#741Saturday, March 14, 2026
Strands answers for March 14, 2026 — “A math teacher's favorite dessert” (#741)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for March 14, 2026 (puzzle #741) is HAPPYPIDAY, a 10-letter answer to the theme "A math teacher's favorite dessert". The 7 theme words are CRUST, EDGES, FILLING, FRUIT, GLAZE, LATTICE and VENT.
Where is each answer on the March 14 Strands board?
Strands #741 resolves to these 7 theme words plus the spangram HAPPYPIDAY.
The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRUST | 5 | row 4, column 1 | row 3, column 5 | left to right |
| EDGES | 5 | row 1, column 3 | row 3, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| FILLING | 7 | row 8, column 1 | row 8, column 4 | left to right |
| FRUIT | 5 | row 2, column 2 | row 1, column 5 | left to right |
| GLAZE | 5 | row 4, column 6 | row 1, column 6 | bottom to top |
| LATTICE | 7 | row 6, column 6 | row 7, column 3 | right to left |
| VENT | 4 | row 5, column 5 | row 5, column 2 | right to left |
| HAPPYPIDAY | 10 | row 6, column 3 | row 6, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
What did the March 14 Strands grid look like?
Puzzle #741 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.
Spangram — 10 letters7 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 G-D-E-I-T-E, row 2 reads E-F-R-U-A-Z, row 3 reads S-R-U-S-T-L, row 4 reads C-P-Y-P-I-G, row 5 reads P-T-N-E-V-D, row 6 reads L-A-H-Y-A-L, row 7 reads I-L-E-C-I-A, and row 8 reads F-I-N-G-T-T.
How hard was the March 14 Strands puzzle?
The difficulty index rates puzzle #741 as easy: it sits at the 23th 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 March 14 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #741 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 March 14 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on March 14, 2026?
The Strands clue for March 14, 2026 is “A math teacher's favorite dessert”, on puzzle #741. It is answered by the spangram HAPPYPIDAY, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on March 14, 2026?
The 7 Strands theme words for March 14, 2026 are CRUST, EDGES, FILLING, FRUIT, GLAZE, LATTICE and VENT, plus the spangram HAPPYPIDAY.
What was the big word in the March 14, 2026 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for March 14, 2026 is HAPPYPIDAY, 10 letters long, running from row 6, column 3 to row 6, 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 “A math teacher's favorite dessert” mean?
The Strands theme “A math teacher's favorite dessert” for March 14, 2026 means HAPPYPIDAY — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 7 theme words is an example of it.
How many theme words are in Strands March 14, 2026?
Strands puzzle #741 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the March 14, 2026 Strands puzzle?
Strands #741 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 23% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on March 14, 2026?
The Strands puzzle published on Saturday, March 14, 2026 is #741, 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 March 2026, part of the full Strands archive.