Strands Hint

#407Monday, April 14, 2025

Strands answers for April 14, 2025 — “April showers ...” (#407)

The NYT Strands spangram for April 14, 2025 (puzzle #407) is SPRINGFLOWERS, a 13-letter answer to the theme "April showers ...". The 6 theme words are CROCUS, DAFFODIL, HYACINTH, IRIS, LILY and TULIP.

CROCUSDAFFODILHYACINTHIRISLILYTULIPSPRINGFLOWERS

Where is each answer on the April 14 Strands board?

The 6 theme words for Strands on April 14, 2025 are listed below, followed by the spangram.

The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 7 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 #407
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
CROCUS6row 8, column 6row 6, column 5diagonally across the grid
DAFFODIL8row 4, column 2row 8, column 2top to bottom
HYACINTH8row 8, column 4row 1, column 5bottom to top
IRIS4row 1, column 6row 3, column 5diagonally across the grid
LILY4row 4, column 5row 3, column 6diagonally across the grid
TULIP5row 4, column 1row 2, column 2diagonally across the grid
SPRINGFLOWERS13row 8, column 3row 1, column 4bottom to top

What did the April 14 Strands grid look like?

The Strands board for April 14, 2025 is a six-column, eight-row grid of 48 letters.

IERSHILPWTRIULONSYTDFILLAINGCIFFRASUODPYOCILSHRC

Spangram — 13 letters6 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 I-E-R-S-H-I, row 2 reads L-P-W-T-R-I, row 3 reads U-L-O-N-S-Y, row 4 reads T-D-F-I-L-L, row 5 reads A-I-N-G-C-I, row 6 reads F-F-R-A-S-U, row 7 reads O-D-P-Y-O-C, and row 8 reads I-L-S-H-R-C.

How hard was the April 14 Strands puzzle?

On the same measure applied to every puzzle since 2024, Strands #407 comes out above average, ahead of 73% of them.

Difficulty
73
percentile, above average
Path turns
25
direction changes
Decoy words
789
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
5.8
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 April 14 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #407 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 April 14 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on April 14, 2025?

The Strands clue for April 14, 2025 is “April showers ...”, on puzzle #407. It is answered by the spangram SPRINGFLOWERS, and all 6 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on April 14, 2025?

The 6 Strands theme words for April 14, 2025 are CROCUS, DAFFODIL, HYACINTH, IRIS, LILY and TULIP, plus the spangram SPRINGFLOWERS.

What was the big word in the April 14, 2025 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for April 14, 2025 is SPRINGFLOWERS, 13 letters long, running from row 8, column 3 to row 1, column 4. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.

What did the Strands theme “April showers ...” mean?

The Strands theme “April showers ...” for April 14, 2025 means SPRINGFLOWERS — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 6 theme words is an example of it.

How many theme words are in Strands April 14, 2025?

Strands puzzle #407 has 6 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the April 14, 2025 Strands puzzle?

Strands #407 rates above average on a computed index, harder than 73% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on April 14, 2025?

The Strands puzzle published on Monday, April 14, 2025 is #407, 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 April 2025, part of the full Strands archive.