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When I saw today’s topic Strands puzzle, which concerns “literary couples”, I thought it would be the names of married writers, like F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. (Hey, New York Times Games editors, free future topic idea!) Spoiler: it’s not. Don’t think of “literary couples” as people, but as paired words in the titles of their books. If you need advice and answers, keep reading.
I also examine in depth the rules for strands in this story.
If you are looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s New York Times Puzzle Tips Page.
Learn more: NYT Connections Celebrates Its First Anniversary: These Are the 5 Hardest Puzzles Yet
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Literary couples
If that doesn’t help, here’s a hint: like War and Peace, or Sense and Sensibility.
Clue words to unlock clues in the game
Your goal is to find hidden words that match the theme of the puzzle. If you’re stuck, find all the words you can. Every time you find three words of four or more letters, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. Here are the words I used to get these clues, but any words of four letters or more that you find will work:
- SITE, LOCATED, SLOT, BOOM, WEDGE, SHINING, TILE, ATTACHED, TIRED, DICE
Answers to today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that are related to the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that extends from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have them all (initially I thought there were always eight, but I learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the non-spangram responses:
- SOUND, FURY, CRIME, PUNISHMENT, PRIDE, PREJUDICE
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is BOOK TITLES. To find it, start with the B which is five letters down in the leftmost column, then go up and around.
The NYT Strands puzzle completed by January 4, 2025.
