If you woke up, opened the New York Times Games app, and saw the clue that's an equine of a different shade strands, you probably blinked a few times. I did. It’s a mouthful. It’s clunky. Honestly, it feels like the puzzle editors are intentionally trying to mess with our heads at this point.
NYT Strands is the newest darling of the puzzle world. It’s basically a word search with a high-concept makeover. Unlike Wordle, which is a sprint, or Connections, which is a logic trap, Strands is about spatial awareness and theme deciphering. But when the theme is a play on a 1939 movie quote mixed with horse terminology, things get weird.
Let’s be real. "A horse of a different color" is the idiom we all know. The Wizard of Oz. Emerald City. The horse that literally changes colors. By swapping "color" for "shade" and "horse" for "equine," the NYT is signaling a very specific set of answers. You aren't just looking for "pony" or "stallion." You’re looking for the specific, weirdly named coat colors that make horse people spend thousands of dollars on registration papers.
Decoding the Theme: Why "Shade" Matters
When the Strands hint uses a word like "shade," it’s a massive neon sign pointing toward coat colors. In the equestrian world, these aren't just descriptions; they are genetic identities. If you call a buckskin a "tan horse" in front of a breeder, they might actually faint.
The puzzle isn't asking for types of horses like Mustangs or Clydesdales. It’s asking for the palette.
Think about the Spangram. In Strands, the Spangram is the word or phrase that touches two opposite sides of the grid and describes everything else you've found. For this specific puzzle, the Spangram is almost always HORSE COLORS. Once you find that, the rest of the board starts to make sense, but only if you know your way around a stable.
The Words You’re Likely Missing
Most people find BAY or GRAY pretty quickly. They’re short. They’re common. But the grid usually hides the "fancy" ones.
Take ROAN, for example. It’s a four-letter word that feels like it should be easy, but because the letters in Strands can twist in any direction—diagonal, vertical, zig-zagging back on themselves—it’s easy to overlook. A Roan is a horse with white hairs interspersed with a base color. It’s a specific "shade" that fits the clue perfectly.
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Then there is PALOMINO. This is usually the "boss" word of this specific puzzle. It’s long. It takes up a lot of real estate on the board. If you see a 'P', an 'L', and an 'M' hanging out near each other, start tracing. This is the golden horse with the white mane. It’s the quintessential "different shade" the hint is mocking.
Real-World Examples of These "Shades"
If you're stuck, it helps to visualize what you're actually looking for. These aren't just abstract words; they are the visual makeup of the animals.
- DUN: This is a primitive coat color. Think of a tan horse with a dark stripe down its back (the dorsal stripe). In a Strands grid, three-letter words are often the hardest to find because they're tucked into corners.
- APPALOOSA: Sometimes the puzzle leans into patterns rather than just solid colors. While technically a breed, it’s synonymous with the spotted pattern. If you see double 'P's, keep an eye out.
- CHESTNUT: This is the one people confuse with "brown." In the horse world, brown and chestnut are different. Chestnut is reddish.
- PINTO: This is the "painted" horse. Large patches of white and another color.
Interestingly, the NYT editors often throw in SORREL. It's basically a light chestnut, but it’s a very common term in Western riding circles. If you see an 'S' and a bunch of 'R's, that’s your target.
Why This Puzzle Format Is Stressful
Strands isn't like a crossword where you have a clear number of letters and a concrete clue. You are fighting the "blanket of letters."
The difficulty of that's an equine of a different shade strands lies in the synonyms. By using "equine," they open the door to "mule" or "donkey" or "zebra," but the "shade" part narrows it back down to aesthetics. It’s a double-fake.
I’ve noticed that people who play this at 6:00 AM over coffee tend to struggle more than the lunch-break players. Why? Because your brain hasn't switched into "lateral thinking" mode yet. You’re looking for "horse." You won't find it. You need to look for the description of the horse.
Expert Tips for Cracking the Grid
Stop looking for the Spangram first. Seriously.
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Everyone wants that yellow highlight early on to feel smart. But in a complex theme like "Equine of a different shade," the Spangram (HORSE COLORS) is often buried under the smaller words.
- Find the 'Z's and 'X's first. They rarely exist in horse color names, unless it’s something incredibly obscure. If you see an 'X', it’s probably a trap or part of a very specific word like 'Appaloosa' (wait, no 'X' there) or maybe 'Roan' (no). Actually, 'X' is rarely in these puzzles. If you see a 'Q' or 'Z', rethink the theme.
- Look for 'O-A-N'. If those letters are adjacent, you’ve found ROAN.
- Trace the 'B-A-Y'. It’s almost always in a corner.
- Connect the 'P-I-N-T-O'. It’s a common word that people forget is a color description.
The game is as much about what isn't there as what is. If you find a word like "STALLION," and it doesn't highlight, it means the theme is strictly about colors, not the animals themselves. This is the "aha!" moment that separates the casuals from the daily Streakers.
The Genetic Side of the Shade
To really get why the NYT chose this theme, you have to understand that horse people are obsessed with genetics. There’s a whole world of "color testing."
Extension genes, Agouti genes—it sounds like sci-fi, but it’s just how you get a Buckskin versus a Bay. A Buckskin is basically a Bay horse with a cream dilution gene. If the Strands puzzle is feeling particularly cruel, they might include CREMELLO. It’s a long shot, but for an "expert" level puzzle, it’s fair game.
Most of the time, the NYT sticks to the "Big Eight": Bay, Gray, Chestnut, Palomino, Roan, Dun, Pinto, and Sorrel.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Don't get hyper-focused on the word "Equine." I’ve seen players spend ten minutes trying to find "Stallion," "Mare," "Colt," and "Filly."
The hint is a reference to a phrase, not a list of nouns. The phrase "Horse of a different color" is about something being different or unexpected. Here, the "different" part is just a fancy way of saying "I'm going to use synonyms for colors."
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Also, watch out for "hidden" words that aren't part of the theme. Strands will often have four-letter words like "TAME" or "RIDE" that fit the horse vibe but aren't part of the actual solution. If it doesn't turn blue or yellow, it’s just filler.
The Cultural Impact of the Phrase
"A horse of a different color" originally comes from Shakespeare (Twelfth Night), believe it or not. He used "a horse of that color" to mean "of that sort." Over time, it flipped to mean something entirely different.
The Wizard of Oz cemented it in the American lexicon. By the time the NYT editors got their hands on it for a Strands theme, it had become a triple-layered pun. They expect you to know the idiom, know the synonym for the idiom, and then know the technical terms for the subject of the idiom.
It’s meta. It’s a bit pretentious. It’s exactly why we play the NYT games.
Actionable Steps for Today's Puzzle
If you are looking at the grid right now and failing:
- Search for the Spangram horizontally. It’s almost always HORSECOLORS or EQUINECOLORS.
- Isolate the 'L's. Long words like Palomino or Appaloosa need them.
- Look for the red-spectrum words. Chestnut and Sorrel are the most common "red" horses.
- Check the corners. Short words like Bay and Dun love to hide there.
- Use the Hint button sparingly. If you must, use it to find the first letter of the Spangram. That usually breaks the whole puzzle wide open.
Once you’ve cleared the board, take a second to look at the patterns. Strands is designed to be aesthetically pleasing once finished. The colors (blue and yellow) will fill the entire square grid without any leftover letters. If you have three letters left and they spell "G-A-T," you missed something.
Go back. Find the shade. Finish the grid.
Move on to your Wordle. The equine is conquered.