Strands Hint

#19Friday, March 22, 2024

Strands answers for March 22, 2024 — “Animal sounds” (#19)

The NYT Strands spangram for March 22, 2024 (puzzle #19) is HOMOPHONES, a 10-letter answer to the theme "Animal sounds". The 7 theme words are CHORAL, DEAR, GRISLY, HOARSE, MOUSSE, MUSCLE and WAIL.

CHORALDEARGRISLYHOARSEMOUSSEMUSCLEWAILHOMOPHONES

Where is each answer on the March 22 Strands board?

The full answer set for puzzle #19 is 7 theme words and one spangram.

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 #19
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
CHORAL6row 3, column 5row 1, column 6diagonally across the grid
DEAR4row 3, column 3row 4, column 1diagonally across the grid
GRISLY6row 3, column 6row 6, column 6top to bottom
HOARSE6row 5, column 1row 5, column 3diagonally across the grid
MOUSSE6row 7, column 1row 8, column 1diagonally across the grid
MUSCLE6row 2, column 1row 1, column 4left to right
WAIL4row 8, column 4row 8, column 6diagonally across the grid
HOMOPHONES10row 3, column 1row 7, column 6diagonally across the grid

What did the March 22 Strands grid look like?

Puzzle #19 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.

USLEALMCMHORHODOCGRAEPRSHOEHILARSOEYMOUNISESSWAL

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 U-S-L-E-A-L, row 2 reads M-C-M-H-O-R, row 3 reads H-O-D-O-C-G, row 4 reads R-A-E-P-R-S, row 5 reads H-O-E-H-I-L, row 6 reads A-R-S-O-E-Y, row 7 reads M-O-U-N-I-S, and row 8 reads E-S-S-W-A-L.

How hard was the March 22 Strands puzzle?

The difficulty index rates puzzle #19 as average: it sits at the 32th percentile of every Strands grid to date.

Difficulty
32
percentile, average
Path turns
23
direction changes
Decoy words
912
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
5.4
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 March 22 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #19 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 22 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on March 22, 2024?

The Strands clue for March 22, 2024 is “Animal sounds”, on puzzle #19. It is answered by the spangram HOMOPHONES, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on March 22, 2024?

The 7 Strands theme words for March 22, 2024 are CHORAL, DEAR, GRISLY, HOARSE, MOUSSE, MUSCLE and WAIL, plus the spangram HOMOPHONES.

What was the big word in the March 22, 2024 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for March 22, 2024 is HOMOPHONES, 10 letters long, running from row 3, column 1 to row 7, 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 “Animal sounds” mean?

The Strands theme “Animal sounds” for March 22, 2024 means HOMOPHONES — 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 22, 2024?

Strands puzzle #19 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the March 22, 2024 Strands puzzle?

Strands #19 rates average on a computed index, harder than 32% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on March 22, 2024?

The Strands puzzle published on Friday, March 22, 2024 is #19, 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.