NYT ‘Strands' Hints And Answers For Thursday, May 8

Forbes

07-05-2025

Today's NYT Strands hints and answers. New York Times
Looking for Wednesday's Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here: Forbes NYT 'Strands' Hints And Answers For Wednesday, May 7 By Kris Holt
Hey, folks! Today's NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers for Thursday, May 8 are coming right up.
The New York Times' Strands puzzle is a play on the classic word search. It's available on the NYT website and in the NYT Games app alongside the likes of Wordle and Connections (which we also cover in daily guides at Forbes Gaming ).
There's a new game of Strands to play every day. The game will present you with a six by eight grid of letters. The aim is to find a group of words that have something in common, and you'll get a clue as to what that theme is. When you find a theme word, it will remain highlighted in blue.
You'll also need to find a special word called a spangram. This tells you what the words have in common. The spangram links at least two sides of the board, but it may not start or end there. While the theme words will not be a proper name, the spangram can be a proper name. When you find the spangram, it will remain highlighted in yellow.
Every letter is used once in one of the theme words and spangram. You can connect letters vertically, horizontally and diagonally, and it's possible to switch directions in the middle of a word. If you're playing on a touchscreen, double tap the last letter to submit your guess.
If you find three valid words of at least four letters that are not part of the theme, you'll unlock the Hint button. Clicking this will highlight the letters that make up one of the theme words.
Be warned: You'll need to be on your toes. Sometimes you'll need to fill the missing word(s) in a phrase. On other days, the game may revolve around synonyms or homophones. The difficulty will vary from day to day, and the puzzle creators will try to surprise you sometimes. What Is Today's Strands Hint?
Scroll slowly! Just after the hint for today's Strands puzzle, I'll reveal what the answer words are.
The official theme hint for today's Strands puzzle is...
Well, fancy that!
Need some extra help? Here's another hint...
There are seven theme words to find today, including the spangram. What Are Today's NYT Strands Hints?
Spoiler alert! Don't scroll any further down the page until you're ready to find out today's Strands hints.
Here are the first two letters of every theme word in today's puzzle. They're ordered from left to right, then top to bottom by any letter of the word appearing for the first time: What Are Today's NYT Strands Answers?
Before I reveal the other the full word list, I'll first tell you the spangram and show you where that is on the grid.
This is your final spoiler warning!
Today's Strands spangram is...
OOH SHINY
Here's where you'll find it on the grid...
New York Times Strands screenshot, showing the highlighted term OOH SHINY New York Times
Today's Strands theme words are... LAVISH
OOH SHINY
EXTRAVAGANT
DELUXE
ORNATE
SNAZZY
GAUDY
Here's what the completed grid looks like...
Completed NYT Strands grid for May 8, including the words LAVISH, OOH SHINY, EXTRAVAGANT, DELUXE, ... More ORNATE, SNAZZY and GAUDY. New York Times
The double "z" in the bottom left caught my eye right away and it didn't take me long to find SNAZZY. A hint gave me GAUDY and then I saw EXTRAVAGANT just above that. Those bordered the spangram, making it pretty evident at that point. DELUXE was next, thanks to the "x," then I got LAVISH and ORNATE to take things home.
I used one hint and the spangram was the fourth theme word I found.
See you tomorrow for more Strands fun!
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