Today's Strands puzzle delivers another tricky word-hunting challenge. The task seems simple: find all the themed words while using each letter just once. However, that single cryptic clue you are given can leave even long-time fans scratching their heads.

When you're stuck staring at those letters without any words jumping out, this guide offers all the assistance you require. There are general clues to the overall theme of the puzzle, individual word spoilers, and even the full answer if that's what you need to get through this one.

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How to Play the New York Times Games Strands

Strands is a short daily word game that pits you against a grid of seemingly random letters that contains a whole bunch of related words.

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The NYT Games Strands What a Softie #416 April 23, 2025

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The Strands puzzle for today has the clue What a Softie. It has six things to find: the Spangram and five themed words.

NYT Strands Spangram Tips and Theme Hints

If you are looking for assistance but aren't interested in using the in-game hints that give away whole words, you can find help below. Each of the three sections contains a little hint about the theme for this browser-based game with no spoilers in sight.

General Spangram Hint 1

General Spangram Hint 2

General Spangram Hint 3

Spoilers for Today's New York Times Strands

If a spoiler is what you need for this New York Times Games puzzle, but you don't want to use the in-game hints, these two sections below are for you. Each has just one non-Spangram answer along with a screenshot to show you where it goes in the letter grid.

Spoiler 1

Spoiler 2

The Answer to the NYT What a Softie Strands

Want the answer to this mind-boggling puzzle game? Inside the section below is a full breakdown of all the words and where each of those answers belongs inside the letter grid.

Today's Strands Explained

A complete breakdown of what the clue means and how it relates to the theme of this innovative puzzle game can be found below. Check out this explanation by pressing the "Read More" button below and looking inside.

Want to play? Check out the New York Times Games Strands website, available on almost any device with a browser.

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strands game

Strands
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Puzzle
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Released
March 4, 2024
Developer(s)
The New York Times Company
Publisher(s)
The New York Times Company
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Genre(s)
Puzzle