Tuesday, March 25, 2025, was NYT Strands game #387. Its theme was “For starters,” and its spangram was APPETIZER. Read the hints below in order to avoid spoilers, or jump to the full answer list.
Theme clue
Forbes reported the puzzle’s theme clue as “For starters”. The secondary clue was “Love at first bite?”. These clue wordings are reported by Forbes, rather than verified here against an NYT page.
First-letter hints
The first letters of the seven answers, in Forbes’s reported order, are:
NA, WI, FO, AP, SL, CA, PO
Spangram
APPETIZER
Complete answer list
- NACHOS
- WINGS
- FONDUE
- SLIDERS
- CALAMARI
- POPPERS
Forbes and TechRadar independently report game #387 and agree on the spangram and all six remaining theme words. Forbes lists the answers in the order shown above, with APPETIZER between FONDUE and SLIDERS.
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How Strands works
Forbes describes Strands as a daily word-search puzzle played on a six-by-eight grid. You connect letters vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, and may change direction as you trace a word. Every letter belongs to a theme word or the spangram. The spangram expresses the connection among the answers and touches at least two sides of the board. Finding three valid non-theme words of at least four letters unlocks a hint that highlights the letters in one theme word.
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