NYT Strands Hints and Answers for May 18, 2025 (#441)
Spoiler-safe hints for the NYT Strands puzzle of May 18, 2025: the theme clue first, then first letters, word lengths, the spangram, and the full grid.
Stuck on the Strands puzzle of May 18, 2025? Start with the theme, take one rung at a time, and stop as soon as the grid opens up. Nothing below is revealed until you tap it.
Hints for May 18, 2025, one rung at a time
ThemeToday’s theme
Riding the wind
Start from the clue “Riding the wind”. Once you see what the 8 theme words have in common, the grid opens up quickly.
Hint 2First letters
Sorted alphabetically, the first letters are H, H, K, M, R, R, S, T. Several share a starting letter (H, R).
Hint 3Word lengths
The theme words are 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6 and 7 letters long. The shortest is 4 letters, the longest 7.
SpangramThe spangram
SAILBOAT
It is a single word of 8 letters and it touches two opposite sides of the board.
Starts with S, ends with T.
AnswersAll theme words
- HELM4 letters
- HULL4 letters
- KEEL4 letters
- MAST4 letters
- STERN5 letters
- RUDDER6 letters
- TILLER6 letters
- RIGGING7 letters
BoardThe completed grid
Theme wordSpangramEach line follows one word; the small number is that letter’s place in it.