If youre looking for hints and answers for Strands for Monday, May 26, 2025, read onIll share some clues and tips, and finally the solution to the puzzle with the theme Body language.

For an easy way to come back to our Strands hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, Ill give you some oblique hints at todays Strands answers. And farther down the page, Ill reveal the spangram and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Credit: Strands/NYT Hint for the spangram in todays Strands puzzleA word for the kinds of communicative movements one might do with their hands.

Hint for the theme words in todays Strands puzzleSpecific examples of actions one can do with their hands, shoulders, and full body. (Some of these are tricky and not super common!)

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for todays Strands puzzle!Were about to give away the answers to todays Strands puzzle.

What is the spangram in todays Strands?Todays spangram is GESTURES.

What are the theme words in todays Strands?The theme words today are: HANDSHAKE, CURTSEY, KOWTOW, SALUTE, SHRUG, NAMASTE.

Heres what the board looks like when the puzzle is solved:

Credit: Strands/NYT How I solved todays StrandsIm not sure exactly what to look for yetbody parts used to communicate? Things one can communicate with their bodies? Lets see.

STYE, SHUCK, SHAKE, HACK, TRACK, STARES, STEW, CARTS, and SHUN are non-theme words.

Oh, but I can add HAND onto SHAKE for HANDSHAKE.

Now I see the spangram across the center: GESTURES.

SHRUG is in the bottom right.

What the heck else is there? Wave? Shimmy? Elbow?

Oh, theres SALUTE in the bottom left.

It takes me a while to figure out whats in the middle bottom area, but its NAMASTE. (I suppose that refers to the gesture of putting your palms together and bowing slightly?)

What do you think so far? This upper right corner is really frustrating me.

Oh, CURTSEY? Yes!

Lastly, KOWTOW. I know that word, but what does it mean? Ah, its the word for bowing on your knees such that your forehead touches the ground.

This was an unexpectedly hard one, or maybe I just need more coffee.

Strands #449 Body language How to play StrandsYou can find the Strands game on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app.

When you start playing, youll see a game board with an assortment of letters, flanked by a clue that gives a hint at the boards themethis will be a phrase, like Better with age. Your job is to find the hidden words within the board that reflect the puzzles theme.

A crossword crossed with a word searchThe most important word to find is the spangram, a word that more explicitly states the puzzles theme. (For example, the spangram for the puzzle with the theme "Better with age" is FERMENTED, which describes products that are, you guessed it, better with age.) The spangram will span the entire game board, either from left to right or top to bottom (hence the name). When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Solving the spangram usually makes the rest of the puzzle much easier to complete.

In Strands, words can travel any direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonal), and you will only use each letter once. There is only one correct solution. When you correctly identify one of the puzzles words (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.

If you are struggling to solve the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words you see (as long as they are four letters or more) to receive credit toward a single hint. If you submit three non-theme words, the Hint button will be clickable; if you click it, all of the letters in one of the theme words will be highlighted for you. You will still have to link these highlighted letters in the right order to form one of the theme words. If there is already a hint on the board and you use another hint before solving for that word, that words letter order will be revealed.

How to win StrandsUnlike Connections and Wordle, you cannot fail Strands. When you submit guesses, you will either correctly identify an answer, receive credit toward a hint, or the text will shake back and forth, indicating that the word you submitted is too short or not valid. You can't run out of guesses, and there is no time limit.

You win when youve correctly used all the letters on the board, meaning that you have identified the spangram and all of the theme words. Like other NYT games, upon solving the puzzle, you will see a shareable card that indicates how you performed that day: blue dots indicate theme words you found, the yellow dot indicates when you found the spangram, and a lightbulb indicates words that you received a hint for.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.