If you need clues and solutions for the August 21, 2025, Strands puzzle, keep reading. I’ll provide some hints and tips, and ultimately reveal the answer to the “Marvel-ous and then some” themed puzzle.
To easily access our Strands clues on a daily basis,bookmark this page. You can also check out our previous clues on that page if you’re curious about hints you might have missed in earlier puzzles. (If you playWordle, Connections, or Quordle, and don’t forget to explore our tips for those games as well.)
I’m about to provide some subtle clues for today’s Strands puzzle solutions. Further down the page, I’ll disclose the spangram and the complete answers. Proceed gradually and only use the hints you require!
Clue for the special word in today’s Strands game.
A word blending two elements that relates to the colossal Marvel empire of comics, films, television, and more.
A clue to help you find the themed words in today’s Strands game.
Those who don costumes, with or without capes.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for today’s Strands puzzle!
We’re just moments away from revealing the solutions to today’s Strands puzzle.
What’s the spangram for today’s game of Strands?
Today’s spangram is SUPERHEROES.
What are the key terms for today’s Strands puzzle?
Today’s keywords are: STORM, ROGUE, HULK, THING, WOLVERINE, DAREDEVIL.
Here’s what the board looks like when the puzzle is solved:
My approach to cracking today’s Strands puzzle.
I think today might feature characters from Marvel comics.
Yep, there’s WOLVERINE in the upper right. 🔵
That forms a gap for the word SUPER, which is probably the start of the spangram. Yeah, there’s SUPERHEROES, which forms a nice S shape reminiscent of Superman (who is a DC hero, not Marvel, but who cares). 🟡
STORM is in the upper left. 🔵
ROGUE (my favorite from the old X-Men cartoon) is below STORM. 🔵
HULK is in the bottom left. 🔵
I thought this last word on the left half was NIGHT (not something I recognized), but it’s actually THING, from the Fantastic Four. That makes more sense. 🔵
Lastly, DAREDEVIL. 🔵
How to play Strands
You can find the Strands game on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app.
When you start playing, you’ll see a game board with an assortment of letters, flanked by a clue that gives a hint at the board’s theme—this will be a phrase, like “Better with age.” Your job is to find the hidden words within the board that reflect the puzzle’s theme.
A crossword crossed with a word search
The most important word to find is the “spangram,” a word that more explicitly states the puzzle’s theme. (For example, the spangram for the puzzle with the theme “Better with age” is FERMENTED, which describes products that are, you guessed it, better with age.) The spangram will span the entire game board, either from left to right or top to bottom (hence the name). When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Solving the spangram usually makes the rest of the puzzle much easier to complete.
In Strands, words can travel any direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonal), and you will only use each letter once. There is only one correct solution. When you correctly identify one of the puzzle’s words (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.
If you are struggling to solve the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words you see (as long as they are four letters or more) to receive credit toward a single hint. If you submit three non-theme words, the “Hint” button will be clickable; if you click it, all of the letters in one of the theme words will be highlighted for you. You will still have to link these highlighted letters in the right order to form one of the theme words. If there is already a hint on the board and you use another hint before solving for that word, that word’s letter order will be revealed.
How to win Strands
Unlike Connections and Wordle, you cannot fail Strands. When you submit guesses, you will either correctly identify an answer, receive credit toward a hint, or the text will shake back and forth, indicating that the word you submitted is too short or not valid. You can’t run out of guesses, and there is no time limit.
You win when you’ve correctly used all the letters on the board, meaning that you have identified the spangram and all of the theme words. Like other NYT games, upon solving the puzzle, you will see a shareable card that indicates how you performed that day: blue dots 🔵 indicate theme words you found, the yellow dot 🟡 indicates when you found the spangram, and a lightbulb 💡 indicates words that you received a hint for.
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