#373Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Strands answers for March 11, 2025 — “What's the magic word?” (#373)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for March 11, 2025 (puzzle #373) is CASTINGSPELLS, a 13-letter answer to the theme "What's the magic word?". The 5 theme words are ABRACADABRA, ALAKAZAM, PRESTO, SHAZAM and TADA.
Where is each answer on the March 11 Strands board?
Here are all 5 theme words from the March 11, 2025 Strands puzzle, with the spangram last.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABRACADABRA | 11 | row 7, column 3 | row 7, column 6 | left to right |
| ALAKAZAM | 8 | row 1, column 3 | row 1, column 6 | left to right |
| PRESTO | 6 | row 1, column 2 | row 3, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| SHAZAM | 6 | row 7, column 2 | row 6, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| TADA | 4 | row 2, column 5 | row 3, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| CASTINGSPELLS | 13 | row 5, column 1 | row 6, column 6 | left to right |
What did the March 11 Strands grid look like?
Every letter below appears in exactly one answer — the 6 words tile all 48 cells of the March 11, 2025 grid.
Spangram — 13 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 R-P-A-Z-A-M, row 2 reads E-S-L-A-T-A, row 3 reads O-T-A-K-A-D, row 4 reads A-S-N-G-E-L, row 5 reads C-T-I-S-P-L, row 6 reads M-A-C-A-D-S, row 7 reads Z-S-A-A-A-A, and row 8 reads A-H-B-R-B-R.
How hard was the March 11 Strands puzzle?
Measured against the full archive, the March 11, 2025 puzzle lands in the hard range — above 95% 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 March 11 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #373 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Sam Corbin. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.
Common questions about the March 11 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on March 11, 2025?
The Strands clue for March 11, 2025 is “What's the magic word?”, on puzzle #373. It is answered by the spangram CASTINGSPELLS, and all 5 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on March 11, 2025?
The 5 Strands theme words for March 11, 2025 are ABRACADABRA, ALAKAZAM, PRESTO, SHAZAM and TADA, plus the spangram CASTINGSPELLS.
What was the big word in the March 11, 2025 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for March 11, 2025 is CASTINGSPELLS, 13 letters long, running from row 5, column 1 to row 6, 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 “What's the magic word?” mean?
The Strands theme “What's the magic word?” for March 11, 2025 means CASTINGSPELLS — 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 March 11, 2025?
Strands puzzle #373 has 5 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the March 11, 2025 Strands puzzle?
Strands #373 rates hard on a computed index, harder than 95% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on March 11, 2025?
The Strands puzzle published on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 is #373, 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 March 2025, part of the full Strands archive.