#420Sunday, April 27, 2025
Strands answers for April 27, 2025 — “Sleep tight” (#420)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for April 27, 2025 (puzzle #420) is BEDTIME, a 7-letter answer to the theme "Sleep tight". The 5 theme words are EARPLUGS, MASK, MEDITATION, MELATONIN and MOUTHGUARD.
Where is each answer on the April 27 Strands board?
The full answer set for puzzle #420 is 5 theme words and one spangram.
The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 6 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.
| Answer | Letters | Starts | Ends | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EARPLUGS | 8 | row 8, column 5 | row 5, column 4 | bottom to top |
| MASK | 4 | row 6, column 4 | row 7, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| MEDITATION | 10 | row 1, column 6 | row 3, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
| MELATONIN | 9 | row 6, column 1 | row 7, column 2 | diagonally across the grid |
| MOUTHGUARD | 10 | row 3, column 3 | row 2, column 3 | diagonally across the grid |
| BEDTIME | 7 | row 5, column 1 | row 4, column 6 | left to right |
What did the April 27 Strands grid look like?
The grid below is six letters wide and eight rows deep, with every answer traced through the letters it uses.
Spangram — 7 letters5 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 G-U-T-I-D-M, row 2 reads H-A-D-A-T-E, row 3 reads T-R-M-N-O-I, row 4 reads U-O-T-I-M-E, row 5 reads B-E-D-S-G-U, row 6 reads M-I-N-M-P-L, row 7 reads E-N-O-A-K-R, and row 8 reads L-A-T-S-E-A.
How hard was the April 27 Strands puzzle?
The difficulty index rates puzzle #420 as average: it sits at the 38th percentile of every Strands grid to date.
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 27 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #420 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 27 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on April 27, 2025?
The Strands clue for April 27, 2025 is “Sleep tight”, on puzzle #420. It is answered by the spangram BEDTIME, and all 5 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on April 27, 2025?
The 5 Strands theme words for April 27, 2025 are EARPLUGS, MASK, MEDITATION, MELATONIN and MOUTHGUARD, plus the spangram BEDTIME.
What was the big word in the April 27, 2025 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for April 27, 2025 is BEDTIME, 7 letters long, running from row 5, column 1 to row 4, column 6. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “Sleep tight” mean?
The Strands theme “Sleep tight” for April 27, 2025 means BEDTIME — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 5 theme words is an example of it.
How many theme words are in Strands April 27, 2025?
Strands puzzle #420 has 5 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the April 27, 2025 Strands puzzle?
Strands #420 rates average on a computed index, harder than 38% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on April 27, 2025?
The Strands puzzle published on Sunday, April 27, 2025 is #420, 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.