, unclean, or soiled.
Spangram orientation hint
The spangram for today runs horizontally across the grid.
Spangram for April 12
The correct spangram is: DirtyWords
Full NYT Strands word list for April 12
Filthy
Grimy
Unkempt
Muddy
Stained
Polluted
DirtyWords (spangram)
If you were struggling with this one, you’re not alone — the theme’s double meaning could easily throw players off track. But once you focus on words describing literal dirtiness, it all begins to click.
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