Daily New York Times unveils cryptic hints and solution for crossword puzzle on May 9, 2025.
Ready to crack the code on today's Strands puzzle? You've come to the right place! If you want to bookmark this page for easy access to our daily hints, go for it! And if you missed a previous puzzle, you can always check out our past hints as well.
We'll be serving up some hints to help you solve today's enigmatic Strands puzzle, based on the theme "Outsiders." Without further ado, let's dive in!
Sneaky hints for today's Strands answers
Think about the gear you'd need for an extended outdoor adventure.
Decrypting the spangram in today's Strands puzzle
It's the equipment you might find at REI, Patagonia, or Summit Hut.
Brief hint for the theme words in today's Strands puzzle
Pick up the items you'd bring on a multiple-day hike.
Spoiler Alert! Strands puzzle answers revealed!
Here's what you've been waiting for—the answers to today's Strands puzzle.
What is the spangram in today's Strands?
Today's spangram is CAMPING GEAR.
What are the theme words in today's Strands?
- TENT
- BACKPACK
- COOLER
- LANTERN
- GRILL
- THERMOS
Here's what the board looks like when the puzzle is all wrapped up:
How I cracked this tough nut
This theme is a bit on the vague side. Perhaps this connects to some animals or other outdoor dwellers?
I found the word BACKPACK on the top right, that's a hit for sure! 🔵
- COLGATE* didn't pan out, surprising no one.
- TINT and TIME aren't theme words. But wait, what's TENT? 🔵 Time to focus on hiking and the great outdoors instead of The Outsiders*.
There's a GRILL in the center. 🔵
CAMPING GEAR is forming the shape of a tent in the spangram. 🟡
THERMOS is smack in the middle, inside the tent. 🔵
COOLER is hiding in the bottom left corner. 🔵
Last, but not least, there's a LANTERN. 🔵
The lowdown on how to play Strands
Find the Strands game on the New York Times website or in the NYT Games app.
When you start playing, you'll encounter a game board with a jumble of letters and a clue hinting at the board's theme (e.g., "Better with age"). Your mission is to unearth the hidden words on the board that align with the puzzle's theme.
A crossword meets a word search
The primary word to locate is the "spangram," which clearly defines the puzzle's theme. For instance, for a puzzle with a "Better with age" theme, the spangram is "FERMENTED". The spangram spans the entire game board, either from left to right or top to bottom. When you locate the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Cracking the spangram usually sets the stage for an easyish puzzle solve.
In Strands, words can travel any direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonal), and you'll only use each letter once. There is only one correct solution. When you've correctly identified one of the puzzle's words (e.g., KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.
If you're struggling, feel free to submit any non-theme words you spot (as long as they're four letters or more) for a hint. If you submit three non-theme words, the "Hint" button will become active; if you click it, all the letters in one of the theme words will be highlighted for you. You'll still have to link the highlighted letters in the appropriate order to create a single theme word. If a clue is already on the board and you use another hint before solving for that word, the word's letter order will be revealed.
Ready to win Strands?
Unlike Connections and Wordle, you can't fail at Strands. When you submit guesses, you'll either discover an answer, earn credit towards a hint, or see the screen shake back and forth, indicating that your word is too short or invalid. You won't run out of guesses, and there's no time limit.
You'll emerge victorious once you've correctly used all the letters on the board, meaning you've found the spangram and all the theme words. When you solve the puzzle, you'll see a sharable card showcasing how you fared that day: blue dots indicate theme words you discovered, a yellow dot indicates when you nabbed the spangram, and a lightbulb indicates words that you received a hint for.
Discover the equipment needed for a multi-day hike to solve today's Strands puzzle based on "Outsiders." The theme words in this puzzle are directly related to gear used for outdoor-living, such as a tent, backpack, cooler, lantern, and grill.
Think of the items you might find at camping stores like REI, Patagonia, or Summit Hut to crack today's Strands puzzle.
