Today's NYT Strands is live for Saturday, October 3, 2026 (Puzzle #944). 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: "A figment of your imagination"
What It Really Means
Look for words describing imagined beings, deceptive appearances, and ghostly visions. The prompt connects things that seem real with things you cannot reliably grasp.
Think About...
- Ways your eyes can deceive you.
- Strange beings conjured by the mind.
- Eerie appearances from ghost stories.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 12 letters
Starting Zone: Row 8, letter 1
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think of something elusive that tempts you to follow it.
Hint 2 (Warmer): Folklore describes a mysterious light over marshy ground that leads travelers astray.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is W, last letter is P
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WILLOTHEWISP
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: An imagined creation, or a hope that cannot be realized.
Closer: A Greek mythical monster combining features of a lion, goat, and serpent also gives its name to an unattainable dream.
Letter Clue: Starts with C, 7 letters total
Answer
CHIMERA
Word 2
Vague: An appearance that fools you about what is really there.
Closer: A stage magician creates this when an object seems to vanish before your eyes.
Letter Clue: Starts with I, 8 letters total
Answer
ILLUSION
Word 3
Vague: Something visible in the distance that is not where it appears to be.
Closer: Light bending through layers of air can make a dry road ahead look covered in water.
Letter Clue: Starts with M, 6 letters total
Answer
MIRAGE
Word 4
Vague: A vivid but unreal image, expressed in literary language.
Closer: A literary noun for a ghostly apparition or a creation of the imagination.
Letter Clue: Starts with P, 8 letters total
Answer
PHANTASM
Word 5
Vague: A haunting presence, or a prospect that fills you with dread.
Closer: A ghost, or a looming threat in the expression 'the looming ___ of failure.'
Letter Clue: Starts with S, 7 letters total
Answer
SPECTER
Full Answers
Spangram: WILLOTHEWISP
Theme Words:
- CHIMERA
- ILLUSION
- MIRAGE
- PHANTASM
- SPECTER
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Tough, with literary vocabulary and a folklore phrase connecting the answers.
Trickiest Word: CHIMERA is the strongest stumbling block because its mythical-monster meaning can pull attention away from its other meaning, an imagined or unattainable idea.
Our Take: The theme works by connecting deceptive appearances with imagined beings, giving ILLUSION and MIRAGE a natural place beside CHIMERA, PHANTASM, and SPECTER. WILLOTHEWISP adds an elusive, misleading light to that mix. MIRAGE gives the set a useful twist, since its apparent scene comes from a real optical effect rather than imagination alone.
