Tool
What words unlock hints in today’s Strands?
The non-theme words are the ordinary English words this board accepts that are not part of the day’s theme, and the August 3, 2026 board accepts 815 of them. Three non-theme words unlock one hint, so this board is worth 271 hints in total. No theme word, no spangram and no longer word containing one appears below — so the list fills the hint meter without handing over today’s answers.
How many hints is today’s board worth?
Finding all 815 accepted non-theme words would unlock 271 hints — the count divided by three, because every three non-theme words fills the hint meter once. The list tells you which words count; tracing them on the grid is still the work.
Which non-theme words are on the board?
The table lists the non-theme words this board accepts, shortest first, because four-letter words are the fastest route to a hint. Where a starting cell is known from the solve, it is given as a row and column reading down and across the grid. All 43 matching words are shown.
| Word | Letters | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| EARL | 4 | — |
| EARS | 4 | — |
| EAUS | 4 | — |
| ECAD | 4 | — |
| ECUS | 4 | — |
| EELS | 4 | — |
| EIKS | 4 | — |
| EINE | 4 | — |
| ELSE | 4 | — |
| ENES | 4 | — |
| ENOL | 4 | — |
| EORL | 4 | — |
| ERAS | 4 | — |
| ERGS | 4 | — |
| EROS | 4 | — |
| EUKS | 4 | — |
| EVIL | 4 | — |
| EARLS | 5 | — |
| EASLE | 5 | — |
| EIKON | 5 | — |
| ENIAC | 5 | — |
| ENOLS | 5 | — |
| EORLS | 5 | — |
| EOSIN | 5 | — |
| ESILE | 5 | — |
| EVILS | 5 | — |
| EASILY | 6 | — |
| EASING | 6 | — |
| EIKONS | 6 | — |
| ENIACS | 6 | — |
| ENVIES | 6 | — |
| EOSINS | 6 | — |
| EQUINE | 6 | row 1, column 5 |
| ESLOIN | 6 | — |
| EXCUSE | 6 | — |
| ELUSIVE | 7 | row 7, column 5 |
| EQUINES | 7 | — |
| ERASING | 7 | — |
| ERASION | 7 | — |
| EXCUSAL | 7 | — |
| ERASIONS | 8 | — |
| EXCUSALS | 8 | — |
| EXCUSIVE | 8 | — |
How do you filter the word list?
Two controls narrow the list, and both are plain links, so the page works with JavaScript turned off. Filtering by length picks the words of one length; filtering by first letter picks the words starting with it. Filtered views are not indexed, the same treatment the puzzle search gets.
By length: all · 4 letters (310) · 5 letters (248) · 6 letters (140) · 7 letters (79) · 8 letters (34) · 9 letters (3) · 10 letters (1)
By first letter: all · A (63) · C (43) · D (41) · E (43) · F (40) · G (22) · I (37) · K (40) · L (119) · N (63) · O (24) · P (7) · Q (14) · R (14) · S (200) · U (17) · V (23) · X (3) · Y (2)
Can you use the word finder on past puzzles?
The finder works on any published puzzle, back to March 4, 2024, by adding its date to the address as ?d=2025-08-19. That is possible here because every board in the corpus has been solved and its accepted words computed, rather than copied from anywhere — the same solve that produces the coordinates on every puzzle back to March 2024.
Why not just reveal the answers?
Revealing the theme words ends the puzzle, and earning a hint keeps it going — two different requests, and this page serves the second. The filter is deliberate about where that line falls: a longer word that contains a theme word is removed, because a plural or a suffixed form hands the answer over intact, while a short word that sits inside a longer answer is kept, because that is the kind of word the hint meter exists to be filled with and it gives nothing away. The pages that rank for solver and cheat queries publish the day’s theme answers outright, and the generic word finders search an English dictionary rather than this board. This site publishes today’s answers on their own page, where someone who wants them can choose them deliberately.
Questions about the Strands word finder
What are the hint words in Strands?
Hint words are the non-theme words a Strands board accepts: ordinary English words of four letters or more that are hidden in the grid but are not part of the day's theme. Finding three of them unlocks one hint.
How do I get a hint in Strands?
Hints are earned rather than given. Every three non-theme words you find fills the hint meter once, and spending it highlights the letters of one theme word on the board.
Is there a way to get hints in Strands?
The only route inside the game is the three-non-theme-words rule — there is no timer, purchase or daily allowance. This page lists the non-theme words that today's board actually accepts, with where each one starts, so the meter fills without guesswork.