NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #393 (Monday, March 31 2025)
Need help with Strands #393? Here are some hints and the answers

Need some assistance with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "That's an equine of a different shade!" — isn't tough to decode, but still requires very specific knowledge that you may not possess.
Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #393, 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 #393, so read on if you need a little help.
Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #393.
Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints
The official theme for NYT Strands #393 is... "That's an equine of a different shade!"
And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Describe the coats".
If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:
- BUCKS
- GROAN
- LOOKS
- PORK
- GUNS
- RUNTS
- HOOK
Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with H and ends with S.
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Scroll down to find out what it is...
It's HORSECOLORINGS.
Today's Strands answers
So, what are today's Strands answers for game #393?
Drumroll, please...
- ROAN
- CHESTNUT
- BUCKSKIN
- DAPPLE
- PALOMINO
...and the spangram was HORSECOLORINGS.
Strands #393
“That's an equine of a different shade!”
💡🔵🟡🔵
🔵🔵🔵
Hi Strands fans. If you know little about horses, you're out of luck today. I am very much in this boat, so found today's game a tedious game of trial and error.
Thinking that the theme of "That's an equine of a different shade!" might be a direct quote from a film or TV show I hadn't seen, I used a clue. This revealed ROAN and I realized that, no, this really was about horses.
That's a problem, as I know nothing about horses. So, I did what I always do in this circumstance and try to tease out the spangram to break the board down into more managable halves.
This was easy enough, and I found the word HORSECOLORINGS spelt out from the middle of the board, then touching the top, before heading to the bottom.
From now on, I was guessing. Fortunately, I found CHESTNUT on the right-hand side, and that only left BUCKSKIN to connect immediately above it to complete the half.
On the left-hand side I found DAPPLE at the top. Fortunately, the single-file letters for 'P', 'A', 'L' and 'O' didn't leave much room for alternatives, and after a bit of trial and error I connected PALOMINO to complete a rather annoying 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 #392 right here.
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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