#529Thursday, August 14, 2025
Strands answers for August 14, 2025 — “Honest-to-goodness” (#529)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for August 14, 2025 (puzzle #529) is BONAFIDE, a 8-letter answer to the theme "Honest-to-goodness". The 6 theme words are AUTHENTIC, GENUINE, KOSHER, LEGITIMATE, REAL and TRUE.
Where is each answer on the August 14 Strands board?
Strands #529 resolves to these 6 theme words plus the spangram BONAFIDE.
The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 7 answers. Every position comes from solving the grid outright — the answers have to tile all 48 letters with no overlap and no remainder, which is what makes a single arrangement provable.
| Answer | Letters | Starts | Ends | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUTHENTIC | 9 | row 6, column 2 | row 5, column 3 | diagonally across the grid |
| GENUINE | 7 | row 6, column 3 | row 7, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| KOSHER | 6 | row 5, column 5 | row 6, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| LEGITIMATE | 10 | row 4, column 4 | row 1, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| REAL | 4 | row 2, column 2 | row 1, column 2 | diagonally across the grid |
| TRUE | 4 | row 7, column 5 | row 7, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| BONAFIDE | 8 | row 1, column 3 | row 8, column 4 | top to bottom |
What did the August 14 Strands grid look like?
Puzzle #529 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.
Spangram — 8 letters6 theme words
Each line traces one answer through the letters it uses; the heavier yellow line is the spangram.
Read across the grid, row 1 reads A-L-B-I-T-E, row 2 reads E-R-O-G-I-T, row 3 reads N-T-N-E-M-A, row 4 reads E-I-A-L-O-S, row 5 reads T-H-C-F-K-H, row 6 reads U-A-G-I-R-E, row 7 reads E-E-N-D-T-E, and row 8 reads N-I-U-E-R-U.
How hard was the August 14 Strands puzzle?
The difficulty index rates puzzle #529 as easy: it sits at the 29th percentile of every Strands grid to date.
Easiest puzzle ever published on the left, hardest on the right. The formula behind the score, and the ranked list of every puzzle, are on the Strands difficulty index.
Who made the August 14 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #529 was edited by Tracy Bennett, who also constructed it. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.
Common questions about the August 14 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on August 14, 2025?
The Strands clue for August 14, 2025 is “Honest-to-goodness”, on puzzle #529. It is answered by the spangram BONAFIDE, and all 6 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on August 14, 2025?
The 6 Strands theme words for August 14, 2025 are AUTHENTIC, GENUINE, KOSHER, LEGITIMATE, REAL and TRUE, plus the spangram BONAFIDE.
What was the big word in the August 14, 2025 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for August 14, 2025 is BONAFIDE, 8 letters long, running from row 1, column 3 to row 8, column 4. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “Honest-to-goodness” mean?
The Strands theme “Honest-to-goodness” for August 14, 2025 means BONAFIDE — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 6 theme words is an example of it.
How many theme words are in Strands August 14, 2025?
Strands puzzle #529 has 6 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the August 14, 2025 Strands puzzle?
Strands #529 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 29% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on August 14, 2025?
The Strands puzzle published on Thursday, August 14, 2025 is #529, counting from the game's launch on March 4, 2024.
Today’s puzzle and its hint ladder are on the front page. This puzzle sits in August 2025, part of the full Strands archive.