NYT Strands puzzle #319 for Thursday, January 16, 2025, uses the theme clue “Bar association.” Read it as a reference to drinks served at a bar, not a group of lawyers. Start with the hints below and stop before the spoiler section if you want to solve the board yourself.
Hints for January 16, 2025
- Theme clue: “Bar association.”
- Gentle nudge: Think of mixed drinks you might order at a bar.
- Words that earn in-game hints: RICE, TRACK, CORE, MILK, TASTE, CART.
- Spangram clue: “Mixed beverages.”
In Strands, Parade reports that every three non-theme words found earn an in-game hint. Hints reveal letters of a theme word; if a hint is already active, it can show the letters in their correct order. Parade’s January 16 guide prints the game instruction: “For every 3 non-theme words you find, you earn a hint.”
Spoiler: the spangram and theme words
The spangram is COCKTAILS. It describes the puzzle’s theme and, as Parade explains, a spangram touches two opposite sides of the board.
- ZOMBIE
- SIDECAR
- MARTINI
- STINGER
- COSMOPOLITAN
TechRadar reports that COCKTAILS starts at the top of the board in the fourth column and ends at the bottom in the first column. The board-position detail is from TechRadar’s January 16 guide.
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How the answer was corroborated
The date, puzzle number, theme, spangram, and solution list are consistent across guides from TechRadar, Parade, and Try Hard Guides. The solution list was cross-checked across these secondary sources; an official archived NYT answer page was not identified. TechRadar says Strands is playable through the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
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