#324Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Strands answers for January 21, 2025 — “You don't say ...” (#324)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for January 21, 2025 (puzzle #324) is DATEDSLANG, a 10-letter answer to the theme "You don't say ...". The 7 theme words are BOSS, CHERRY, FRESH, MAJOR, PHAT, RADICAL and TUBULAR.
Where is each answer on the January 21 Strands board?
Here are all 7 theme words from the January 21, 2025 Strands puzzle, with the spangram last.
The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOSS | 4 | row 1, column 3 | row 4, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| CHERRY | 6 | row 3, column 6 | row 2, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| FRESH | 5 | row 6, column 5 | row 6, column 1 | right to left |
| MAJOR | 5 | row 8, column 3 | row 8, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| PHAT | 4 | row 1, column 1 | row 3, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| RADICAL | 7 | row 6, column 3 | row 6, column 2 | diagonally across the grid |
| TUBULAR | 7 | row 5, column 6 | row 4, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| DATEDSLANG | 10 | row 5, column 1 | row 8, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
What did the January 21 Strands grid look like?
Every letter below appears in exactly one answer — the 8 words tile all 48 cells of the January 21, 2025 grid.
Spangram — 10 letters7 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 P-H-B-R-R-E, row 2 reads A-O-U-L-Y-H, row 3 reads T-S-T-B-A-C, row 4 reads S-A-E-E-U-R, row 5 reads D-S-A-R-D-T, row 6 reads H-L-R-C-F-S, row 7 reads J-A-A-D-I-L, and row 8 reads R-O-M-G-N-A.
How hard was the January 21 Strands puzzle?
Measured against the full archive, the January 21, 2025 puzzle lands in the easy range — above 3% 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 January 21 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #324 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Mónico Chávez. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.
Common questions about the January 21 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on January 21, 2025?
The Strands clue for January 21, 2025 is “You don't say ...”, on puzzle #324. It is answered by the spangram DATEDSLANG, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on January 21, 2025?
The 7 Strands theme words for January 21, 2025 are BOSS, CHERRY, FRESH, MAJOR, PHAT, RADICAL and TUBULAR, plus the spangram DATEDSLANG.
What was the big word in the January 21, 2025 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for January 21, 2025 is DATEDSLANG, 10 letters long, running from row 5, column 1 to row 8, 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 “You don't say ...” mean?
The Strands theme “You don't say ...” for January 21, 2025 means DATEDSLANG — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 7 theme words is an example of it.
How many theme words are in Strands January 21, 2025?
Strands puzzle #324 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the January 21, 2025 Strands puzzle?
Strands #324 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 3% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on January 21, 2025?
The Strands puzzle published on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 is #324, 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 January 2025, part of the full Strands archive.