Having trouble with today's NYT Strand puzzle? We found today's puzzle to be fairly easy compared to the last two, but if you need help, we're here to help.

Below you will find hints and solutions to Strand #56. We will start with the hints and then lead you to the full solution of Strand #56.

WARNING: There are spoilers for Strands #56.

The official theme for NYT Strands #56 is... "Confessions."

And here's an unofficial hint from me: Rub-a-dub-dub: it's scrub time.

If you're still not sure, here's a handy word that gives you a valuable hint:

Still having trouble? Spangram gives you a hint on conjunctions. Today it starts with 'S' and ends with 'R'.

Scroll down to see what it is.

It's SHOWER.

Now, what's the answer to today's strand?

Drumroll, please.

... Spangram was SHOWER.

Hints used: 0.

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Good thing it was easy today. The theme was obvious and I connected the clues one after the other like a puzzle master.

I quickly spotted SPONGE spelled out from the upper left corner, and then my eye fell on the letter "Z" as a particularly unusual letter on the grid. Sure enough, I was able to form a RAZOR around it, followed quickly by SHAMPOO, and below that I noticed the word SHOWER.

WASHCLOTH was a bit tricky, and some people might stop after the 'H', but given the amount of letters left, I figured it would be a bit longer. However, SOAP was short and sweet.

With only 11 letters left, I put on my anagram hat (figuratively speaking) and got to work. It didn't take me long to figure out that the mystery word was "CONDITIONER."

Reading this late in the day? Yesterday's full article on Strand's solution to Round 55 can be found here.