If you’re looking for tips and answers for Strands for Sunday, October 11, 2026, keep reading: I’ll share some clues and tips, and finally the solution to the riddle about “They don’t make them like they used to.”
To easily return to our Strands tips each day, add this page to my favorites. You can also find our past clues there, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle. (If you play Word Or Relationshipsalso check out our tips for these games.)
Below I’ll give you some oblique clues about today’s Strands answers. And further down the page I will reveal the spangram and the answers. Scroll slowly and only follow the clues you need!
Credit: Brins/NYT
Clue for spangram in today’s Strands puzzle
How to describe obsolete technology.
Clue for today’s Strands puzzle theme words
Devices that you don’t see much anymore.
WARNING: Spoilers follow for today’s Strands puzzle!
We’re about to give the answers to today’s Strands riddle.
What’s the spangram in today’s Strands?
Today’s spangram is OLDFASHIONED.
What are the theme words of today’s Strands?
Today’s theme words are TELEGRAM, PAGER, INKWELL, ICEBOX, TYPEWRITER.
This is what the board looks like once the puzzle is solved:
Credit: Brins/NYT
How I Solved Today’s Strands
I’ll look for words related to quality or craftsmanship and see if that gets me anywhere.
GREET, GRAM, WELL, HEAL, HEALER, FADS and KARMA are not topic words. PAGE is not either, but PAGER is, on the left. 🔵It must be retro or obsolete technology.
Hmm, what else could fit here? Fax machines, rolodexes, car phones, cassette tapes? I can create FAX and FAX on the top right, but none work. I can also make BOXES and BOXES. Oh, it’s ICEBOX. 🔵
I see the spangram now: OLDFASHIONED. 🟡
The GRAM I found earlier is the end of TELEGRAM. 🔵
What do you think of it so far?
INKWELL is at the bottom left. 🔵
Finally, TYPEWRITER. 🔵
Strands #952 “They don't make 'em like they used to” 🔵🔵🟡🔵 🔵🔵
How to play Strands
You can find the Strands game on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app.
When you start playing, you’ll see a game board with an assortment of letters, flanked by a clue that gives an idea of the board’s theme: it will be a phrase, like “Better with Age.” Your job is to find the hidden words in the board that reflect the theme of the puzzle.
A crossword puzzle with a word search
The most important word to find is “spangram”, a word that more explicitly states the theme of the puzzle. (For example, the spangram for the puzzle themed “Better with Age” is FERMENTED, which describes products that, you guessed it, get better with age.) The spangram will extend across the entire game board, either from left to right or top to bottom (hence the name). When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Solving the spangram usually makes the rest of the puzzle much easier to complete.
In Strands, words can travel in any direction (up, down, left, right and diagonal) and you will only use each letter once. There is only one right solution. When you correctly identify one of the words in the puzzle (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.
If you’re having trouble solving the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words you see (as long as they have four or more letters) to receive credit for a single clue. If you submit three off-theme words, the “Hint” button will be clickable; If you click on it, all the letters of any of the theme words will be highlighted for you. You will still need to link these highlighted letters in the correct order to form one of the thematic words. If there is already a clue on the board and you use another one before solving that word, the letter order of that word will be revealed.
How to earn strands
Unlike Connections and Wordle, you can’t fail with Strands. When you submit guesses, you either correctly identify an answer, receive credit for a clue, or the text shakes back and forth, indicating that the word you submitted is too short or invalid. You cannot run out of guesses and there is no time limit.
You win when you have correctly used all the letters on the board, that is, you have identified the spangram and all the topic words. Like other NYT games, once the puzzle is solved, you’ll see a shareable card showing your performance that day: blue dots 🔵 indicate the theme words you found, yellow dot 🟡 indicates when you found the spangram, and a light bulb 💡 indicates the words you received a hint for.
Not the day you are looking for? Here’s the solution to Saturday’s Strands.
