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The August 15, 2025, NYT Strands theme is “Labor intensive.” If you want a nudge before seeing the solution, start with the hints below; the full list of theme words and the spangram follows.
Hints for Strands on August 15, 2025
- Theme: Think of regular household jobs.
- Initials: The theme words begin D, G, G, L and V. The spangram begins with W.
- Stronger clue: The answers include cleaning dishes, taking out garbage, shopping for groceries, washing clothes and vacuuming floors.
Today’s Strands answers
The theme is “Labor intensive.” The five theme words are DISHES, GARBAGE, GROCERIES, LAUNDRY and VACUUMING. The spangram is WHATACHORE, read as “What a chore.” These answers are listed in the [Strands Unlimited August 15 archive] and corroborated by Parade and Try Hard Guides.
How the clues fit the puzzle
Each theme word names a household task. Together, the five answers point to the work implied by “Labor intensive”; the spangram, WHATACHORE, sums up the theme. Strands Unlimited describes the spangram as crossing opposite edges of the 6-by-8 board. Its archive reports that the complete solution uses all 48 letters.
In the rules attributed to The New York Times by Parade, theme words fill the board without overlapping, the spangram describes the theme and touches two opposite sides, and non-theme words can help earn hints. Parade quotes the rule: “For every three non-theme words you find, you earn a hint.”
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Why the date is a better puzzle identifier
Answer pages disagree about the puzzle number: Parade and Try Hard Guides call this #530, while Strands Unlimited labels it #224 in its archive. Use the date and theme to identify the puzzle rather than relying on a number. One Parade answer-list entry misspells VACUUMING as “VACCUMING”; VACUUMING is the spelling reported by Strands Unlimited and Try Hard Guides.
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