For Thursday, April 3, 2025, NYT Strands puzzle #396 has the theme “Get the bug.” Start with the clues below if you want to solve it yourself; the complete word list appears after a spoiler warning.
Hints for Strands #396
This is the puzzle dated Thursday, April 3, 2025—not another April 3 puzzle from a different year. A new Strands puzzle appears at midnight in each time zone, so the date a player sees can depend on location. TechRadar’s April 2, 2025 guide identifies this as game #396.
Theme hint
The theme is “Get the bug.” Think of familiar words that include the names of insects.
Clue words
Use these six words to uncover the themed answers: THAN, DOLE, SOAP, TOOL, SNAP, LADS.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Spangram hint
The 10-letter spangram is ENTOMOLOGY. It crosses the board from the left edge at row 4 to the right edge at row 3.
Full answers for Thursday, April 3
Spoilers below: the complete solution is listed here.
- LADY
- STINK
- DOODLE
- LIGHTNING
- POTATO
- ASSASSIN
- Spangram: ENTOMOLOGY
The wordplay links the insect names lady, stink, doodle, lightning, potato, and assassin to the longer answers.
Quick Recap
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