#539Sunday, August 24, 2025
Strands answers for August 24, 2025 — “Plug your ears” (#539)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for August 24, 2025 (puzzle #539) is HUBBUB, a 6-letter answer to the theme "Plug your ears". The 6 theme words are BLASTING, BOISTEROUS, BOOMING, LOUD, NOISY and STRIDENT.
Where is each answer on the August 24 Strands board?
Here are all 6 theme words from the August 24, 2025 Strands puzzle, with the spangram last.
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.
| Answer | Letters | Starts | Ends | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLASTING | 8 | row 2, column 1 | row 3, column 2 | diagonally across the grid |
| BOISTEROUS | 10 | row 1, column 6 | row 4, column 5 | top to bottom |
| BOOMING | 7 | row 8, column 5 | row 8, column 2 | right to left |
| LOUD | 4 | row 3, column 3 | row 1, column 3 | diagonally across the grid |
| NOISY | 5 | row 6, column 5 | row 6, column 1 | right to left |
| STRIDENT | 8 | row 6, column 6 | row 7, column 3 | right to left |
| HUBBUB | 6 | row 5, column 6 | row 5, column 1 | right to left |
What did the August 24 Strands grid look like?
Every letter below appears in exactly one answer — the 7 words tile all 48 cells of the August 24, 2025 grid.
Spangram — 6 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 L-A-D-U-O-B, row 2 reads B-S-O-S-I-R, row 3 reads T-G-L-T-E-O, row 4 reads I-N-B-B-S-U, row 5 reads B-U-I-O-U-H, row 6 reads Y-S-E-D-N-S, row 7 reads I-M-T-N-I-T, and row 8 reads N-G-O-O-B-R.
How hard was the August 24 Strands puzzle?
Measured against the full archive, the August 24, 2025 puzzle lands in the above average range — above 77% of all Strands puzzles.
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 August 24 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #539 was edited by Tracy Bennett, who also constructed it. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.
Common questions about the August 24 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on August 24, 2025?
The Strands clue for August 24, 2025 is “Plug your ears”, on puzzle #539. It is answered by the spangram HUBBUB, and all 6 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on August 24, 2025?
The 6 Strands theme words for August 24, 2025 are BLASTING, BOISTEROUS, BOOMING, LOUD, NOISY and STRIDENT, plus the spangram HUBBUB.
What was the big word in the August 24, 2025 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for August 24, 2025 is HUBBUB, 6 letters long, running from row 5, column 6 to row 5, column 1. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “Plug your ears” mean?
The Strands theme “Plug your ears” for August 24, 2025 means HUBBUB — 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 August 24, 2025?
Strands puzzle #539 has 6 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the August 24, 2025 Strands puzzle?
Strands #539 rates above average on a computed index, harder than 77% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on August 24, 2025?
The Strands puzzle published on Sunday, August 24, 2025 is #539, 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 August 2025, part of the full Strands archive.