According to the official format by The New York Times, the goal of Strands is to identify theme-related words hidden within a grid of letters. Once found, these words are highlighted in blue. Players can form words by dragging or tapping across letters,

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.