NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #395 (Wednesday, April 2 2025)
Need help with Strands #395? Here are some hints and the answers

Need some assistance with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "Shine on" — is a little cryptic, but simple enough when you get an answer or two in place.
Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #395, 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 #395, so read on if you need a little help.
Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #395.
Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints
The official theme for NYT Strands #395 is... "Shine on".
And here's an unofficial hint from me: "A fixture of the night sky".
If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:
- DAZE
- RATES
- MINES
- KITES
- WINK
- EELS
- SHOPS
Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with S and ends with R.
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Scroll down to find out what it is...
It's STARPOWER.
Today's Strands answers
So, what are today's Strands answers for game #395?
Drumroll, please...
- DAZZLE
- SPARKLE
- RADIATE
- TWINKLE
- GLEAM
- SHIMMER
...and the spangram was STARPOWER.
Strands #395
“Shine on”
🔵🔵🟡🔵
🔵🔵🔵
Hi Strands fans. A nice and easy one for you today. Although the theme of "Shine on" isn't obvious on its own, the double 'Z' on the right-hand side led me straight to DAZZLE, which set me on the right path.
I found SPARKLE immediately below it, and when I saw the word "power" in the bottom half, I correctly intuited that it was part of the spangram. I followed it backwards to spell STARPOWER and split the grid in two.
Now I knew this was describing things that stars do, it was all pretty simple. I got RADIATE in the top-right corner, followed by TWINKLE on the opposite side. I then got GLEAM in the bottom-left corner, which just left SHIMMER above it to complete the puzzle rather quickly.
Yesterday's Strands answers
Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #394 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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