Strand's NYT clues, Spangram and answer for today, November 2, 2024

If you are looking for Strands clues and answers for Saturday November 2, 2024, read on – I will give you some hints and tips and finally the solution to the Good on Paper themed puzzle.

So that you can easily use our Strands tips every day, Bookmark this page. You can also find our previous clues there if you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below I give you some indirect clues to today's Strands answers. And further down the page I will reveal the Spangram and the answers. Scroll slowly and pick up exactly the clues you need!

Photo credit: Strands/NYT

Clue for the Spangram in today's Strands puzzle

Two words for the kind of things you might need to buy for school or your desk at work.

Clue about the theme words in today's Strands puzzle

Things that allow you to manipulate paper in some way, be it cutting, drawing, attaching to other sheets of paper, etc.

WARNING: Spoilers for today's Strands puzzle follow!

We're about to reveal the answers to today's Strands puzzle.

What is the Spangram in today's Strands?

Today's Spangram is OFFICESUPPLIES.

What are the theme words in today's Strands?

The topic words today are: STAPLER, PRINTER, SCISSORS, PENCIL, RULER.

This is what the game board looks like when the puzzle is solved:

Photo credit: Strands/NYT

How I solved today's strands

“Good on paper” usually refers to something that sounds good in theory but doesn't work in practice – but I feel like it's not so metaphorical these days. What things are literally good on paper? My brain immediately jumps to foods like burgers and fries, which are often served in a basket lined with parchment paper.

Ah, at the bottom left is the word SCISSORS, and it's a slam dunk. 🔵 SCISSORS are indeed good for cutting paper, so maybe we'll look for other things that interact with paper, like pens, pencils, etc.

Look at this, PENCILS is just to the right. 🔵

RULER is above it. 🔵

I see the words CLIP and CLIPS, but they are not topic words.

I can almost do ERASER, but I only get ERASURE, which isn't quite the same.

Oh, I see the word SUPPLIES, which is definitely part of Spangram.

PRINTER is in the top right corner. 🔵

There it is: OFFICE SUPPLIES. 🟡 This is a curvy spangram!

Last but not least, STACKER. 🔵

Strands #244
“Good on paper”
🔵🔵🔵🔵
🟡🔵

This is how you play Strands

You can find the Strands game on the New York Times website and the NYT Games app.

When you start playing, you'll see a game board with a series of letters flanked by a clue that gives a clue to the game board's theme – this is a phrase like “Better with age.” Your task is to find the hidden words on the board that reflect the theme of the puzzle.

A crossword puzzle crossed with a word search

The most important word to find is “Spangram,” a word that more explicitly states the theme of the puzzle. (For example, the spangram for the puzzle with the theme “Better with age” is “FERMENTED,” which describes products that, you guessed it, get better with age.) The spangram spans the entire board, either from left to right or from top to bottom (hence the name). When you find the Spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Solving the spangram usually makes it much easier to solve the rest of the puzzle.

In Strands, words can move in any direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonally), and you only use each letter once. There is only one correct solution. If you correctly identify one of the words in the puzzle (e.g. KOMBUCHA, MISO or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.

If you're having trouble solving the puzzle, you can submit any off-topic words you see (as long as they have four or more letters) to receive single clue credit. If you submit three off-topic words, the “Note” button can be clicked. When you click on it, all the letters of one of the topic words will be highlighted for you. You still need to link these highlighted letters in the correct order to form one of the topic words. If there is already a clue on the board and you use another clue before searching for that word, the letter order of that word will be displayed.

How to win Strands

Unlike Connections and Wordle, you can't fail at Strands. When you submit guesses, you either correctly identify an answer, receive a clue, or the text wobbles back and forth, indicating that the word you entered is too short or invalid. The guesses can't run out and there is no time limit.

You win if you have used all the letters on the board correctly, i.e. identified the Spangram and all the topic words. As with other NYT games, after solving the puzzle you will see a shareable card showing your performance that day: blue dots 🔵 indicate topic words you found, yellow dot 🟡 indicates when you found the Spangram have, and a light bulb 💡 indicates words that you have received a clue.