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 and Connections puzzles.
Raise a glass to today’s Strands puzzle — unless you’re participating in Dry January, of course. Whether you are or not, once you figure out the theme, you’ll likely be spotting the hidden words even without too many clues. However, if you need hints and answers, read on.
Also, I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
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Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Bar association
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Cheers!
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:
- PATS, STAT, TING, TINGE, SAIL, SAILS, SIDE, SIDES, CAMS, STING, RAMS, TAMS
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 originally 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:
- COSMOPOLITAN, MARTINI, ZOMBIE, SIDECAR, STINGER
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is COCKTAILS. To find it, start with the C that’s four letters over from the left on the top row and wind down.
The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 16, 2025.
Read the full article here