Today's NYT Strands is live for Wednesday, September 23, 2026 (Puzzle #934). 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: "Practically paleolithic"
What It Really Means
You are hunting for words that describe something extremely old or rooted in the distant past.
Think About...
- Language for extreme age.
- Terms that point far back on the timeline.
- Descriptions suited to relics, ruins, and the earliest eras.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 12 letters
Starting Zone: Row 1, letter 1
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): A dismissive remark for information that stopped being fresh long ago.
Hint 2 (Warmer): Picture the stock response to a revelation everyone has already heard.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is T, last letter is S
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THATSOLDNEWS
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: Extremely old, with roots reaching far into the past.
Closer: Think ruins, civilizations, or artifacts from the distant past.
Letter Clue: Starts with A, 7 letters total
Answer
ANCIENT
Word 2
Vague: No longer current in form or use.
Closer: A dictionary may apply this label to an obsolete expression.
Letter Clue: Starts with A, 7 letters total
Answer
ARCHAIC
Word 3
Vague: Belonging to an earlier era that has passed away.
Closer: This is often paired with “days” when looking nostalgically backward.
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 6 letters total
Answer
BYGONE
Word 4
Vague: Dating from the world's earliest ages.
Closer: Think untouched forests or the dawn of life on Earth.
Letter Clue: Starts with P, 8 letters total
Answer
PRIMEVAL
Word 5
Vague: Made tired or shabby through long use.
Closer: It can describe a frayed object or a cliché dulled by repetition.
Letter Clue: Starts with T, 8 letters total
Answer
TIMEWORN
Full Answers
Spangram: THATSOLDNEWS
Theme Words:
- ANCIENT
- ARCHAIC
- BYGONE
- PRIMEVAL
- TIMEWORN
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium, because the familiar vocabulary has unusually tight overlap in meaning.
Trickiest Word: PRIMEVAL is the likeliest stumbling block because it is less conversational than the other answers and points specifically toward the earliest ages.
Our Take: ANCIENT, ARCHAIC, BYGONE, PRIMEVAL, and TIMEWORN create a tightly unified list while approaching great age from different directions. THATSOLDNEWS turns the same idea into a conversational punch line, giving the puzzle a satisfying shift from descriptive vocabulary to idiom.
