Strands Hint

#386Monday, March 24, 2025

Strands answers for March 24, 2025 — “Yes, Queen ...” (#386)

The NYT Strands spangram for March 24, 2025 (puzzle #386) is ROCKBAND, a 8-letter answer to the theme "Yes, Queen ...". The 7 theme words are BLONDIE, EAGLES, GENESIS, HEART, JOURNEY, KISS and RUSH.

BLONDIEEAGLESGENESISHEARTJOURNEYKISSRUSHROCKBAND

Where is each answer on the March 24 Strands board?

Here are all 7 theme words from the March 24, 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.

Verified board positions, Strands puzzle #386
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
BLONDIE7row 5, column 1row 1, column 1bottom to top
EAGLES6row 5, column 6row 8, column 5top to bottom
GENESIS7row 3, column 6row 1, column 5diagonally across the grid
HEART5row 2, column 3row 1, column 2diagonally across the grid
JOURNEY7row 5, column 4row 4, column 3diagonally across the grid
KISS4row 2, column 4row 4, column 5diagonally across the grid
RUSH4row 8, column 6row 6, column 6diagonally across the grid
ROCKBAND8row 4, column 6row 6, column 1diagonally across the grid

What did the March 24 Strands grid look like?

Every letter below appears in exactly one answer — the 8 words tile all 48 cells of the March 24, 2025 grid.

ETAESIIRHKESNDINEGOLYSSRBEOJOEDNUCAHNRKGUSABLESR

Spangram — 8 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 E-T-A-E-S-I, row 2 reads I-R-H-K-E-S, row 3 reads N-D-I-N-E-G, row 4 reads O-L-Y-S-S-R, row 5 reads B-E-O-J-O-E, row 6 reads D-N-U-C-A-H, row 7 reads N-R-K-G-U-S, and row 8 reads A-B-L-E-S-R.

How hard was the March 24 Strands puzzle?

On the same measure applied to every puzzle since 2024, Strands #386 comes out easy, ahead of 25% of them.

Difficulty
25
percentile, easy
Path turns
24
direction changes
Decoy words
1062
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
5.7
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 March 24 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #386 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 March 24 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on March 24, 2025?

The Strands clue for March 24, 2025 is “Yes, Queen ...”, on puzzle #386. It is answered by the spangram ROCKBAND, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on March 24, 2025?

The 7 Strands theme words for March 24, 2025 are BLONDIE, EAGLES, GENESIS, HEART, JOURNEY, KISS and RUSH, plus the spangram ROCKBAND.

What was the big word in the March 24, 2025 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for March 24, 2025 is ROCKBAND, 8 letters long, running from row 4, column 6 to row 6, 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 “Yes, Queen ...” mean?

The Strands theme “Yes, Queen ...” for March 24, 2025 means ROCKBAND — 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 March 24, 2025?

Strands puzzle #386 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the March 24, 2025 Strands puzzle?

Strands #386 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 25% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on March 24, 2025?

The Strands puzzle published on Monday, March 24, 2025 is #386, 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.