The New York Times’ Strands puzzle for February 5, #704, challenges players to identify hidden words within a grid, all fitting a specific theme. If you’re stuck, here’s a breakdown of the solution, including hints and the spangram.
Theme and Hints
Today’s theme is “Quint-essential” – meaning related to the number five. The puzzle’s difficulty lies in unscrambling the connections; the hint, “Not four, or six,” directly points to this numerical theme.
To unlock in-game hints, find any words of four or more letters. The game reveals theme words after three qualifying words are discovered. Examples of words that work include: DAYS, GIVE, WOVE, LOVE, DOGS, SCONE, GEEK, LODE, SIEGE, SLEW, HENS.
Solutions
The non-spangram answers for today’s puzzle are:
- TOES
- OCEANS
- SENSES
- VOWELS
- BOROUGHS
- WEEKDAYS
The spangram, the word that runs across the entire grid, is GIVEMEFIVE. Start at the “G” three letters to the right on the top row and trace downward to find the full word.
Challenging Past Puzzles
Some Strands themes have proven particularly difficult for players. Examples include “Dated slang” (with “PHAT” as the toughest word) and “Thar she blows!” (where “BALEEN” or “RIGHT” were the most challenging terms).
Strands requires both word recognition and thematic understanding, making it a unique daily challenge among the New York Times Games suite.
