NYT Strands puzzle hints and solution for Oct. 4, 2026

Mashable released the clues and solution for the New York Times' Strands puzzle dated October 4, 2026. The theme hint indicated that the words relate to "play" and describe "fun pastimes," while the spangram hint noted that the hidden phrase runs diagonally across the grid. The spangram answer was given as "Willothewisp." The complete word list for the day's puzzle included titles such as Asteroids, Frogger, Arcade Games, Centipede, Scramble and Pong. The article also mentioned that Strands differs from other NYT games by requiring every letter in the grid to be part of an answer and by featuring a thematic "spangram" that spans the grid.

"The words are related to play," the hint read. "Today's spangram is diagonal," the spangram hint stated. "Today's spangram is Willothewisp," the answer announced. The piece noted that Strands offers a more challenging experience than games like Wordle or Connections, and that Mashable provides additional hints and solutions for readers who need extra help.