New York Times’ Strands Puzzle Challenges Players with ‘Front Women’ Theme

The New York Times‘ Strands puzzle, currently in beta, has introduced a new challenge for word game enthusiasts with its ‘Front Women’ theme. Released on January 7, 2025, the puzzle tasks players with finding words that share a common theme, highlighted by a special word called a spangram.

Strands presents players with a six by eight grid of letters. The objective is to identify a group of words that fit a specific theme, guided by a clue. When a theme word is found, it remains highlighted in blue. The spangram, which links two opposite sides of the board, is highlighted in yellow and can be a proper name, unlike the theme words.

Players can connect letters vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, and switch directions mid-word. On touchscreen devices, double-tapping the last letter submits the guess. Finding three valid words of at least four letters that are not part of the theme unlocks the Hint button, which highlights the letters of a theme word.

The official hint for the January 7 puzzle was ‘Front women,’ with an additional hint provided: ‘Leading ______.’ The spangram for the day was ‘LADIES,’ found by starting with the ‘L’ four letters down on the far left and winding across the board.

Some of the theme words included ‘Lady Bunny,’ a famous drag queen, and ‘Lady Slipper,’ a type of orchid. These answers required players to think creatively and sometimes research unfamiliar terms. The puzzle’s difficulty varies daily, keeping players on their toes with themes ranging from synonyms to homophones.

Gael Cooper, a CNET editor and pop-culture expert, noted that while most of the answers were straightforward, some required additional research. ‘I do not know what Lady Bunny and Lady Slipper mean. So I looked them up,’ Cooper said. ‘But I guess that’s why I’m here with answers and clues.’

The Strands puzzle is part of The New York Times’ efforts to engage readers with interactive and challenging content. Its beta status means its future depends on daily player engagement. For those seeking hints and answers, resources like CNET provide daily updates and solutions.