Looking for a mental workout to power up your Wednesday? You’ve come to the right place. Here are today’s hints, spangram, and full answer list for the NYT Strands puzzle for Wednesday, May 7.
If you’re new to Strands, it’s one of the New York Times’ latest word-based brain teasers, joining the ranks of Wordle, Connections, and Mini Crossword in the NYT Games collection. Each day brings a fresh grid and a new theme to test your pattern recognition and vocabulary skills.
How to Play NYT Strands
The game begins with a 6×8 grid of letters, where your goal is to find theme words—words that share a common category based on the day’s clue. Each letter is used once, and you can connect letters horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, switching directions mid-word if needed.
As you uncover theme words, they’ll stay highlighted in blue. There’s also a special word called the spangram, which describes the connection between all the other words. It spans from one side of the board to another and appears in yellow when found.
If you’re stuck, you can find three non-theme words of at least four letters to unlock a Hint, which will reveal one theme word on the board.
Also read: Quordle Hints and Answers for Tuesday, May 7 (Game #1199)
Today’s NYT Strands Theme Clue
Ready to jump into today’s puzzle? Don’t scroll too fast if you want to solve it yourself first!
Theme Hint: Training day
Additional Clue: Freight components
This is your chance to guess what all the words have in common before seeing the answers. Can you figure it out?
First Two Letters of Each Theme Word
To nudge you in the right direction without giving it all away, here are the first two letters of each theme word, in no particular order:
- EN
- BO
- GO
- FL
- HO
- CA
- AL
Today’s NYT Strands Spangram
The big connecting word (or phrase) that ties everything together today is:
ALL ABOARD
This phrase hints at the theme being related to trains. Still unsure? Check out the theme words below for a full reveal.
Today’s NYT Strands Answers
If you’re ready for the full list, here are the seven theme words for May 7:
- ENGINE
- BOXCAR
- GONDOLA
- FLATBED
- HOPPER
- CABOOSE
- ALL ABOARD (Spangram)
All of these are different types of train cars or associated train-related terms, which makes the theme clue “Training day” quite clever!
Also read: Today’s Wordle Hints, Clues & Answer for May 7 Puzzle #1418
Strategy & Reflection
This one might have been tough if you’re not a railroad enthusiast. I personally didn’t catch on right away. I used a few hints to get going—BOXCAR and ENGINE were the first ones I found. That helped me deduce the spangram, ALL ABOARD, after seeing HOPPER and CABOOSE highlighted.
Even after filling in all the words, I had to look up a few to understand the theme fully. Words like GONDOLA and HOPPER aren’t immediately obvious unless you know train lingo.
The spangram path was a fun one today—it cuts across the board in a pretty striking way.
Related :
Final Thoughts
Strands continues to bring clever, challenging wordplay every day, and May 7’s puzzle was no exception. If you struggled today, don’t worry—you’re not alone. That’s part of what makes solving these puzzles so satisfying.
And if you’re new to the game, remember: three non-theme words = one hint. That can be a game-changer when you’re stuck.
Check back tomorrow for another round of Strands, and keep your vocabulary sharp. 🚂
