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NYT Strands game #472 is the puzzle for Wednesday, June 18, 2025. Its theme clue is “Down time,” and its answers describe sadness and low spirits. Start with the hints below or jump to the spoiler section for all six words and the spangram.
Hints for Strands #472
Use these clues in order, stopping before the answer reveal if you want to solve the board yourself. The puzzle’s theme clue is “Down time.”
- The theme words describe sad, low-spirited, or tearful moods.
- The seven-letter spangram names the shared emotional state and runs from the left side of the board to the right.
- First letters and lengths: B (4), D (7), G (6), M (10), T (5), and W (9).
How to earn an in-game hint
WordHint’s guide says that finding three non-theme words of at least four letters earns a hint that reveals letters in one theme word. Its examples of accepted clue words differ from TechRadar’s, so treat any example list as source-reported rather than a guaranteed set for this board.
Spoilers: all answers for June 18, 2025
The six theme words are:
- BLUE
- GLOOMY
- TEARY
- DOLEFUL
- WOEBEGONE
- MELANCHOLY
The spangram is SADNESS.
About this puzzle
This is the historical June 18, 2025 puzzle, game #472—not a puzzle dated June 18 in another year. TechRadar and WordHint independently report the same answer set. The official archived puzzle was not available for direct confirmation.
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WordHint describes Strands as a daily word-search puzzle played on a 6-by-8 grid of 48 letters: players trace theme words through the board, and the spangram reaches opposite sides while capturing the theme. These mechanics are from that guide; consult NYT Games for current instructions. TechRadar reports that the game is available on the NYT Games site for desktop and mobile and that a new puzzle appears at midnight in the player’s time zone; availability and schedule details may change.
Quick Recap
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