Each day, the New York Times Strands puzzle offers solvers a small arena in which language and patience are tested together. Tuesday's edition, themed 'Risky Business,' gathered words that name the very qualities required to face it: boldness, courage, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty. In this quiet way, the puzzle became a minor mirror of its own subject matter.
NYT Strands Answers: 'Risky Business' Puzzle Solutions for April 21
A puzzle about boldness that uses uncommon vocabulary
Mark
Why does a puzzle about bravery need to be so hard to solve?
Mimi
Because the difficulty mirrors the theme. You have to push through frustration, hold multiple possibilities in your mind at once, sit with uncertainty. That's what courage actually feels like.
Mark
But couldn't the puzzle be about bravery and still be easy?
Mimi
Sure, technically. But there's something satisfying about a puzzle that makes you work for it—that doesn't hand you the answer. The struggle becomes part of the meaning.
Mark
What made this one specifically tricky?
Mimi
The words themselves. COURAGEOUS and INTREPID aren't words you encounter every day. They're not short. They have odd letter patterns. A puzzle about boldness that uses uncommon vocabulary—that's a choice.
Mark
Did the spangram give it away?
Mimi
Not immediately. You had to find BOLD or GUTSY first, spot the DEVILS between them, and then realize what was spanning the board. It's a reveal that builds on itself.
Mark
So the puzzle teaches you something about the theme while you're solving it?
Mimi
Exactly. You learn what these words mean by hunting for them, by sitting with their shapes and sounds. That's deeper than just reading a definition.
The Pulse
- The theme 'Risky Business' announced itself clearly, but the grid's construction made good on the promise of difficulty — long, vowel-heavy words sprawled across the board in unexpected directions.
- COURAGEOUS at nine letters and INTREPID at eight demanded more than casual familiarity, tripping up solvers who rely on common vocabulary and pattern recognition.
- The puzzle offered a foothold: the first two letters of each word — AD, GU, CO, IN, BO, DA — giving solvers just enough to begin mapping the terrain without surrendering the challenge.
- Many found their way in through the shorter words BOLD and GUTSY, whose discovery left DEVILS exposed between them, pointing directly to the spangram DAREDEVILS.
- By the end, the puzzle rewarded those who stayed with it — not a casual sprint, but a deliberate exercise in the same persistence the theme words themselves describe.
Each day, the New York Times Strands puzzle offers solvers a small arena in which language and patience are tested together. Tuesday's edition, themed 'Risky Business,' gathered words that name the very qualities required to face it: boldness, courage, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty. In this quiet way, the puzzle became a minor mirror of its own subject matter.
The New York Times released its Tuesday Strands puzzle on April 21st under the theme 'Risky Business,' and the construction matched the concept. The grid asked solvers to locate five words — ADVENTUROUS, GUTSY, COURAGEOUS, INTREPID, and BOLD — all circling the same idea: what it looks like to act without fear. Anchoring the board was the spangram DAREDEVILS, a single word spanning the full width of the grid and setting the tone for everything hidden around it.
The difficulty lay not in the theme, which was legible from the start, but in the words themselves. COURAGEOUS packs nine letters with vowels in awkward positions. INTREPID, at eight letters, sits outside everyday conversation, offering solvers no muscle memory to lean on. Even ADVENTUROUS, at eleven letters, required patience to trace through the grid's winding paths.
A set of first-letter hints — AD, GU, CO, IN, BO, DA — gave solvers a place to begin, though the longer words could still snake through the board in surprising directions. Most found their footing through BOLD and GUTSY, the shortest entries, whose placement left the letters DEVILS visible between them and made the spangram suddenly obvious. From there, the remaining words became more approachable, even if COURAGEOUS and INTREPID still demanded careful attention.
This was a puzzle that pushed back — not impossible, but not effortless either. For those accustomed to quick completions, it asked for something more. In that sense, it earned its theme: a small exercise in the very courage it set out to name.
The New York Times released another round of Strands puzzles on Tuesday, April 21st, and this one came with a particular bite. The theme was "Risky Business"—a straightforward enough concept on its surface, but the execution proved demanding. Solvers faced a grid populated with words that all orbit the same idea: what it means to act without fear, to push forward despite danger or uncertainty.
The spangram, the word that runs across the full width of the board and anchors the entire puzzle, was DAREDEVILS. That single word set the tone for everything else hidden in the grid. Around it sat five companion words, each a synonym or close relative of the central concept. ADVENTUROUS captured the spirit of someone willing to explore unknown territory. GUTSY named the raw nerve required to take a chance. COURAGEOUS spoke to moral bravery in the face of real stakes. INTREPID described a fearlessness that borders on recklessness. And BOLD, the shortest and most direct, simply stated the quality itself.
What made this particular puzzle notably difficult was not the theme—that was clear enough—but the construction. These were not short, punchy words. COURAGEOUS alone is nine letters, packed with vowels in awkward positions that made it easy to misread or overlook. INTREPID, at eight letters, is not a word that appears in everyday conversation, which meant solvers couldn't rely on muscle memory or casual familiarity. Even ADVENTUROUS, at eleven letters, demanded patience and precision to locate within the grid's constraints.
The puzzle offered a lifeline: the first two letters of each word. AD for ADVENTUROUS. GU for GUTSY. CO for COURAGEOUS. IN for INTREPID. BO for BOLD. DA for DAREDEVILS. With those anchors in place, a solver could begin to map the territory, though finding the exact path through the grid still required work. The longer words, in particular, could snake through the board in unexpected directions, and spotting them meant holding multiple letter sequences in mind simultaneously.
For many solvers, BOLD and GUTSY proved to be the entry points. These shorter words are easier to spot, and once located, they left visible traces—in this case, the letters DEVILS sitting between them, which immediately suggested the spangram. From there, the remaining words became more tractable, though COURAGEOUS and INTREPID still demanded careful attention to letter placement and grid navigation.
This was the kind of puzzle that rewarded persistence and a willingness to sit with difficulty for a few minutes. It was not impossible, but it was not casual either. For players accustomed to breezing through Strands in a few minutes, this one pushed back. And that, perhaps, was the point—a puzzle about risk and courage that itself required a little courage to complete.
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