Today's NYT Strands is live for Friday, September 25, 2026 (Puzzle #936). 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: "1✖️1, etc ..."
What It Really Means
You're hunting for results of multiplying whole numbers by themselves, written out as words.
Think About...
- Matching factors on a multiplication table.
- The number of tiles in equal rows and columns.
- A sequence that grows by successive odd increments.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 12 letters
Starting Zone: Row 4, letter 1
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think of the shared mathematical label for all the results you're finding.
Hint 2 (Warmer): Imagine counting tiles arranged in the same number of rows and columns.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is S, last letter is R
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SQUARENUMBER
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: This is the largest result in today's list.
Closer: Multiply the largest single-digit counting number by itself.
Letter Clue: Starts with E, 9 letters total
Answer
EIGHTYONE
Word 2
Vague: Look near the start of the matching-factors sequence.
Closer: Multiply the first even counting number by itself.
Letter Clue: Starts with F, 4 letters total
Answer
FOUR
Word 3
Vague: This small result comes soon after the previous one in that sequence.
Closer: Multiply the first odd prime by itself.
Letter Clue: Starts with N, 4 letters total
Answer
NINE
Word 4
Vague: A pair of equal factors produces this two-digit result.
Closer: Multiply the number of faces on a standard die by itself.
Letter Clue: Starts with T, 9 letters total
Answer
THIRTYSIX
Word 5
Vague: This result falls between the smaller answers and the larger two-digit ones.
Closer: Multiply the number of fingers on one hand by itself.
Letter Clue: Starts with T, 10 letters total
Answer
TWENTYFIVE
Full Answers
Spangram: SQUARENUMBER
Theme Words:
- EIGHTYONE
- FOUR
- NINE
- THIRTYSIX
- TWENTYFIVE
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium. The arithmetic is direct, but several answers take long, winding paths through the grid.
Trickiest Word: TWENTYFIVE is the trickiest: it has the longest spelling in the list, and its path bends across much of the upper grid.
Our Take: SQUARENUMBER cuts across the middle of the grid and gives the word list a clear mathematical rule. FOUR and NINE offer compact footholds, while TWENTYFIVE and EIGHTYONE make you trace longer routes after the arithmetic clicks.
