Strandsis a short daily word puzzle from the New York Times Games. It is a more challenging version of your average word search; you are not given any of the words or the theme. You only get one little clue, and sometimes that clue is pretty helpful, while other times it is not.
If thispuzzle gameis giving you a hard time, this guide is here to help. Below you can find spoilers for some of the words for today’s puzzle, spoiler-free hints to get you closer to the theme, the full answer to this puzzle, and more.
The NYT Games Strands Puzzle #238 June 12, 2025
TheStrandspuzzle for today has the clueBest of the Best. There are nine things to find in the grid, including the eight themed words and the Spangram category.
New York Times Games Strands Clues
If you are already familiar with therules of how to playStrands, you know that there is an in-game hint system. Unfortunately, it gives away entire words, so maybe you want something a little less spoilery to help you. In the sections below, you can find three hints for the theme that won’t contain any of the answers.
Hint 2: Pairs of words that go together.
General Hint 3
Hint 3: Pairs of words that go together to mean the best of the best.
Spoilers for Two of the Words in Today’s Strands
This section contains two spoilers for theStrandspuzzle for August 02, 2025. Open one up to peek at one of the two spoiled words with a screenshot of where each of the words goes in the grid.
Word 2: Crop
The Answer to Today’s New York Times Games Strands
The full answer to thisrelaxing puzzle gameis in the section below. Open it up to see all the themed words and a screenshot of a completed puzzle showing where all those themed words go.
The category for today isPerfectPair. The words are Cream and Crop, Life and Party, Pick and Litter, and Head and Class.
Today’s Strands Explained
For a full breakdown of thisminimalist puzzle game, open up the expandable section below. It holds an explanation of how all the words and the clue go together to make sense.
Best of the Bestis in reference to how all the pairs of words mean best of the best when put together. This makes them aPerfect Pairwhen put together.
Want to play? Check out theNew York Times GamesStrandswebsite, available on almost any device with a browser.
