NYT Strands 740 Answer Today March 13, 2026

NYT Strands · Hints & Answer · Friday

#740

March 13, 2026 — Today’s Solution

🎵 Theme: “Mountain Band”

Find all the instruments hidden in the grid and the spangram that ties them together. Use the progressive hints below before uncovering the full answer.

🔢 #740 Puzzle Number

🎼 5 Words Theme Words

🌿 Mountain Band Today’s Theme

⭐ Medium Difficulty

How Strands Works

Quick guide

🔵 Theme Words Find hidden words connected by today’s theme. Words can run in any direction — horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Every letter in the 6×8 grid will be used.

💡 Hint System Find non-theme words of 4+ letters to earn hints. Every three bonus words earns one hint, which automatically reveals a theme word when used.

🌟 Spangram Every puzzle has a spangram — a special word or phrase that describes the overarching theme and touches two opposite sides of the grid. Find it last.

Hints

Progressively stronger — no spoilers

Today’s theme is “Mountain Band” — think of the traditional American folk music that originated in the Appalachian mountains and became one of the most distinctive sounds in American roots music.

Theme

All five theme words are musical instruments — specifically those you’d hear played together in a traditional old-time or roots music group from the mountain south of the United States.

Category

Several of the answers are string instruments typically played in acoustic settings. Think of instruments that would need no amplification at all — the kind you’d hear on a porch in the mountains.

Instrument Type

One of the theme words is a small handheld wind instrument often used in blues and folk music. You hold it to your mouth and blow and draw air across individual reeds to produce notes.

Wind Instrument

One answer is a word that also means a violin in folk and country music contexts — same instrument, different name depending on the genre and playing style. It’s the backbone of bluegrass music.

String — Alternate Name

The five instruments hidden in today’s grid are: a plucked string instrument with a circular body and long neck iconic to country/folk; a bowed instrument; a small guitar-like instrument with 8 strings; a 6-string acoustic; and a mouth instrument.

All Five Clued

The spangram is two words totalling 13 letters. It names a genre of American roots music associated with Kentucky, Bill Monroe, and the Appalachian mountains — a style defined by acoustic string instruments and tight harmonies.

Spangram

Theme Words

Click each card to reveal

🪕 BANJO 5 letters A plucked string instrument with a circular body, long neck, and distinctive twangy resonance — the most iconic sound of bluegrass and old-time mountain music Tap to reveal

🎻 FIDDLE 6 letters Another name for a violin when played in folk, country, or bluegrass style. The fiddle is the backbone of Appalachian music and old-time string band tradition Tap to reveal

🎸 MANDOLIN 8 letters A small, pear-shaped string instrument with 8 strings in 4 paired courses, played with a plectrum. Bill Monroe made it central to the bluegrass sound he pioneered in the 1940s Tap to reveal

🎵 HARMONICA 9 letters A small handheld wind instrument where reeds vibrate as the player blows and draws air through chambers. Common in blues, folk, and country music throughout Appalachian tradition Tap to reveal

🎸 GUITAR 6 letters The 6-string acoustic guitar provides rhythmic foundation and melodic runs in bluegrass and old-time music. The flat-top acoustic guitar became standard in mountain music from the early 20th century Tap to reveal

Spangram

The answer connecting everything — tap to reveal

⭐ Today’s Spangram — 13 Letters · Two Words

BLUEGRASSMUSIC BLUEGRASS MUSIC

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music that developed in the 1940s, pioneered by Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. Named after Monroe’s home state of Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, it features virtuosic acoustic string instruments — banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar — played at high speed with close harmonies and improvised instrumental breaks. Today’s five theme words are all instruments fundamental to the bluegrass sound.

Full Answer

Table of Contents

NYT Strands #740 — All Answers

BANJO

FIDDLE

MANDOLIN

HARMONICA

GUITAR

⭐ BLUEGRASS MUSIC

Theme: “Mountain Band” — five instruments at the heart of traditional Appalachian music.
Spangram: BLUEGRASS MUSIC (13 letters) — the American roots genre pioneered by Bill Monroe in the 1940s, named after his home state of Kentucky (the Bluegrass State).
All five theme words are acoustic instruments commonly heard together in a bluegrass or old-time string band.

More Daily Games — March 13, 2026

Wordle #1728

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