NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, April 9 (game #402)

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My clues will help you solve the NYT's Strands today and keep that streak going

NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
(Image credit: New York Times)
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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 8 (game #401).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… That's quite a (tasty) mouthful

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

  • SAILOR
  • WILL
  • FART
  • FLOUR
  • DOLLS
  • CODA

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 3rd row

Last side: right, 1st row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #402) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 402 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #402, are…

  • WATERMELON
  • ARUGULA
  • AVOCADO
  • CAULIFLOWER
  • SPANGRAM: FOUR SYLLABLES
  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

A lovely, easygoing edition of Strands with a mighty long Spangram snake eating up a good chunk of the puzzle.

The hardest find for me was ARUGULA, which I know in the UK as rocket.

Arugula is, along with two other plants with four syllables – pomegranate and radicchio – something I never finish. I like all three but I can also very easily live without them. AVOCADO, on the other hand, I can’t live without.

All of this reminds me of the brilliant sketch in Portlandia (look it up on YouTube if you’ve not seen it) starring Steve Buscemi as the poor marketing man in charge of making celery go viral.

In a 2025 sequel to Buscemi’s ill-fated hook-up with the creepy bacon guy, I can imagine him doing anything to get celery into a Strands puzzle, only to be thwarted by a suddenly imposed four-syllable rule.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 8 April, game #401)

  • GRAVITY
  • ARRIVAL
  • DUNE
  • ALIEN
  • MEGALOPOLIS
  • SPANGRAM: SCIENCE FICTION

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

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Johnny Dee
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Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.

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