Babies start talking in goo-goo, ga-gas, and then they grow into adults who can not only form sentences but have strong vocabulary too. Keep this in mind while you solve today’s NYT Strands, which is a fun ride. Let us not beat around the bush and take a look at the hints and answers for NYT Strands on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
NYT Strand’s official theme hint for March 16
The official hint for today’s theme, as shared by the New York Times, is “Grow up!” This is a straightforward hint that will get you thinking about human evolution.
I’m not gonna talk anymore about the hint, or else I will spoil the puzzle for you. However, if you need help, read through our NYT Strands guide for easy tips and tricks. But if you’re here in search of hints, scroll down and help yourself.
NYT Strands hints for Spangram and theme words
The Strands puzzle today has many theme and non-theme words that you can spot easily. Even the Spangram will make itself visible if you look hard enough. However, if you need a helping hand, you don’t have to say it twice.
Spangram Hint
Theme Words Hint
What is today’s NYT Strands Answer (March 16)
You are about to spoil the answers for yourself. Don’t scroll further if you are still playing the game and trying to find the words. You’ve been warned.
If you’ve scrolled down to this section, even after a warning, it means you are still having trouble with today’s NYT Strands puzzle, which includes 1 Spangram and 8 theme words. There’s no need to fret, here are the answers to the March 16 puzzle:
Spangram Answer: PARENTHOOD
The theme words for today’s puzzle are listed below, along with the grid screenshot:
- BABY
- ADULT
- TADPOLE
- FROG
- FOAL
- HORSE
- LAMB
- SHEEP
thenexden rating for today’s NYT Strands
One of the easiest Strands I’ve solved since the puzzle’s inception. I felt stuck after a while but I kept selecting every word I saw and had an unexpected breakthrough. After that, it was a breeze.
Okay, so the instant I opened the grid (not the Tron: Ares one I’m excited for) and noticed the theme hint for today, I had already spotted BABY in the first row. Then, began a search for words related to growing up – FETUS? TEEN? ADOLESCENT? None of them existed on the grid.
So, I went through a couple of non-theme words like POLE, TOAD, PARENT, BLOOPER, and more. It was after 6-odd non-theme words (I didn’t want to use a hint yet) that I stumbled upon the next theme word – ADULT. But my vision kept shifting to the word right next to it, which was PARENT, so I selected it again and kept fidgeting, and to my surprise, it led me to today’s Spangram – PARENTHOOD.
I literally jumped off my seat as I got the Spangram without any hints; that too before the theme words. My happiness was short-lived, as I found myself stuck again. I went back to the usual scheduled programming – marking non-theme words and found MOAT, FETAL (I thought this would be it, but alas), and BLOOD.
It was then that I spotted FROG on the bottom right of the grid, and it turned out to be a theme word!? how? In that instant, I also spotted SHEEP to the left of FROG, and it struck me. The puzzle hint is not limited to human evolution but spans beyond because I spotted LAMB right after.
At that moment, I knew I wouldn’t need any hints for today’s NYT Strands puzzle. I marked HORSE on the right next, FOAL on the top left, and finished the puzzle with TADPOLE right under it on the left. All done without hints, I gloated at my victory!
See you tomorrow with another fun puzzle. Please don’t give us a harder puzzle tomorrow, dear NYT Editors!
