NYT Strands Today: Decoding the ‘Board Certified’ Theme and Answers for Game #283

The New York Times‘ daily word game, Strands, has presented players with a challenging puzzle for game #283, themed as ‘Board certified’. This theme, while initially cryptic, reveals itself to be related to woodworking tools and techniques.

The puzzle includes seven themed words and a spangram that connects them all. The themed words are: Sander, Jigsaw, Chisel, Drill, Vise, Lathe, and Plane. These words are all tools commonly used in woodworking, which aligns with the ‘Board certified’ theme by indicating the tools used to work on wooden boards.

For those struggling, here are some hints: The first word is a power tool used for smoothing surfaces, starting with ‘S’ and ending with ‘R’ (Sander). Another word is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece to shape it, starting with ‘L’ and ending with ‘E’ (Lathe). The spangram, which is the overarching connection word, starts with ‘W’ and ends with ‘G’, and it is revealed to be ‘WOODWORKING’.

The spangram is positioned diagonally on the board, starting from the top and ending at the bottom-left corner. This diagonal placement helps players connect the various woodworking tools scattered throughout the grid.

Players have found this puzzle particularly challenging due to the initial ambiguity of the ‘Board certified’ theme, which could be misinterpreted as relating to business or organizational boards rather than woodworking tools.