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Strands is like a word find game, but without the list of words to find. Sometimes I see the theme and begin recognizing the answers right away. But for those times when I can’t seem to manage this, I use a loophole: Strands lets you make as many words of four or more letters as you want. For every three of those words found, the puzzle will highlight one of the answers. You’re still going to have to unscramble that answer, though, which can be very tough.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

Today’s puzzle theme wasn’t terribly tough, but some of the answers were tricky to unscramble. Read on for hints and all the answers.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Things fall apart.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Is it possible to fix that?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• SALE, ROLL, ROLE, REAL, DOLL, DOLE, TAME, GAME, DAME

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight, but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• BREAK, CRUMBLE, COLLAPSE, DISSOLVE, FRAGMENT

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BEYONDREPAIR. To find it, start with the B that’s located two rows over from the left and three letters down, and wind left, down, right, down and over to spell the spangram.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an “S” or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

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