#384Saturday, March 22, 2025
Strands answers for March 22, 2025 — “A good roast” (#384)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for March 22, 2025 (puzzle #384) is CRACKINGUP, a 10-letter answer to the theme "A good roast". The 7 theme words are CACKLE, CHUCKLE, GIGGLE, HOWL, LAUGH, ROAR and SHRIEK.
Where is each answer on the March 22 Strands board?
The 7 theme words for Strands on March 22, 2025 are listed below, followed by the 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.
| Answer | Letters | Starts | Ends | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CACKLE | 6 | row 5, column 1 | row 3, column 3 | diagonally across the grid |
| CHUCKLE | 7 | row 4, column 4 | row 2, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
| GIGGLE | 6 | row 3, column 1 | row 2, column 2 | diagonally across the grid |
| HOWL | 4 | row 8, column 6 | row 7, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| LAUGH | 5 | row 5, column 5 | row 6, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| ROAR | 4 | row 5, column 4 | row 2, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| SHRIEK | 6 | row 6, column 2 | row 7, column 2 | diagonally across the grid |
| CRACKINGUP | 10 | row 8, column 3 | row 1, column 3 | bottom to top |
What did the March 22 Strands grid look like?
The Strands board for March 22, 2025 is a six-column, eight-row grid of 48 letters.
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-L-P-L-K-C, row 2 reads G-E-U-E-U-R, row 3 reads G-I-E-G-H-A, row 4 reads K-L-N-C-O-A, row 5 reads C-C-I-R-L-U, row 6 reads A-S-K-C-H-G, row 7 reads E-K-H-A-L-W, and row 8 reads I-R-C-R-O-H.
How hard was the March 22 Strands puzzle?
Measured against the full archive, the March 22, 2025 puzzle lands in the hard range — above 83% of all Strands puzzles.
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 #384 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Jacqueline Yue. 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, 2025?
The Strands clue for March 22, 2025 is “A good roast”, on puzzle #384. It is answered by the spangram CRACKINGUP, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on March 22, 2025?
The 7 Strands theme words for March 22, 2025 are CACKLE, CHUCKLE, GIGGLE, HOWL, LAUGH, ROAR and SHRIEK, plus the spangram CRACKINGUP.
What was the big word in the March 22, 2025 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for March 22, 2025 is CRACKINGUP, 10 letters long, running from row 8, column 3 to row 1, column 3. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “A good roast” mean?
The Strands theme “A good roast” for March 22, 2025 means CRACKINGUP — 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, 2025?
Strands puzzle #384 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, 2025 Strands puzzle?
Strands #384 rates hard on a computed index, harder than 83% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on March 22, 2025?
The Strands puzzle published on Saturday, March 22, 2025 is #384, 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 2025, part of the full Strands archive.