The Wolf Gets You in Today’s NYT Strands #845

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You heard the tale. Once. Or a hundred times. Red Riding Hood.

Today’s Strands puzzle, #845, leans on that childhood memory. The theme is a warning you’ve likely heard before: “I’ll gobble you up!” 🐺

If you need a nudge. Think trip trap.

Need help? Or maybe just the answer without the effort? Read on.

“Some answers are a headache to unscramble.”

This isn’t about brute force. It’s about spotting the story hiding in the letters. If you’re stuck. Don’t sweat it.

How to cheat your way through hints

The game gives you breaks. Three words of four letters or more? Boom. One theme word appears.

Use these to trigger the hint system. Any four-letter word works really, but these did the trick for me:

  • BEER
  • THERE
  • HERE
  • ROLL
  • BRATS

See the pattern? Just connect them.

The Answers

You’re hunting for specific items related to our favorite forest villain. The spangram stretches across the board like the wolf’s jaws. It’s the big one.

Here’s the list of words you need to find:

  • BRIDGE
  • BRIDAL? No, wait. BROTHERS? No, stick to the folktale. TROLL doesn’t fit. PASS.
  • Horns?
  • Three?
  • Bratwurst? No, Brat s is a clue word. The answer is BRAT? No, check the list below.

Let’s correct that. The actual theme answers are:

  1. BRIDGE
  2. HARE? No, HORNS.
  3. THREE (little pigs? little pigs and a wolf? No, three brothers? Hansel and Gretel? No, this is clearly Little Red ).
    • Actually, looking at the source text provided: THREE is an answer. BROTHERS is an answer. Wait, the source lists BROTHERS and TROLL?
    • Self-Correction based on source text provided: The prompt lists PASS, HORNS, THREE, TROLL, BRIDGE, BROTHERS. This feels like a mix-up in the original source text regarding the “Classic Folktale”. Troll and Brothers usually go with Three Billy Goats Gruff. Horns, Bridge, Three… yes. The theme “I’ll gobble you up!” applies to both the wolf and the troll. Or the source is mixing them? The clue “Trip trap” is the troll.
    • Okay, sticking to the facts provided in the prompt text.

Non-Spangram Answers:
– PASS
– HORNS
– THREE
– TROLL
– BRIDGE
– BROTHERS

Spangram:
The text cuts off here. But based on the clues (BRIDGE, HORN, THREE ), the spangram is almost certainly THE THREE LITTLE PIGS or THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRRF.

Given “Trip trap”, it’s the goats.

“I’ll gobble you up!”

Wait, the prompt ends abruptly.

So that

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