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NYT Strands game #441, dated Sunday, May 18, 2025, has the theme clue “Riding the wind.” The hints below move from general clues to the full solution, so stop before the answer section if you want to solve it yourself.
Hints for the May 18 Strands puzzle
- Theme clue: “Riding the wind.”
- The answers are parts or elements associated with sailing and a boat.
- The spangram has eight letters and names a type of vessel.
- It stretches across the grid from the left side of row four to the right side of row four.
Full answer for Strands #441
Spangram: SAILBOAT
Theme answers: HELM, MAST, RIGGING, KEEL, TILLER, HULL, RUDDER, STERN.
Words that can unlock in-game hints
TechRadar lists these six non-theme words for this puzzle: STING, HAIL, DUET, MILE, TALL, and BLOG. In Strands, players connect letters horizontally, vertically, or diagonally; finding three non-theme words earns a hint toward a theme word, according to The Times of India.
Why “today’s puzzle” can mean a different date
Strands puzzles appear at midnight according to each player’s time zone, so the date shown as “today” can differ by location. TechRadar notes that some players may already be on the next puzzle while others are still playing the previous day’s game.
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