NYT Strands today: Check theme, hints, and Spangram for February 19, 2025

NYT Strands

If today’s Strands puzzle had you completely stumped, you’re not alone. This one was tricky, and even after solving it, some players were left wondering what exactly they had just figured out. The New York Times’ latest word game is designed to challenge even the best puzzle solvers, and today’s round was no exception.

What Is Strands?

Strands is a fresh take on the classic word search, but with a twist. It’s currently in beta, meaning it’ll stick around only if enough players enjoy it daily. Unlike a regular word search where you find random words, Strands requires you to identify words that share a common theme. You’ll get a hint to guide you, and as you find the theme words, they turn blue.

But there’s one more catch—every puzzle contains a special word called a spangram. This word connects two opposite sides of the grid and reveals what all the theme words have in common. The theme words are never proper names, but the spangram can be. Once found, it stays highlighted in yellow.

Sounds simple, right? Well, not always. Some themes follow a pattern, like steps in a process, synonyms, or fill-in-the-blank phrases. Others, however, can throw players for a loop. Today’s puzzle was one of those.

Today’s Strands Hint and Answer

The official New York Times hint was “Pick your own prefix”, which wasn’t exactly the most helpful clue—at least not until after you solved it. To make things a little easier, the real hint should have been “You eat them.”

Even with that, this puzzle wasn’t easy. The spangram, which many struggled to find, was BERRIES. Once that clicked, the theme words finally made sense:

RASP
STRAW
GOLDEN
BLUE
SALMON
HUCKLE
ELDER
BLACK

A Confusing Yet Satisfying Challenge

At first glance, words like RASP, HUCKLE, and GOLDEN didn’t immediately form a clear pattern. Some players even doubted whether a salmonberry was real (spoiler: it is). But once “berries” became the clear theme, everything fell into place.

While today’s puzzle was a head-scratcher, it’s exactly this level of challenge that makes Strands so fun. If you didn’t get it today, don’t worry—there’s always another puzzle tomorrow!