Strands Hint

#15Monday, March 18, 2024

Strands answers for March 18, 2024 — “World piece” (#15)

The NYT Strands spangram for March 18, 2024 (puzzle #15) is TERRAIN, a 7-letter answer to the theme "World piece". The 7 theme words are DESERT, FOREST, MARSH, MOUNTAIN, PLAIN, SWAMP and TUNDRA.

DESERTFORESTMARSHMOUNTAINPLAINSWAMPTUNDRATERRAIN

Where is each answer on the March 18 Strands board?

Strands #15 resolves to these 7 theme words plus the spangram TERRAIN.

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.

Verified board positions, Strands puzzle #15
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
DESERT6row 7, column 4row 4, column 6diagonally across the grid
FOREST6row 8, column 4row 6, column 1diagonally across the grid
MARSH5row 1, column 1row 3, column 1diagonally across the grid
MOUNTAIN8row 1, column 4row 1, column 5diagonally across the grid
PLAIN5row 5, column 1row 7, column 3diagonally across the grid
SWAMP5row 3, column 5row 4, column 3diagonally across the grid
TUNDRA6row 7, column 5row 8, column 5diagonally across the grid
TERRAIN7row 4, column 1row 3, column 6left to right

What did the March 18 Strands grid look like?

Puzzle #15 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.

MAOMNIRSUNTAHMAWSNTEPAITPRRSERTLIEUNSANDTDEROFAR

Spangram — 7 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 M-A-O-M-N-I, row 2 reads R-S-U-N-T-A, row 3 reads H-M-A-W-S-N, row 4 reads T-E-P-A-I-T, row 5 reads P-R-R-S-E-R, row 6 reads T-L-I-E-U-N, row 7 reads S-A-N-D-T-D, and row 8 reads E-R-O-F-A-R.

How hard was the March 18 Strands puzzle?

The difficulty index rates puzzle #15 as easy: it sits at the 2th percentile of every Strands grid to date.

Difficulty
2
percentile, easy
Path turns
22
direction changes
Decoy words
1688
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
5.9
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 March 18 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #15 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Heidi Erwin. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.

Common questions about the March 18 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on March 18, 2024?

The Strands clue for March 18, 2024 is “World piece”, on puzzle #15. It is answered by the spangram TERRAIN, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on March 18, 2024?

The 7 Strands theme words for March 18, 2024 are DESERT, FOREST, MARSH, MOUNTAIN, PLAIN, SWAMP and TUNDRA, plus the spangram TERRAIN.

What was the big word in the March 18, 2024 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for March 18, 2024 is TERRAIN, 7 letters long, running from row 4, column 1 to row 3, column 6. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.

What did the Strands theme “World piece” mean?

The Strands theme “World piece” for March 18, 2024 means TERRAIN — 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 18, 2024?

Strands puzzle #15 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the March 18, 2024 Strands puzzle?

Strands #15 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 2% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on March 18, 2024?

The Strands puzzle published on Monday, March 18, 2024 is #15, 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 2024, part of the full Strands archive.