When a 9,000 year-old grave of a shaman was discovered in Nazi Germany, the discovery was quickly politicized to support Nazi propaganda. But new analysis shows that initial narrative was all wrong.
Saturday, April 4, 2026
U.S. searches for airman shot down in Iran, while Trump posts ultimatum
At the start of the sixth week of war, U.S. forces search for a missing airman and President Trump reiterates his ultimatum for Iran to open the Straight of Hormuz.
Iran war enters its 6th week as military searches for downed jet crew member
The war in Iran enters its 6th week as the search continues for the missing U.S. service member who bailed out of a fighter jet shot down over Iran on Friday.
(Image credit: Majid Saeedi)
The busiest place you've never seen
Photographer Julia Gunther and writer-filmmaker Nick Schönfeld chronicle the rhythms of daily life on Tristan da Cunha, the world's most remote inhabited island.
(Image credit: Nick Schönfeld for NPR)
Friday, April 3, 2026
NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, April 4 (game #762)
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, April 2 (game #761).
Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #762) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Early risers
NYT Strands today (game #762) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- SOLID
- COIN
- PROUD
- BINGO
- TWINS
- SOIL
NYT Strands today (game #762) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 13 letters
NYT Strands today (game #762) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 4th column
Last side: top, 5th column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #762) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #762, are…
- DAFFODIL
- TULIP
- HYACINTH
- CROCUS
- SNOWDROP
- SPANGRAM: SPRINGBLOSSOM
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 2 hints
I quickly abandoned my search for jobs that required an early morning start (mainly because I couldn’t think of any).
Fortunately in my hunt for non-game words I found ‘blossom” and then “spring” and stuck them together for today’s spangram.
However, after finding the most obvious of SPRINGBLOSSOM with DAFFODIL I reached the limits of my floral knowledge and needed two hints to see me virtually to a full bouquet.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, April 3, game #761)
- GUAVA
- ACAI
- PINEAPPLE
- LYCHEE
- MANGO
- PAPAYA
- SPANGRAM: TROPICALFRUIT
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
Thursday, April 2, 2026
NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, April 3 (game #761)
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, April 2 (game #760).
Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #761) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Smooth(ie) operator
NYT Strands today (game #761) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- LINE
- PLACE
- CLAP
- PINE
- PYRE
- FRUG
NYT Strands today (game #761) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 13 letters
NYT Strands today (game #761) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 5th row
Last side: right, 4th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #761) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #761, are…
- GUAVA
- ACAI
- PINEAPPLE
- LYCHEE
- MANGO
- PAPAYA
- SPANGRAM: TROPICALFRUIT
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
As opposed to the hits of '80s legend Sade (who sang the brilliant Smooth Operator) it was immediately apparent that we were searching for smoothie ingredients.
It wasn’t immediately apparent that all the words would be TROPICALFRUIT, so my first thought was for banana — the key ingredient of most smoothies — a search you could say proved fruitless.
Smoothies are a key plot point in an HBO show I am currently watching — DTF St Louis — where one of the characters pretends to be a regular consumer of The Go Getter at her local juice store, where it is later revealed that she is a regular Watermelon Breeze consumer. It’s quite the twist!
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, April 2, game #760)
- AGENT
- BETTOR
- JOCKEY
- TIPSTER
- BOOKIE
- TRAINER
- SPANGRAM: HORSERACING
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
Radical Israeli settlers have stepped up attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank
Israeli settlers have increased their attacks on Palestinians, while the military suspends a battalion that assaulted a CNN reporting team.