Today's NYT Strands is live for Sunday, September 13, 2026 (Puzzle #924). Stuck on today's Strands? We've got progressive hints, from gentle nudges to full solutions, so you can solve at your own pace.
How Strands Works (New Players Start Here)
Strands hides themed words inside a 6x8 letter grid. Your mission: find every word connected to the day's theme. Letters link in any direction (horizontal, vertical, diagonal) and words can twist and turn. Every letter gets used exactly once.
The spangram is the key word or phrase that captures the theme and stretches across the entire board, touching opposite edges.
Need a boost? Find any 4+ letter word (even non-theme words) three times, and the game reveals a hint highlighting theme word letters.
Theme Decoder
Today's Theme Prompt: "Top secret"
What It Really Means
You are hunting for terms describing people or resources used in secret intelligence work.
Think About...
- Someone carrying out sensitive assignments for another party.
- A valuable human resource supplying confidential information.
- An insider who quietly works against the surrounding organization.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 10 letters
Starting Zone: Row 4, letter 1
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think of working secretly while concealing your real purpose.
Hint 2 (Warmer): The linking term describes carrying out a mission behind a convincing false identity.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is U, last letter is R
---
---
---
---
---
UNDERCOVER
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: A representative entrusted to act for another party.
Closer: James Bond is the fictional archetype, a professional sent on sensitive missions by an intelligence service.
Letter Clue: Starts with A, 5 letters total
Answer
AGENT
Word 2
Vague: Something or someone valued for practical usefulness.
Closer: In spycraft, this is a valuable source or resource controlled by an intelligence service.
Letter Clue: Starts with A, 5 letters total
Answer
ASSET
Word 3
Vague: A specialist who hunts hostile infiltrators.
Closer: This specialist protects one intelligence service by uncovering infiltrators working for another.
Letter Clue: Starts with C, 10 letters total
Answer
COUNTERSPY
Word 4
Vague: A hidden betrayer working from deep inside a trusted circle.
Closer: The same word also names a burrowing mammal and a mark on the skin.
Letter Clue: Starts with M, 4 letters total
Answer
MOLE
Word 5
Vague: A hands-on participant in a covert mission.
Closer: This field professional executes a mission rather than merely planning or supervising it.
Letter Clue: Starts with O, 9 letters total
Answer
OPERATIVE
Word 6
Vague: Someone deliberately introduced into a group for a concealed purpose.
Closer: Think of an infiltrator deliberately inserted into a meeting, workplace, or organization.
Letter Clue: Starts with P, 5 letters total
Answer
PLANT
Full Answers
Spangram: UNDERCOVER
Theme Words:
- AGENT
- ASSET
- COUNTERSPY
- MOLE
- OPERATIVE
- PLANT
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium, with COUNTERSPY and OPERATIVE providing the longest theme-word paths.
Trickiest Word: COUNTERSPY is the likeliest stall because its compound construction produces the longest theme word and a winding route across the upper grid.
Our Take: UNDERCOVER neatly binds a list that approaches clandestine work from several directions. AGENT, ASSET, COUNTERSPY, MOLE, OPERATIVE, and PLANT mix formal intelligence vocabulary with familiar double meanings, giving the set both cohesion and misdirection.
