Opposites attract—and they hide together on the grid.
Each day, the New York Times offers its Strands players a small philosophical puzzle disguised as a word game — and on September 17, that puzzle asked solvers to sit with contradiction itself. Puzzle #563, themed 'We beg to differ,' hides three pairs of opposites inside a grid of letters, bound together by the spangram OPPOSITESATTRACT, a phrase that suggests tension and harmony are not enemies but partners. It is a quiet reminder that meaning often lives not in a single word, but in the space between two that refuse to agree.
- Six words are hidden in a six-by-eight grid, but they only make sense in pairs — BOLD needs TIMID, NOISY needs QUIET, RIGID needs FLEXIBLE.
- The spangram OPPOSITESATTRACT cuts across the entire board, touching two opposite edges and serving as the puzzle's structural spine.
- Players who get stuck can hunt for non-theme words to unlock hints, turning apparent dead ends into a deliberate path forward.
- Starting at the corners, using two-letter anchors like BO, TI, QU, and FL, solvers can systematically narrow the grid until the opposites reveal themselves.
On September 17, the New York Times published Strands puzzle #563 under the theme 'We beg to differ' — an invitation to find contradiction hiding in plain sight. The puzzle asks players to locate three pairs of opposite words — BOLD and TIMID, NOISY and QUIET, RIGID and FLEXIBLE — inside a six-by-eight letter grid, with the spangram OPPOSITESATTRACT threading across the board from one edge to the other.
For those new to Strands, the mechanic is simple: drag connected letters to form theme words, double-tap to submit, and watch the board clarify as each word locks into place. Non-theme words, though they don't count toward the solution, earn hints after every three found — a useful lifeline when the grid feels impenetrable.
The spangram is the puzzle's most powerful tool. Beginning with the letters OP, it traces a winding path across the grid, effectively dividing the board into zones and eliminating impossible letter routes. Experienced solvers treat it as a map before searching for anything else.
The deeper strategy is to think in pairs. Finding BOLD means TIMID is somewhere close. Spotting NOISY points you toward QUIET. The two-letter openings of each word — BO, TI, NO, QU, RI, FL — give solvers a foothold when intuition alone isn't enough. Corners tend to cluster useful letter runs, and process of elimination handles the rest. The puzzle doesn't demand brilliance, only patience and a willingness to let the board speak in contrasts.
The New York Times released Strands puzzle number 563 on September 17, built around a simple but elegant premise: opposites. The theme, announced as "We beg to differ," asks players to find three pairs of contrasting words hidden in a six-by-eight grid of letters. The pairs are BOLD and TIMID, NOISY and QUIET, RIGID and FLEXIBLE. Woven through the entire puzzle is a spangram—a word or phrase that stretches across the board from one edge to the opposite side—that reads OPPOSITESATTRACT, a phrase that captures the puzzle's central idea in a single stroke.
For players unfamiliar with how Strands works, the mechanics are straightforward but require patience and pattern recognition. You open the board and look for words that fit the announced theme. When you spot a word, you drag or tap the letters in sequence to form it, then double-tap the final letter to submit. Theme words stay highlighted once found, which helps you see the board's structure more clearly as you progress. Non-theme words—random letter combinations that don't fit the puzzle's concept—can actually be useful: find three of them, and the game awards you a hint, which reveals the first letters of one theme word you haven't yet discovered.
The spangram is the puzzle's skeleton key. It doesn't start at a grid edge; instead, it traces a path that touches two opposite sides, running in a mix of vertical and horizontal directions. In this puzzle, the spangram begins with the letters OP and continues through the grid in a way that helps you eliminate impossible letter paths and narrow your search zones. Once you've located it, you can use it as a reference point to find the remaining theme words more efficiently.
Solvers are advised to start at the corners, where letter runs often cluster in ways that form complete words. The first two letters of each theme word provide another useful guide: BO, TI, NO, QU, RI, and FL. If you're stuck, you can deliberately hunt for non-theme words to earn hints, then use those revealed letters in combination with the first-letter pairs to test whether a particular path on the grid actually spells a word you're looking for. The puzzle rewards methodical thinking—tracking which letters repeat across candidate words, using process of elimination to rule out dead ends, and remembering that theme words don't overlap with each other.
The broader strategy involves treating the spangram as a dividing line that splits the board into zones, then thinking in pairs. Since the theme explicitly involves opposites, you're not just looking for six random words; you're looking for three matched sets. Once you find BOLD, you know TIMID is somewhere nearby. Once you spot NOISY, QUIET should follow. This paired thinking can help you confirm you're on the right track and avoid wasting time on letter combinations that don't fit the theme's logic. For players who find themselves truly stuck, the hint system ensures you can always make progress—it just requires patience and a willingness to explore the board's non-theme words first.
Notable Quotes
The spangram describes the theme and helps to narrow the options for the remaining theme words.— NYT Strands puzzle guide
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does the spangram matter so much if you can just find the theme words on their own?
The spangram is like a spine running through the puzzle. Once you see it, you know which parts of the board are "active" and which are just noise. It helps you stop searching in places where the answer can't possibly be.
So if I find three non-theme words, I get a hint. Why would anyone deliberately look for words that don't fit?
Because hints are the only way forward when you're stuck. And those random words aren't wasted effort—they're actually part of the puzzle's design. You're trading exploration for information.
The theme is "opposites." Does that mean I should be thinking about the words in pairs from the start?
Exactly. The moment you find BOLD, your brain should be primed to look for TIMID. It's not just six separate words; it's three conversations happening on the same board.
What's the hardest part for most players?
Probably the spangram itself. It doesn't follow a straight line, and it doesn't start at an edge. You have to think in terms of paths, not just horizontal or vertical runs. That's where most people get tangled up.
If I start at the corners, am I more likely to find theme words or non-theme words?
Corners tend to hold the beginning of longer words, so you're more likely to find theme words there. But you might also hit dead ends. The point is to gather information quickly and use it to narrow your search.