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Today's NYT Strands puzzle assumes you have deep knowledge of a very specific musical genre. Could be tough. I knew some of the answers, but not others. I did a little research and explain what the answers refer to further down in this story. If you need hints and answers to solve today's Strands puzzle, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET's NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today's Strands puzzle
Today's Strands theme is: Kings of swing and bebop
If that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Musical legends
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle's theme. If you're stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- CHAD, CHAR, SAID, CANT, CHAW, WARD, FAST, STUD, COAT, LATE, SLATE, INCH, DRAT, DRATS, STAIR, FATE, COTS
Answers for today's Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- DUKE, FATS, HAWK, COUNT, DIZZY, YARDBIRD, CANNONBALL (Duke Ellington, Fats Navarro, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie “Yardbird” or “Bird” Parker and Julian “Cannonball” Adderly)
Today's Strands spangram
The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Aug. 8, 2025, #523.
Today's Strands spangram is JAZZCATS. To find it, look for the J that's three letters to the right on the very bottom row, and wind up.
Quick tips for Strands
#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you've already found, by adding an “S” or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.
#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.
#3: If you've been given the letters for a theme word, but can't figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.
