Today's New York Times Puzzle Solutions and Clues for Sunday, September 8, 2024 (Paraphrased)
If you're seeking clues and solutions for Strands on September 8, 2024, with the theme "A royal shade", keep scrolling. I'll provide some hints, the spangram, and eventually, the puzzle solution.
To easily save this page for daily hints and solutions, bookmark it. You can also find previous Strands puzzles here if you're interested in catching up on what you missed.
Below, you'll find some indirect hints for today's Strands answers. Later, you'll uncover the spangram, the theme words, and the final solution. Proceed at your own pace and only review the hints you need.
Hint for the spangram in today's Strands puzzle:A plural word related to a color that historically symbolizes royalty. This term occurs in the title of a renowned musical that recently had an Oscar-nominated film adaptation. (For further assistance, read this article.)
Hint for the theme words in today's Strands puzzle:These are all shades or variations of the color described in the spangram.
Please be aware: Spoilers await for today's Strands puzzle!
We are disclosing the answers to today's Strands puzzle now.
What is the spangram in today's Strands?
The spangram for today's Strands is PURPLES.
What are the theme words in today's Strands?
The theme words for today's Strands are: LAVENDER, PLUM, ORCHID, MAGENTA, LILAC, MAUVE, VIOLET.
Here's what the completed puzzle looks like:
Source: Strands/NYT
Solving today's Strands
The initial thought that comes to mind when reading "A royal shade" is the color purple, a hue that was primarily reserved for royalty when purple dye was rare and difficult to obtain long ago. As a result, we might be on the lookout for various shades of purple.
Yes, LAVENDER pops up. 🔵
PLUM fits into the space formed by LAVENDER. 🔵
Credit: Strands/NYT
The spangram is located beneath, as shown: PURPLES. 🟡
ORCHID fits into the space on the right created by the spangram. 🔵
MAGENTA is positioned below the spangram. 🔵 (Though I tend to see this as a shade of pink, it's still a valid purple shade.)
LILAC is placed below MAGENTA. 🔵
MAUVE occupies the bottom right corner. 🔵
Last but not least, VIOLET is in its place. 🔵
How to play Strands
Head to the New York Times website or use the NYT Games app to access the Strands game.
Upon starting, you'll see a game board with assorted letters. A clue indicating the puzzle's theme will be provided. Your mission is to locate the hidden words within the board that correspond to the puzzle's theme.
Strands: A mix of a crossword and word search
The most critical word to find is the "spangram," which directly showcases the puzzle's theme. (For instance, for a puzzle with the theme "Better with age," the spangram is FERMENTED.) The spangram will span the entire board, either horizontally or vertically (hence the name). When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Solving the spangram generally streamlines the puzzle's completion.
In Strands, words can travel in various directions (up, down, left, right, and diagonally), and you will only use each letter once. There is only one correct solution. When you correctly identify one of the puzzle's words (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.
If you're struggling to solve the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words (as long as they have four letters or more) to receive clues. If you submit three non-theme words, the "Hint" button becomes accessible. Clicking the "Hint" button will highlight some of the letters in one of the theme words, although you'll still need to connect those highlighted letters in the correct order to form the theme word. If there's already a hint available and you submit another hint before solving for that word, the word's letter order will be revealed.
Winning Strands
Unlike Connections and Wordle, you cannot fail Strands. When submitting guesses, you will either correctly identify an answer, receive credit towards a hint, or the text will sway from side to side, indicating that the word you submitted is too short or incorrect. You cannot exhaust your attempts or face a time constraint.
You win when you've correctly used all the letters on the board, meaning you've identified the spangram and all the theme words. Just like other NYT games, once you've successfully solved a puzzle, you'll be presented with a shareable card showcasing your performance for the day: blue dots 🔵 indicate theme words you found, the yellow dot 🟡 indicates when you found the spangram, and a lightbulb 💡 shows words you received a hint for.
Credit: Strands/NYT
After discovering the theme words, you might want to engage in some purple-themed entertainment. Perhaps rewatching the film adaptation of the musical with the color associated with royalty could be enjoyable.
Furthermore, the term 'purples' used in the spangram can also be found in various forms of entertainment, such as movies, music, or art, where it represents luxury and royalty.
){kind=link}