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Ask Your Favorite Disney Fan for a Hint for the July 10, #129 Strands Puzzle

Second star to the right, and straight on 'til the answer for the July 10 Strands puzzle, No. 129.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials
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Gael Cooper
2 min read
New York Times Strands word game

Strands can be a fun brainteaser.

 James Martin/CNET

Are you a Disney person? I can take it or leave it, though full respect to the people who make it their thing. Those people had better ace today's Strands puzzle, as its theme is based on a classic book that became a 1953 Disney movie. Keep scrolling down for hints and the answer.

Need more answers? Here's the answer for today's Wordle, and here are the answers for today's Connections.

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: In Neverland.

But if that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning.

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:

  • DARN, TACT, ACTS, CAST, STRIDE, RIDE, PERM, DERM, MADE, PLATE, PLAT, LATE, MAID.

Answers for today's Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie in to 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've got 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:

  • DARLING, HOOK, LAGOON, PIRATES, MERMAID, CROCODILE.

Today's Strands spangram

Today's Strands spangram is PETERPAN. To spell it out, start with the P that's three letters down on the far right, and wind over to the far left.

Completed puzzle grid for Strands.

Pixie dust at the ready.

How to play NYT Strands

1. Use today's theme to look for words relating to that topic. See one? Drag or click the letters in order. Click on the last letter twice to submit your guess. If you've found a theme word, it'll light up in blue and stay that way.

2. Other words you find are considered hint words that give you clues to the theme words. Find three hint words (they must have at least four letters each), and the game will reward you by showing you a theme word. But if you can't unscramble it, find three more hint words and the game will highlight the theme word's letters in order.

3. Hunt for the spangram, a special theme word that spans the entire puzzle, though it could flow across, or top to bottom. It summarizes the puzzle theme.

4. When you're done, you'll have used every letter on the board in either a theme word or spangram. Theme words fill the entire board and do not overlap.