Loading puzzle...

NYT Strands Answer & Hints — “THE movies”, April 17, 2025

Stuck on the April 17, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle? Here are progressive hints and the full answer for the “THE movies” puzzle (Strands #104 of 509 in our archive). Every reveal is hidden by default — click to open the ones you need.

Spoiler warning. The answers below are for the April 17, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle. Scroll past this section if you want to solve it yourself first.
Hint 1: The themeReveal

The theme for the April 17, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle is “THE movies”. Every theme word and the spangram connects back to this phrase, so think about what related words might fit a 6×8 grid of 48 letters before you start scanning.

Hint 2: Spangram length and first letterReveal

The spangram for the “THE movies” puzzle is 6 letters long and starts with the letter T. It touches two opposite edges of the grid, as every NYT Strands spangram does.

Hint 3: How many theme wordsReveal

Besides the spangram, the April 17, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle has 6 theme words. Together with the spangram, they use every letter on the 6×8 grid exactly once.

Answer: Full spangramReveal

The spangram for the April 17, 2025 NYT Strands “THE movies” puzzle is TITLES. It spans two opposite edges of the 6×8 grid and captures the theme directly.

Answer: All theme wordsReveal

Here are the 6 theme words for the April 17, 2025 NYT Strands “THE movies” puzzle:

  • AVIATOR
  • GODFATHER
  • GOONIES
  • GRADUATE
  • RING
  • SHINING

Plus the spangram TITLES, that’s every word on the grid — all 48 letters accounted for.

Answers for the April 17, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle. Strands Unlimited is an independent fan archive — today's NYT Strands is free on nytimes.com/games/strands.

About the "THE movies" NYT Strands puzzle

The theme "THE movies" sets the scene for this Strands puzzle with a descriptive phrase that hints at what the hidden words have in common. Descriptive themes in Strands work like a title for a category — they paint a picture, and the theme words are the details that fill it in. This movies & tv puzzle asks you to find words that fit within the world the theme describes, with the spangram acting as the key that connects them all.

This puzzle has 6 theme words hidden in the grid — a balanced count that gives you enough to work with without overwhelming the board. The 6-letter spangram is on the shorter side, which can actually make it harder to spot — shorter words have fewer distinctive letter patterns to latch onto. Originally published on a Thursday, As puzzle #104 of 509+, this one comes from the middle of the Strands collection, when the puzzle makers had hit their stride.

#104
Puzzle Number
6
Theme Words
6
Spangram Letters
Medium
Difficulty

How to approach "THE movies"

  • The theme paints a picture. Brainstorm 5-10 words that come to mind when you read it, then scan the grid for those words or close variants.
  • Start by scanning the grid edges for the spangram — it must connect two opposite sides. Once you find it, the theme becomes clear and the remaining words are easier to spot.
  • Once you find the spangram, re-read the theme title. It almost always makes much more sense in hindsight, which helps you brainstorm the remaining theme words.
PreviousAll NYT Strands answersNext

More puzzles from April 2025

30 Wed
Best in class
29 Tue
I've got you covered
28 Mon
My bad!
27 Sun
Sleep tight
26 Sat
Face time
25 Fri
It's in the stars
View all April puzzles

More NYT Strands puzzles

Dec 6
Tolkien's world
May 30
We'll be there
May 29
E-I-E-I-O
May 28
Talking scents
May 27
Ketchup or mustard?
May 25
Thank you
May 24
Turn, turn, turn
May 23
Staying alive

Sister Sites · More logic puzzles

Queens
Region logic, daily + 1,500 puzzles
Patches
Region-stitching puzzle
Tango
No 3-in-a-row pattern
Zip
Path-drawing puzzle
Mini Sudoku
Compact sudoku
Strands Unlimited is an independent fan archive of past Strands puzzles. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The New York Times Company. NYT Strands is a trademark of The New York Times Company. Today's daily puzzle is free at nytimes.com/games/strands.