Today's NYT Strands is live for Saturday, March 21, 2026 (Puzzle #748). Stuck on today's Strands? We've got progressive hints, from gentle nudges to full solutions, so you can solve at your own pace.
How Strands Works (New Players Start Here)
Strands hides themed words inside a 6x8 letter grid. Your mission: find every word connected to the day's theme. Letters link in any direction (horizontal, vertical, diagonal) and words can twist and turn. Every letter gets used exactly once.
The spangram is the key word or phrase that captures the theme and stretches across the entire board, touching opposite edges.
Need a boost? Find any 4+ letter word (even non-theme words) three times, and the game reveals a hint highlighting theme word letters.
Theme Decoder
Today's Theme Prompt: "Sniff sniff"
What It Really Means
Today's puzzle is all about noses and snouts, the prominent facial feature used for smelling and breathing.
Think About...
- Animal noses and snouts
- Slang terms for noses
- Formal and informal words for facial protrusions
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Top to bottom
Letter Count: 9 letters
Starting Zone: Fifth letter of the eighth row
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): This phrase describes something that's exactly right or perfectly accurate.
Hint 2 (Warmer): It's an idiom meaning precisely correct or hitting the target dead center.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is O, last letter is E
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ONTHENOSE
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: A slang term for a nose, especially a large one.
Closer: What you might call a prominent or oversized nose.
Letter Clue: Starts with H, 6 letters total
Answer
HONKER
Word 2
Vague: Another informal term for nose, often used humorously.
Closer: A Yiddish-derived word for a nose, popular in comedic contexts.
Letter Clue: Starts with S, 9 letters total
Answer
SCHNOZZLE
Word 3
Vague: The front part of an animal's face.
Closer: Specifically refers to the projecting part of an animal's face, including nose and mouth.
Letter Clue: Starts with M, 6 letters total
Answer
MUZZLE
Word 4
Vague: The projecting nose and mouth of an animal.
Closer: A shorter word for an animal's nose area, especially pigs and dogs.
Letter Clue: Starts with S, 5 letters total
Answer
SNOUT
Word 5
Vague: A bird's nose equivalent.
Closer: The hard, projecting part of a bird's face used for eating and preening.
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 4 letters total
Answer
BEAK
Word 6
Vague: A formal, scientific term for a long nose.
Closer: The elongated nose of certain mammals, like elephants or tapirs.
Letter Clue: Starts with P, 9 letters total
Answer
PROBOSCIS
Full Answers
Spangram: ONTHENOSE
Theme Words:
- HONKER
- SCHNOZZLE
- MUZZLE
- SNOUT
- BEAK
- PROBOSCIS
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Moderate
Trickiest Word: SCHNOZZLE (Less common slang that might not be in everyone's vocabulary)
Our Take: A clever nose-themed puzzle that mixes formal and informal terms. The spangram "ONTHENOSE" perfectly captures the theme while being a common idiom. The inclusion of "BEAK" as a bird's nose equivalent shows thoughtful thematic expansion beyond mammalian noses.
