If you are feeling stuck on today’s New York Times Strands puzzle, you aren’t alone. While the theme might be easy to grasp, the specific word arrangements can prove quite challenging to unscramble.
This guide provides the necessary hints and answers to help you progress through puzzle #774 without spoiling the entire experience immediately.
Today’s Theme and Clues
The theme for April 16 is: “This is not working.”
At first glance, this might seem contradictory or confusing. However, the key to unlocking the puzzle lies in a secondary clue: Leisure time. The theme uses a play on words, suggesting that these activities are things people do when they are not working.
How to use in-game hints
If you are struggling to find the theme words, remember that Strands offers a built-in hint system. By finding any three words consisting of four letters or more, the game will reveal one of the primary theme words.
If you need to trigger these hints, look for common words such as:
– STEM, MAPS, TEES, RIFF, FEAR, FEAT, RATIO, or REST.
Puzzle Answers
To complete the puzzle, you must find all the themed words and the Spangram (the word that connects one side of the grid to the other).
Theme Words
These words all relate to leisure and activities done outside of work:
– HOBBY
– PASTIME
– INTEREST
– SIDELINE
– RECREATION
The Spangram
The Spangram for today is: JUSTFORFUN
Note: To find this on the grid, look for the ‘J’ located on the far left of the top row, then follow the path winding down and back up.
Pro-Tips for Solving Strands
To improve your efficiency in future puzzles, keep these three strategies in mind:
- Word Variation: If you find a word, try adding an “S” to the end or looking for near-neighbors (e.g., if you find WILL, check if the surrounding letters can form SILL or BILL ).
- Thematic Connection: Once a single theme word is revealed, scan the remaining board specifically for words that share that same semantic category.
- The Hint Trigger: If you are close to a word but cannot unscramble it, focus on finding three unrelated four-letter words to force the game to highlight the letters of the theme word for you.
Summary: Today’s puzzle centers on the concept of leisure; use the Spangram JUSTFORFUN to bridge the board and complete the set of hobby-related terms.
