The excellent word search game has been publicly available on NYT’s website since June 2024.
The New York Times seems to have another hit on its hands with Strand. The word search game officially launched in June 2024 and has already garnered quite a following. That following is expected to grow as the publisher has added the game to its NYT Games app on iOS and Android.
Strands joins NYT’s other popular games, including Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, and the NYT’s excellent crossword puzzle in both its mini and full configurations. The game’s inclusion in the NYT Games app has already happened. If you have the app installed, check the App Store or Google Play for an update or you can download the app fresh to check out Strands.
“Strands is currently our third most searched game, behind Wordle and Connections,” the paper said in its press release. “Even before joining the NYT Games app, Strands has grown to be nearly as popular as Spelling Bee, our other word game.”
The paper commented on its high completion percentage as well, stating that 83% of players find the Spanogram—the theme word hidden within the puzzle—each day and the completion rate is around 81%. That puts it on par with Mini Crossword and Tiles.
Game Introduction
The game was first introduced in March 2024 in beta where it stayed until its launch in June. So far, it’s been a rousing success for the US publisher, even if some folks have criticized its occasional Gen-Z slang from time to time. Like several other games before it, Strands was created from the NYT’s annual Game Jam event where people pitch game ideas. Once Strands was chosen, the publisher developed with the help of the publisher’s puzzle creators.
How do you play Strands?
For the uninitiated, Strands is a lot like the classic word search game where you find words in a jumble of letters. There are two primary differences with Strands. The first is that each word in the scramble has a theme and one of those words is the theme itself. So, for example, one of today’s Strands themes was “gnaw-it-alls.” Within the puzzle was the word “rodent,” which acted as the theme word for the puzzle. From there, the goal is to find all of the rodent-themed words.
The other big difference is that you use every letter on the board. There are no dead letters and letters don’t repeat, so each letter is part of one of the words. If you happen to find a word that isn’t on the theme list, you’ll earn progress on a hint bar that shows you where one of the words is. The puzzle concludes once every word has been found.
For a few months, the game has only been available on NYT’s website. The website does work on mobile but it’s a lot cleaner and better on the Games app. Once you finish your game, you can also check out your various stats such as how many hints you needed to find everything.
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