Strands Hint

#136Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Strands answers for July 17, 2024 — “Park place” (#136)

The NYT Strands spangram for July 17, 2024 (puzzle #136) is PLAYGROUND, a 10-letter answer to the theme "Park place". The 6 theme words are BENCHES, CLIMBER, SANDBOX, SEESAW, SLIDE and SWINGS.

BENCHESCLIMBERSANDBOXSEESAWSLIDESWINGSPLAYGROUND

Where is each answer on the July 17 Strands board?

The full answer set for puzzle #136 is 6 theme words and one 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 #136
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
BENCHES7row 3, column 1row 2, column 1diagonally across the grid
CLIMBER7row 8, column 3row 2, column 4bottom to top
SANDBOX7row 1, column 5row 5, column 6top to bottom
SEESAW6row 6, column 6row 8, column 4diagonally across the grid
SLIDE5row 4, column 1row 5, column 3diagonally across the grid
SWINGS6row 8, column 1row 7, column 1diagonally across the grid
PLAYGROUND10row 1, column 4row 8, column 2diagonally across the grid

What did the July 17 Strands grid look like?

The grid below is six letters wide and eight rows deep, with every answer traced through the letters it uses.

EHCPSNSNLRADBEAYEBSLRGBOIDEOMXGNIUISSWNLEESDCWAS

Spangram — 10 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 E-H-C-P-S-N, row 2 reads S-N-L-R-A-D, row 3 reads B-E-A-Y-E-B, row 4 reads S-L-R-G-B-O, row 5 reads I-D-E-O-M-X, row 6 reads G-N-I-U-I-S, row 7 reads S-W-N-L-E-E, and row 8 reads S-D-C-W-A-S.

How hard was the July 17 Strands puzzle?

The difficulty index rates puzzle #136 as easy: it sits at the 17th percentile of every Strands grid to date.

Difficulty
17
percentile, easy
Path turns
22
direction changes
Decoy words
1319
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
6.3
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 July 17 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #136 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 July 17 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on July 17, 2024?

The Strands clue for July 17, 2024 is “Park place”, on puzzle #136. It is answered by the spangram PLAYGROUND, and all 6 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on July 17, 2024?

The 6 Strands theme words for July 17, 2024 are BENCHES, CLIMBER, SANDBOX, SEESAW, SLIDE and SWINGS, plus the spangram PLAYGROUND.

What was the big word in the July 17, 2024 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for July 17, 2024 is PLAYGROUND, 10 letters long, running from row 1, column 4 to row 8, column 2. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.

What did the Strands theme “Park place” mean?

The Strands theme “Park place” for July 17, 2024 means PLAYGROUND — 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 July 17, 2024?

Strands puzzle #136 has 6 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the July 17, 2024 Strands puzzle?

Strands #136 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 17% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on July 17, 2024?

The Strands puzzle published on Wednesday, July 17, 2024 is #136, 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 July 2024, part of the full Strands archive.