NYT Strands puzzle #612, dated November 5, 2025, has the theme “The butterfly effect.” If you want to keep the board spoiler-free, start with the hints below; the full answer list and spangram are behind a clearly marked reveal.
Hints for November 5, 2025
- Theme: The butterfly effect.
- Think about: A butterfly’s life cycle, what its caterpillars eat, and what some butterflies do seasonally.
- Spangram hint: It names a group of butterflies associated with a striking orange-and-black pattern.
How Strands works
Strands is a themed word-search game. Connect neighboring letters to find words related to the daily theme. The spangram captures the theme’s central connection and stretches across two sides of the grid. Play on the official NYT Games Strands page.
Spoilers: full answers and spangram
Stop here if you do not want the answers.
The spangram is MONARCHS. The five theme words are:
- CATERPILLAR
- CHRYSALIS
- HATCH
- MIGRATE
- MILKWEED
The answers connect stages and behaviors in the monarch butterfly’s life: caterpillars hatch, develop through a chrysalis, and monarchs migrate; milkweed is the plant associated with monarch caterpillars.
Quick Recap
Rank #3
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