Got stuck on today’s puzzle. Don’t sweat it. We have the hints and the final answers for New York Times Strands puzzle #842, released on June 23.
This one is easy if you play that computer game where you break blocks and build houses. If you aren’t familiar, it might be tough to unscramble the letters. Read on to get un-stuck.
We cover the full rules in our main Strands guide, but if you’re just hunting for Wordle, Connections, or the Mini Crossword today, check our other guides instead.
Did you see our retrospective on the top 5 hardest Connections puzzles so far?
How to Solve June 23’s Strands
The theme for today is: A whole new world.
Doesn’t help much.
Try this: Watch out for creepers.
You need to find regular words first. Find three words that are at least four letters long. Then Strands unlocks a hint. These are the filler words I used. Feel free to use any four-letter words you see, like:
- FOOT
- DOCK
- MOLE
- PORT
- GEAR
- REAR
- RAGE
- MINE
- LOOT
- LOFT
The Answers
Here is the loot. The theme words are below. Your job is to find them all. There’s one spangram too. It runs all the way across the grid.
Find all the theme words, plus the spangram, and you use every letter on the board. It doesn’t always mean exactly eight answers. That varies.
Non-spangram answers:
* FOOD
* TOOL
* ARMOR
* BUILDING
* STORAGE
* BLOCK
* PORTAL
And the big one?
The spangram is MINECRAFT. Start with the M, fifth down on the far left column. Wind it up. Done.
When Strands Gets Hard
Some topics bite harder than others. I’ve noted these two as the worst.
1. Dated slang.
Maybe you weren’t cool in 2003 either. Hardest word? PHAT.
2. Whaling terms.
Only marine biologists win here. BALEEN or RIGHT will trip you up.
