NYT Strands puzzle #471, dated June 17, 2025, has the theme “Make it work.” The spangram is FIGURE OUT. If you want to solve it yourself first, start with the hints below; the complete answer list follows.
Hints for Strands #471
- Theme clue: “Make it work.”
- Extra nudge: Find a solution.
- First-letter clues: FI, FI, CO, FI, NE, EN. The spangram is included in that set.
- Spangram clue: It has nine letters, ignoring the space, and its path runs from the left side of row four to the right side of row five, according to TechRadar’s June 16, 2025 guide.
Today’s Strands answers
The spangram and five theme words are:
- Spangram: FIGURE OUT
- FINAGLE
- FINESSE
- CONTRIVE
- NEGOTIATE
- ENGINEER
These answers are corroborated by dated guides from Try Hard Guides, TechRadar, Forbes, Parade, and The Times of India.
How Strands hints work
Strands is a daily word-search-style game on the New York Times website and NYT Games app. Its board has six rows and eight columns. Connect adjacent letters horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to find words related to the theme. The spangram expresses the connection among the theme words and touches at least two sides of the board.
Finding three valid non-theme words of at least four letters earns an in-game hint, which highlights the letters of a theme word. Forbes’s June 16, 2025 guide gives the additional theme nudge “Find a solution” and the first-letter sequence above.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsAbout this archived puzzle
This is puzzle #471 for June 17, 2025, not a current-day Strands answer. TechRadar rated the puzzle “Hard” and reported that its writer used two hints; that is one writer’s subjective experience, not a general difficulty rating. The answer guides agree on the solution, but exact board-cell coordinates beyond the reported spangram endpoints are not established here.
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