The New York Times Strands puzzle for June 6 is anything but simple. With the theme ¡°String¡¯s attached,¡± many players found themselves circling the grid, unsure of what the clue pointed to. Unlike some themes that give away the direction quickly, this one needed a little more thinking. But once you cracked the first couple of words, the whole picture started to come together.
Strands is the latest word game sensation in the NYT Games family. While Wordle and Connections remain popular, more puzzle lovers are now drawn to Strands for its slightly more complex twist. Each day starts with a fresh theme, a set of hidden words related to that theme, and one key Spangram, basically a long word or phrase that helps unlock the grid. For June 6, the trick lay in thinking about toys that use a string, and one toy in particular stood out.
The Spangram for June 6 is YOYOTRICK. It runs vertically across the board and is the clue that ties everything together. The yo-yo, a toy made of two disks connected by a string, is well known for its spinning moves and loop-based tricks. Once players spotted this word, it helped unlock all the other theme words quickly.
If you¡¯re still working on your puzzle or just want to confirm your answers, here¡¯s the full list of theme words from today¡¯s Strands puzzle. All five are popular yo-yo tricks:
Each of these is commonly performed using a yo-yo and fits the puzzle¡¯s theme of ¡°Strings attached.¡±
Some hints from the game helped push players in the right direction. These included:
These early words gave enough context to figure out that the puzzle was focused on yo-yo moves and tricks.