NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, April 3 (game #396)

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 #396) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Get the bug

NYT Strands today (game #396) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• THAN
• DOLE
• SOAP
• TOOL
• SNAP
• LADS

NYT Strands today (game #396) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #396) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 3rd row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #396) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #396, are…

• LADY
• STINK
• DOODLE
• LIGHTNING
• POTATO
• ASSASSIN
• SPANGRAM: ENTOMOLOGY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 3 hints

ENOTOMOLOGY, and I will tell you as I’ve just googled it, is the study of insects, encompassing their biology, ecology, behavior, and interactions with humans.

I must admit that a couple of the bugs that made today’s search are ones that I thought were just names for things, rather than names for actual insects.

Until today I thought DOODLEbug was the name given, during the Second World War, to flying bombs – rather than a small unattractive creature that lives in sand.

Strictly speaking, LADYbugs are beetles rather than bugs and they’re really fascinating.

The two facts that I remember most about them is that although they have a short lifespan (two years at most) they hibernate for about nine months of that time and secondly that the charming name for a large group of them is a “loveliness”.

STINKbugs don’t have an official collective term but the experts like to call large groups “a stench”.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 2 April, game #395)

• DAZZLE
• TWINKLE
• SHIMMER
• SPARKLE
• GLEAM
• RADIATE
• SPANGRAM: STAR POWER

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.