The New York Times GamesStrandsis a short, daily word-search puzzle game. If you want to beat this one, you will need to figure out the theme from context clues and then find all the themed words inside the jumbled letters without knowing what they are first.
But today’s theme will make this puzzle even more challenging thanStrands’rulesmight make it sound. This one has weird little theme and a lot of challenging words inside of it. So this article contains all the hints and things you need to solve it.
The NYT Games Strands Puzzle #181 June 03, 2025
TheStrandspuzzle for today has the clueA Little Improvising. It has seven items to find: one Spangram and six themed words.
New York Times Games Strands Clues
If you want to see a clue or two from thismobile-friendly puzzle game, you can find three below. Each section has just one clue hidden inside that won’t spoil any of the words from today’s puzzle.
Hint 3: Make music with random household items, like jugs.
Spoilers for Two of the Words in Today’s Strands
There are two covered-up sections below that you can find spoiler words inside. If you open one up, it will show you the full word and where it is located in the puzzle’s letter grid.
Word 2: Washboard
The Answer to Today’s New York Times Games Strands
The full answer to thisinnovative puzzle gameis in the expandable section below. Press the Read More button below it to open it up and uncover today’s spoiler, which is all the themed words, the Spangram, and a screenshot of what the finished puzzle will look like.
The category for today isJugBand. The words are Spoons, Cowbell, Broom, Stovepipe, Bones, and Washboard.
Today’s Strands Explained
Don’t get the correlation between the clue and the theme? The section below has an explanation for how all these things work together in thischallenging puzzle game.
Jug Bandsare people playing improvised instruments. Each of the themed words is a household item that can make music withA Little Improvising.
Want to play? Check out theNew York Times Games Strandswebsite available on almost any device with a browser.
