Strands hit hard today. Or maybe that’s just me. July 10 puzzle #859 stuck in my gears longer than usual.
You know the drill. Hard puzzles demand patience. The scramble looks dense, confusing, impenetrable. If you are staring at that grid like it owes you money, relax. Help is here.
Want Wordle or Connections help? Go check CNET’s puzzle hub. But right now? Let’s talk Strands.
The Theme
“I think…”
Seems simple enough, right? Don’t get cute. It is not just any thought.
The key lies in a single verb. All the hidden theme words can follow one specific two-letter word.
That word? Make.
So when the hint says “I think,” look for things you make. Make good. Make haste. Make love. You see the pattern emerging.
Need Clues?
Strands hides answers behind a veil. You need three words, four letters or more, just to peek behind it. Any random words work, really. It is a mechanic, not a test of vocabulary yet.
I found these quickly to unlock the hints:
- SANE
- SANS
- TANS
- TAMS
- HEAT
- HATE
- LENS
- MAKE
- RAKE
- BLOOD
Don’t overthink the seed words. Just fill spaces. Get the hint light.
The Answers
Once you know to look for “Make ____”, the board clears up fast. The letters rearrange themselves. It almost feels magical, like solving a trick.
Here is the non-spangram list. These are the core pieces of the puzzle. Find these, and you are halfway to victory:
- GOOD
- LOVE
- HASTE
- MERRY
- SENSE
- BELIEVE
- HISTORY
Wait. What?
Yes. Make history. It fits. The pattern holds, even when it feels weird at first glance.
The Spangram
Now for the big one. The Spangram.
This word spans the entire grid. Edge to edge. It anchors everything else in place.
Since the theme is “I think…”, and every other answer pairs with “Make,” you have to ask:
What do we make that defines how we perceive the world?
It connects to “Make sense.”
So the Spangram is:
I MAKE SENSE
Or rather, just the concept itself wrapped in the puzzle’s logic. When you slot “Make sense” into the main horizontal bar, the rest falls into line. Every letter accounts for itself. The board goes clean.
You solve it. The grid empties. Satisfying? Sure. But you will hit a hard one tomorrow. Maybe the one after that, too. Puzzles never stop coming.
