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Think Arty Hints to Solve Today's Strands Puzzle for July 9, #128

The July 9 Strands puzzle, No. 128, offers some high-culture clues.

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
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read
New York Times Strands word game

Strands can be a fun brainteaser.

 James Martin/CNET

Strands was a toughie today. The theme was pretty clear once you found an answer or two, but not all of the answers were common words. Actually, one of them was kind of a monster. If you're reading this, you probably need some help with the Strands puzzle, so here we go. Warning: Scroll down too far and too fast and you'll see spoilers.

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: Now on exhibit.

But if that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Think MOMA, or the Louvre.

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:

  • PAIL, PANE, GREAT, RATE, PATE, PEAT, SANE, PINE, TEAR, TINE, PAINT, PAIN, PINT.

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:

  • MURAL, COLLAGE, PAINTING, SCULPTURE, LITHOGRAPH.

Today's Strands spangram

Today's Strands spangram is ART MUSEUM. To spell it out, start with the A that's three letters down on the far left, and wind over and down.

Completed puzzle grid for July 9 Strands.

Admire the art.

 Screenshot by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper/CNET

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.