Strands just launched yesterday, so right now it’s possible for you to play puzzle #2 today.
How do you play Strands?
But if you want a sense of what youre getting into, read on.
The Strands board is a 6x8 grid of letters, and it looks like a small word search.
Unlike a word search:
There is no word bank to tell you which words youre searching for.
The words can twist and turn in any direction, including diagonally (like in the game Boggle).
Every letter on the board is part of a word.
When youve found them all, the words will fully pack the grid.
What counts as a legal word in Strands?
Here are some things youll need to know.
The minimum length of a word is four letters.
There wont be any three-letter words.
Yep, diagonals are legal!
The letters wont (usually) be in a straight line.
Expect plenty of twists and turns.
That last point doesnt rule out repeated letters.
(Contrast that with Spelling Bee, where you might tap the same letter twice.)
How do the themes work in Strands?
For example, puzzle #1 was Mark my words.
There will always be a theme-related word that connects two opposite sides of the puzzle.
In #1, the word PUNCTUATION ran from top to bottom.
This special word is called the spangram.
(It will show up in yellow once you find it.
The other words show up in blue.)
How do I get hints in Strands?
I think the hint button is the cleverest part of Strands!
Instead of offering you a way to give up or cheat, hints are built into the game.
Heres how this works.
Three off-target words buy you one hint.
That dashed-circle highlight will stay on the board until you get that word.
Its fine to solve other words before you do the one the hint gave you.
But if you earnmorehints, they wont be accessible until you solve the hinted word.
How many mistakes do I get in Strands?
Thats the other cool thingmistakes dont count against you!
If you misspell a word as youre highlighting it, no harm no foul.
If you spell out a dictionary word that isnt part of the theme, you start earning hints.
What do the emojis mean in Strands?
When you solve the puzzle, youll get one of those little emoji recaps of the game.
It tells you the order in which you solved the words.
There are three different icons:
Blue means you found a regular word.
Yellow means you found the spangram.
A lightbulb means you used a hint.
First: know what youre dealing with.
Besides revealing the theme, the spangram also splits the board into two smaller playing fields.
Anytime you find a word, ask yourself how this might relate to the puzzles title.
With todays (#2) puzzle, the title mentions a she.
My first thought was Taylor Swift, but I couldn’t see any other words related to her.
As soon as I gotthat, the theme was as good as solved.
Dont be afraid to make wrong guesses to earn hints.
Im excited to see where Strands goes from here.
