Strands Hint

#194Friday, September 13, 2024

Strands answers for September 13, 2024 — “Boots and saddles” (#194)

The NYT Strands spangram for September 13, 2024 (puzzle #194) is WESTERNS, a 8-letter answer to the theme "Boots and saddles". The 7 theme words are BOUNTY, COWBOY, DUEL, HORSE, OUTLAW, SALOON and SHERIFF.

BOUNTYCOWBOYDUELHORSEOUTLAWSALOONSHERIFFWESTERNS

Where is each answer on the September 13 Strands board?

Strands #194 resolves to these 7 theme words plus the spangram WESTERNS.

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 #194
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
BOUNTY6row 5, column 3row 8, column 1diagonally across the grid
COWBOY6row 1, column 6row 3, column 2diagonally across the grid
DUEL4row 2, column 4row 1, column 5diagonally across the grid
HORSE5row 7, column 2row 8, column 2diagonally across the grid
OUTLAW6row 7, column 5row 6, column 6diagonally across the grid
SALOON6row 6, column 4row 7, column 4diagonally across the grid
SHERIFF7row 4, column 1row 2, column 3diagonally across the grid
WESTERNS8row 5, column 1row 3, column 6diagonally across the grid

What did the September 13 Strands grid look like?

Puzzle #194 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.

RIUELCEFFDWOHYOBNSSESRELWOBTAOUNOSOWTHRNOAYESUTL

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

How hard was the September 13 Strands puzzle?

The difficulty index rates puzzle #194 as easy: it sits at the 18th percentile of every Strands grid to date.

Difficulty
18
percentile, easy
Path turns
23
direction changes
Decoy words
1107
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
5.7
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 September 13 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #194 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 September 13 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on September 13, 2024?

The Strands clue for September 13, 2024 is “Boots and saddles”, on puzzle #194. It is answered by the spangram WESTERNS, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on September 13, 2024?

The 7 Strands theme words for September 13, 2024 are BOUNTY, COWBOY, DUEL, HORSE, OUTLAW, SALOON and SHERIFF, plus the spangram WESTERNS.

What was the big word in the September 13, 2024 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for September 13, 2024 is WESTERNS, 8 letters long, running from row 5, 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 “Boots and saddles” mean?

The Strands theme “Boots and saddles” for September 13, 2024 means WESTERNS — 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 September 13, 2024?

Strands puzzle #194 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the September 13, 2024 Strands puzzle?

Strands #194 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 18% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on September 13, 2024?

The Strands puzzle published on Friday, September 13, 2024 is #194, 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 September 2024, part of the full Strands archive.