New York Times Strands Hints and Answers for January 8, 2025

Strands is a challenging puzzle game where you are given a pile of random letters and one clue. With that, you need to figure out both the theme and all the themed words, and then find each of those words in the letter grid.

And today’s puzzle is much harder than it might sound like from reading the rules of how to play Strands. This one has some challenging words and an unhelpful hint. So if you are looking for help, you can find tons of it in the article below.

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The NYT Games Strands Puzzle #311 January 8, 2025

The Strands puzzle for today has the clue Time for an Upgrade. There are six items to find, including the Spangram and five themed words.

New York Times Games Strands Clues

Searching for spoiler-free help? Each of the three sections below has a different hint inside that won’t ruin any of the words from the puzzle but it will get you a little closer to the theme for this browser-based puzzle game.

General Hint 1

Hint 1: Redo a part of your home.

General Hint 2

Hint 2: Revamp your food-making room.

General Hint 3

Hint 3: Upgrades you might make to your food-making room.

Spoilers for Two of the Words in Today’s Strands

Looking for a spoiler, but don’t want to find non-themed words to get one? In each of the sections below, you will find one spoiled word along with a screenshot of where it goes in this innovative puzzle game.

Spoiler 1

Spoiler 2

The Answer to Today’s New York Times Games Strands

Want the full answer for this minimalist puzzle game? Open up the section below to see all the themed words and where they go in the puzzle’s letter grid.

The category for today is KitchenRemodel. The words are Oven, Island, Sink, Backsplash, and Countertop.

Today’s Strands Explained

Don’t get it? You can find an explanation for the full puzzle in the section below. It will layout how the theme, the themed words, and the clue all fit together in this puzzle game.

Time for an Upgrade is a good clue because all of these items would be things you would want to replace in a full Kitchen Remodel. Each of the themed words is a part of a kitchen that can be replaced to make the whole room like new again.

Want to play? Check out the New York Times Games Strands website available on almost any device with a browser.

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Strands

Platform(s)

Web Browser

Released

March 4, 2024

Developer(s)

The New York Times Company

Publisher(s)

The New York Times Company