Today's NYT Strands Hints for Sunday, March 2, 2025
Struggling with today's Strands puzzle? For March 2, 2025's "Getting closure" theme, we offer daily hints and solutions. Bookmark this page to easily revisit our Strands guides anytime, where you'll also find archived hints from previous puzzles – perfect for catching up on challenges you might have missed.
Below you'll find subtle clues to help unravel today's grid. Further down, we gradually reveal the spangram and full answers. Take only the hints you need, then scroll carefully to avoid spoilers. Whether you seek gentle guidance or the complete solution, we've structured this resource to support your puzzle-solving journey.
Credit: Strands/NYT
Hint for the spangram in today’s Strands puzzle
A word for the types of devices or gizmos that cinch or secure items of clothing together.
Hint for the theme words in today’s Strands puzzle
Examples of the various types of devices that you might find on a pair of pants, a jacket, or shoes to make them fit better.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Strands puzzle!
We’re about to give away the answers to today’s Strands puzzle.
What is the spangram in today’s Strands?
Today’s spangram is FASTENERS.
What are the theme words in today’s Strands?
The theme words today are: CLASP, BUTTON, SNAP, ZIPPER, VELCRO, BUCKLE, MAGNET.
Here’s what the board looks like when the puzzle is solved:
Credit: Strands/NYT
How I solved today’s Strands
I’m not entirely sure what kinds of words to look for yet. Maybe it’s a play on the word “closure,” so it’s actually referring to things like zippers, buttons, and other things that close two things together.
Hey, look at that, ZIPPER is in the bottom left corner. 🔵
BUTTON is near the upper right corner. 🔵
SNAP is above that. 🔵
I see the word VENEERS, oddly enough. Not a theme word. I also see LOCK, and that’s not a theme word either. Potentially part of the spangram, though.
MAGNET is in the bottom right corner. 🔵
There’s the spangram, from left to right: FASTENERS. 🟡
VELCRO is below that. 🔵
BUCKLE is below that. 🔵 Not going to use that LOCK after all!
Lastly, CLASP. 🔵
Strands #364
“Getting closure”
🔵🔵🔵🔵
🟡🔵🔵🔵
How to Play Strands
Available on NYT's website and app, Strands combines word search and crossword elements. Players analyze a letter grid flanked by a thematic clue (e.g., "Better with age") to find hidden theme words. The key is identifying the yellow-highlighted "spangram" that spans the grid horizontally/vertically, explicitly stating the theme (like FERMENTED). Words connect in any direction using each letter once. Submit valid theme words (blue-highlighted) or non-theme words (4+ letters) to earn hints - three non-theme words unlock a hint revealing letters of a theme word. Unlike Wordle, there's no failure state: incorrect guesses simply shake, and you play until all letters are used via spangram + theme words. Victory reveals a share card showing performance (🔵=theme words, 🟡=spangram, 💡=hints used).
Similar Word Games
Waffle
Waffle is the Rubik’s cube of Wordles, a grid where every part of every answer is in front of you, if only you can figure out how to move everything into the right place. You are allowed 15 swaps before the game is over, and you’re rewarded with gold stars if you can solve it in fewer.
Squardle
Credit: Squardle
Squardle is like Waffle’s evil twin. The five-letter words are arranged in a grid, but it starts out blank. You must guess two words at once (your initial guess is entered into the first row and first column) and in return you get a flurry of color-coded clues attached to each square. Resisting the information overload is half the fun. It is possible to win this game, I promise.
Absurdle
We featured this one in the original roundup, but it’s making an appearance again because this game doesn’t get really enjoyable until you spend a lot of time on it. If you only tried it once, you really need to come back to it when you have a free evening.
Absurdle’s setup is that you’re playing against a computer that keeps changing its guesses, but it has to abide by whatever clues (green and yellow letters) it’s already given you. This means that you actually have control over the game. Don’t think of yourself as “guessing” the word; think of it as backing the AI into a corner, cutting off its access to the word families that make the game drag on (SPARE, SPADE, SKATE). One day I found a series of moves that guaranteed I would win in five guesses; that was a good day.