Strands Puzzle Hints and Answers for April 4: 'Early Risers'

Each morning, the New York Times Strands puzzle offers a small ritual of attention — a grid of letters waiting to be read like a garden waiting to be walked. Today's puzzle, themed around 'Early Risers,' asks players to find the flowers that push through April soil before the rest of the world stirs: DAFFODIL, CROCUS, HYACINTH, SNOWDROP, and TULIP, all held together by the spangram SPRINGBLOSSOM. It is a gentle reminder that some things bloom on their own schedule, whether in the earth or on a screen, and that the act of looking carefully is its own reward.