NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #434 (Sunday, May 11 2025)

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Need help with Strands #434? Here are some hints and the answers

NYT Strands on a cellphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
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Need some assistance with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "Happy..." — isn't too tough, if you check the date (and are in the U.S.).

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #434, as well as the answers, should it come to that. We'll start off with some clues, before building up to the full answer for Strands #434, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #434.

Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints

The official theme for NYT Strands #434 is... "Happy..."

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "What day is it today?"

If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:

  • RAIN
  • SANDY
  • STAY
  • WARDS
  • CANDY
  • LEFT
  • WOLF

Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with M and ends with Y.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's MOTHERSDAY.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #434?

Drumroll, please...

  • BREAKFAST
  • PARTY
  • HUGS
  • CARDS
  • FLOWERS
  • DRAWINGS

Strands #434

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was MOTHERSDAY

Strands #434

“Happy ...”

🔵🔵🟡🔵

🔵🔵🔵

Hi Strands fans. I was an a disadvantage today, as in the U.K, we celebrate Mother's Day in a revolving date around Easter.

So when I saw "Happy..." it didn't immediately follow that this was about Mother's Day. In fact, I thought it was about birthdays, which actually got me reasonably far on its own, as I was able to get BREAKFAST in the top-right corner and PARTY below it.

Then I spotted "mother" to its left, and it clicked. I connected MOTHERSDAY from top to bottom, dividing the grid in two, and added HUGS in the bottom-right corner to complete one side of the board.

Three words were left to find on the opposite side, and I was able to isolate the last two by getting the middle one of CARDS. That just left FLOWERS above and DRAWINGS below it to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #433 right here.

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Alan Martin
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.

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