The New York Times has once again demonstrated its commitment to not requiring any actual mental effort from its readers by releasing a comprehensive guide to solving this week's Strands puzzle. The puzzle, which was designed to be "brain-teasing" and "challenging," apparently forgot that the goal of a word game is to challenge one's brain.
According to sources close to the Times, the puzzle's creators were overheard lamenting the lack of difficulty in their own work. "I mean, come on, we're just giving away all the answers here," said a disgruntled developer. "What's the point of even calling it a 'puzzle'?"
The solution guide includes not only the entire word list but also a detailed explanation of the theme: fabric crafts. Because who needs to figure out what words are related to each other when someone else will just tell you?
But wait, there's more! The Times has also provided a hint about the spangram, which is apparently the most important part of the puzzle (or so they claim). "Is it vertical or horizontal?" the hint asks, completely unnecessarily. Because, let's be real, who hasn't spent hours agonizing over whether their spangram should be written from left to right or top to bottom?
And if you're feeling particularly lazy, the Times has even included a link to a page with more puzzles that require absolutely no thought or effort whatsoever. Why bother trying to solve them yourself when someone else will just give away all the answers?