NYT Strands today: hints, spangram and answers (September 24, 2025, #570)

NYT Strands Today — September 24, 2025 (Puzzle #570): If today’s Strands NYT grid had you circling letters without a breakthrough, you are not alone. The theme is neat, the logic is clean, and every find clicks once the long “spangram” shows itself. Below you will find a spoiler-safe rundown with light hints first, then the revealed theme, then the spangram, and finally the complete list of answers for NYT Strands today. Use the sections in order if you want the satisfaction of solving most of it yourself.

How Strands works in 30 seconds

Strands is a daily word-finding puzzle from the New York Times. The grid is six by eight. All solutions relate to a single theme. Letters can snake in any direction and may turn corners. There is also one special word that spans the board called a spangram. It usually runs across a long path and helps “thread” the theme together. As you uncover valid theme words, they lock in and are shaded, which frees your attention for the remaining paths. If you do not want full spoilers yet, start with the gentle hint section below.

Today’s quick, spoiler-safe hints

• Category nudge: Think about what your face communicates before a single word is spoken.
• Word shape cue: One short answer starts with G and is what people do when surprised with their mouth open.
• Contrast pair: One happy, one unhappy. Both are common and only five letters each.
• Attitude tells: Two answers signal a mocking or contemptuous attitude, not joy.
• Visual cue: Eyebrows help one of the grumpier answers, but the lips complete the picture.

Still stuck but hoping to preserve some of the challenge? Open the next two sections one at a time. The first reveals the theme title only. The second reveals the spangram. The final section lists every answer in the grid.

Strategy notes for today’s grid

When a Strands puzzle uses a broad social cue like facial expressions, the best approach is to anchor opposites. If you scan for a positive expression and a negative counterpart, the grid quickly reveals pathways that cut off dead ends. Today, pairing SMILE against FROWN, or GRIN against SCOWL, is an efficient opening. Once one hostile expression locks in, the puzzle’s attitude words cluster, and the upbeat set falls in line. With the spangram, EXPRESSIONS, you get a long backbone that intersects several of the shorter words and confirms the theme instantly.

Walkthrough: where solvers often get stuck

1) GAPE vs. GRIN: Both start with G, both are short, and both like to twist. If you are stuck, chase the vowel arrangement. GAPE often wants to travel in a simple rectangle, while GRIN feels more diagonal. Locking one prevents accidental reuse of G tiles in the same area.

2) SMIRK and SNEER as attitude twins: These two can hide because the letters compete. It helps to place SNEER first since repeating the E twice anchors its spine. SMIRK then threads more freely around the perimeter.

3) SCOWL or FROWN first: Try FROWN if you have the W exposed. If not, SCOWL can travel a longer bend and may be discoverable earlier, depending on your corners.

Tips to improve your Strands streak

• Build the frame: Trace the border of the grid for two- and three-letter turns. Strands loves to hide short connectors along the edges that complete longer words later.
• Opposites attract: When the theme is about feelings or signals, search for a happy and an unhappy term. The rest often sort themselves around these poles.
• Let paths bend: If your mental model is a straight word search, Strands will beat you. Imagine the word as a wire that you can bend at right angles and curves.
• Use letter economics: Double letters like EE in SNEER or the rare W in FROWN act like beacons. Prioritize them to limit the grid fast.
• Spangram timing: You do not always need the spangram first. In a theme as direct as today’s, two or three short finds can reveal the spangram’s track naturally.

Why today’s theme works

“Lip service” is a compact, fair title because every answer is a familiar face term. There is no jargon, no niche slang, and no bait-and-switch. The range includes joy (SMILE, GRIN), surprise (GAPE), displeasure (FROWN, SCOWL), and condescension or contempt (SMIRK, SNEER). That variety feels balanced in a 6×8 grid because the letter set creates useful overlaps, especially for vowels and common consonants like S and R. The spangram, EXPRESSIONS, is a thematic bullseye that makes the solve feel earned rather than handed out.

NYT Strands hints vs. answers: how to use this page

If you care about your streak, treat this page like a ladder. First, read the “How it works” refresher. If still stuck, take one hint. Then decide whether to peek at the theme, then the spangram, then the full list. This flow mirrors how editors build the puzzle and preserves the small wins that make daily play addictive. If you return later for the archive, you will find yesterday’s solutions trend toward the same structure: gentle clues, then one tap per reveal until the board is done. For a deeper dive into rules and spangrams, our evergreen Strands NYT guide covers formats, strategies, and common traps.

FAQ for new Strands players

Is NYT Strands free to play? Strands is part of the NYT Games umbrella. Access can vary by device and subscription, and the archive typically requires a subscription. The daily puzzle is released on the NYT Games site and app.

What time does the puzzle reset? The game releases a new grid every day. The changeover follows the daily schedule in the NYT Games ecosystem, so you can expect a fresh Strands puzzle each calendar day in your region.

What is a spangram? It is a longer, theme-defining word that traverses the grid. It acts like a backbone for the day’s set.

Can letters be reused within one word? No. A path cannot pass through the same tile twice in a single word. Once a theme word is locked, its tiles shade and are no longer available to other words.

Archive pointer and yesterday’s difficulty

Editors vary theme breadth and letter density day by day. If you felt September 23 was trickier than today, that tracks with the current pattern. Today’s grid is approachable once you spot one positive and one negative expression, and the long spangram then confirms the category. If you enjoy a stiffer challenge, check weekends and late-week grids, which often push theme subtlety and letter reuse. For prior solutions, explore our Strands archive, plus earlier daily answers from March 14, 2025, and January 27, 2025.

Keyword guidance for searchers

Many readers find this page by searching phrases like Strands NYT, NYT Strands hints today, NYT Strands answers today, Strands game, NYTimes Strands, and Strands spangram. We organize the post to match those intents: hints first, then theme, then spangram, then the full solution. If you are returning tomorrow, you will see the same structure, so your solving routine stays consistent.

How to talk through a solve with friends

One of the pleasures of Strands is comparing solve paths. Two players can end with the same shaded board but arrive by opposite routes. If you want to keep the conversation spoiler-friendly, share the theme first, then which pair of opposites you found. For example, “I got SMILE and FROWN early, then the rest.” Or “I saw SNEER near the corner and that told me SMIRK had to be in the perimeter.” This keeps the spirit of the puzzle alive and makes returning tomorrow feel like a shared ritual.

Final check before you leave

• You should now know the theme: Lip service.
• You should now know the spangram: EXPRESSIONS.
• You should now know every theme word: SMILE, GRIN, POUT, SMIRK, GAPE, FROWN, SCOWL, SNEER.

If a letter refuses to cooperate, take a breath and hunt for the least common tile first. Today that is the W in FROWN. It pulls the rest of the board into place.

What to play next

If you like Strands, you likely enjoy the rest of the NYT games family. Many solvers warm up with Mini or cool down with Connections. Others chase a longer path through Spelling Bee. However you mix it, the daily cadence is the point. Try the evergreen guides for NYTimes Wordle, NYT Spelling Bee, and NYT Mini Crossword. Prefer a fresh daily? Hop to Wordle today. Or head straight to the official page and play Strands on NYT Games.