Strands Hint

#327Friday, January 24, 2025

Strands answers for January 24, 2025 — “Get smart” (#327)

The NYT Strands spangram for January 24, 2025 (puzzle #327) is THATSGENIUS, a 11-letter answer to the theme "Get smart". The 5 theme words are BRIGHT, BRILLIANT, CLEVER, INTELLIGENT and QUICK.

BRIGHTBRILLIANTCLEVERINTELLIGENTQUICKTHATSGENIUS

Where is each answer on the January 24 Strands board?

Strands #327 resolves to these 5 theme words plus the spangram THATSGENIUS.

The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 6 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.

Verified board positions, Strands puzzle #327
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
BRIGHT6row 7, column 4row 8, column 2diagonally across the grid
BRILLIANT9row 1, column 6row 5, column 6top to bottom
CLEVER6row 5, column 1row 8, column 1top to bottom
INTELLIGENT11row 1, column 4row 1, column 1right to left
QUICK5row 5, column 5row 8, column 6top to bottom
THATSGENIUS11row 1, column 5row 8, column 4top to bottom

What did the January 24 Strands grid look like?

Puzzle #327 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.

TTNITBNEEAHRGLTLIAILSLINCGENQTELIRIUVEGBUIRTHSCK

Spangram — 11 letters5 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 T-T-N-I-T-B, row 2 reads N-E-E-A-H-R, row 3 reads G-L-T-L-I-A, row 4 reads I-L-S-L-I-N, row 5 reads C-G-E-N-Q-T, row 6 reads E-L-I-R-I-U, row 7 reads V-E-G-B-U-I, and row 8 reads R-T-H-S-C-K.

How hard was the January 24 Strands puzzle?

The difficulty index rates puzzle #327 as hard: it sits at the 99th percentile of every Strands grid to date.

Difficulty
99
percentile, hard
Path turns
32
direction changes
Decoy words
803
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
7.4
letters per theme word

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 January 24 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #327 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Christina Iverson. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.

Common questions about the January 24 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on January 24, 2025?

The Strands clue for January 24, 2025 is “Get smart”, on puzzle #327. It is answered by the spangram THATSGENIUS, and all 5 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on January 24, 2025?

The 5 Strands theme words for January 24, 2025 are BRIGHT, BRILLIANT, CLEVER, INTELLIGENT and QUICK, plus the spangram THATSGENIUS.

What was the big word in the January 24, 2025 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for January 24, 2025 is THATSGENIUS, 11 letters long, running from row 1, column 5 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 “Get smart” mean?

The Strands theme “Get smart” for January 24, 2025 means THATSGENIUS — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 5 theme words is an example of it.

How many theme words are in Strands January 24, 2025?

Strands puzzle #327 has 5 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the January 24, 2025 Strands puzzle?

Strands #327 rates hard on a computed index, harder than 99% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on January 24, 2025?

The Strands puzzle published on Friday, January 24, 2025 is #327, 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 January 2025, part of the full Strands archive.