NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, May 4 (game #427)

14 hours ago 2
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
(Image credit: New York Times)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, May 3 (game #426).

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

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Star Wars: A New Hope

NYT Strands today (game #427) - hint #2 - clue words

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

  • POLE
  • NINE
  • REIN
  • NAME
  • REAL
  • WARBLE

NYT Strands today (game #427) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

Spangram has 12 letters

NYT Strands today (game #427) - hint #4 - spangram position

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

First side: top, 1st column

Last side: bottom, 8th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #427) - the answers

NYT Strands answer for game 427 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #427, are…

  • PLANET
  • EMPIRE
  • SPACE
  • LONG
  • TIME
  • GALAXY
  • REBEL
  • SPANGRAM: OPENING CRAWL

  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

I was wondering about the reason behind this edition of Strands and then I noticed the date on my laptop screen.

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Fortunately, you didn’t have to be a Star Wars fanatic to enjoy today’s search, which instead pays tribute to the OPENING CRAWL, the introductory piece of floating text that became a signature of all the Star Wars movies.

In the 1977 original version, the text, which begins “A LONG TIME ago, in a GALAXY far, far away…”, was designed to sync with John Williams’s main theme, with each new paragraph timing with a new section of music.

Sadly, this subtle effect was lost when the movie was retitled “A New Hope” and subsequently became chapter four of the nine-part Luke Skywalker saga and the insignificant seed of the sprawling 99-part franchise.

For all the hooplah that was to follow, that opening crawl was a reminder of the power of words to set the imagination flowing and transport us to another dimension. May the fourth be with you.

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


Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, May 3, game #426)

  • GAUZE
  • TAPE
  • SYRINGE
  • STETHOSCOPE
  • THERMOMETER
  • SPANGRAM: DOCTORS KIT

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.

Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.

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