Yesterday's NYT Strands Answer for October 13, 2026 (#954)
Stuck on puzzle #954? You're in the right place. Work through our hints one at a time, or jump straight to the spangram. Nothing spoils until you tap.
Hints, one at a time
Welcome back, puzzler. Strands #954 for Tuesday, October 13, 2026 is live. Today's theme clue is "Well, this is awkward", and it points to every theme word hiding in the grid, so read it both literally and figuratively before you start hunting for letters.
Here's how this page works: the five hints below start with word shapes and the spangram's direction before naming any letters, so reveal them one at a time and stop the moment the grid opens up. The spangram sits in the green box further down, locked behind a tap. Nothing here reveals itself on its own, not the spangram and not a single theme word.
Shapes and directions first, letters last. Stop when the grid opens up.
- 6 letters: To fill with horror or indignation; to dismay.
- 7 letters: A distress of mind caused by a failure of aims or plans, a want of appreciation, mistakes, etc.; vexation or mortification.
- 9 letters: To disrupt someone's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely.
Drumroll, please…
Today's Spangram
Spoiler below · tap to revealTap a tile to uncover one letter of the spangram, or reveal the whole thing.
About yesterday's puzzle CRINGEWORTHY
APPALL, CHAGRIN, EMBARRASS, MORTIFY, NONPLUS, all tied to the clue "Well, this is awkward".
CRINGEWORTHY, spanning the grid edge to edge and summing up today's theme.
A 6 × 8 grid (48 letters), fully tiled by the spangram and theme words with none left over.
Puzzle #954, published Tuesday, October 13, 2026, with 5 theme words plus the spangram.
Strands strategy that actually helps
Proven habits from top solvers, useful today and every day.
The theme clue is your biggest weapon. Think about it literally, then figuratively, before you touch a single letter.
It always touches two opposite sides of the board, top to bottom or side to side, and it's usually the longest word in the grid.
Any real word you find that isn't part of the theme still earns credit. Find 3 and the game highlights a theme word's letters for you.
Letters don't need to sit in a straight line. A word can zig-zag diagonally, turn a corner, and even double back on itself.
Corner and edge letters have fewer neighbors, so they belong to fewer possible words. Starting there narrows the grid fast.
The theme words and spangram tile the entire grid with nothing left over. Once most words click, the rest is a process of elimination.
How to play NYT Strands
The rules in full, for anyone arriving without them.
Strands is a themed word search from The New York Times. Every letter in the grid belongs to exactly one answer, and one of those answers is the spangram, a word or phrase that describes the theme and stretches all the way across the board.
- 1 Read the theme clue first
The clue at the top points at every theme word. Read it literally, then figuratively, before you start hunting letters.
- 2 Drag through connected letters
Letters connect in any direction, including diagonally, and a word can bend as many times as it needs to. Tap the last letter again to submit.
- 3 Find the spangram
The spangram touches two opposite sides of the grid, top to bottom or left to right, and sums up the theme. It highlights in yellow instead of blue.
- 4 Use the grid as its own hint system
Every letter is used exactly once, so each theme word you find shrinks the search area for the rest. Find three non-theme words of four letters or more and the game gives you a hint.
The New York Times
6 by 8 grid, theme words plus one spangram
None, Strands has no guess cap
Midnight in your local timezone
Finding the spangram early is worth more than finding two theme words, because it names the theme outright and turns the rest of the grid into a filling-in exercise. Look along the edges first: it has to start and end on opposite sides.
Strands, answered
Quick answers to the questions we get every day.
What time does the new Strands puzzle come out?
Strands resets at midnight in your local timezone, wherever you are. If the theme clue in the hero matches the one on your grid, the spangram below is the right one.
What exactly is a spangram?
It's a special theme word that touches two opposite sides of the grid, top to bottom or left to right, and sums up the day's theme clue. Every puzzle has exactly one.
What happens when I find a non-theme word?
It still counts. The game tracks it separately from theme words, and every 3 you find unlocks a hint that highlights part of an unsolved theme word.
Can I play past Strands puzzles?
The NYT doesn't offer an in-app archive for Strands the way it does for Wordle. Our past spangrams table below covers the themes we have already run.
What happens when I use a hint in Strands?
Finding three non-theme words of four letters or more earns one hint, and spending it highlights the letters of a theme word you have not found yet, without ordering them for you. You still have to trace the path. Hints do not carry over to the next day, so there is no reason to save one.
Today's hints for every game
Same spoiler-safe format, for each daily puzzle we cover.
Past Strands answers
Recent Strands spangrams from the last two weeks. Use it to check a day you missed, settle an argument, or see how themes repeat over time. Today's spangram stays blurred until you tap it.
| Date | Puzzle | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 14Today | #955 | ONCEUPONATIME |
| Oct 13 | #954 | CRINGEWORTHY |
| Oct 12 | #953 | TURNOFPHRASE |
| Oct 11 | #952 | OLDFASHIONED |
| Oct 10 | #951 | STICKYANDSWEET |
| Oct 09 | #950 | UNBELIEVABLE |
| Oct 08 | #949 | LUMINARY |
| Oct 07 | #948 | TICKLEDPINK |
| Oct 06 | #947 | THEOLDSWITCHEROO |
| Oct 05 | #946 | SADTROMBONE |
| Oct 04 | #945 | ARCADEGAMES |
| Oct 03 | #944 | WILLOTHEWISP |
| Oct 02 | #943 | SNEAKINGAROUND |
| Oct 01 | #942 | BEYONDREPAIR |