Today's NYT Strands is live for Thursday, October 22, 2026 (Puzzle #963). 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: "Any relation?"
What It Really Means
Look for terms describing relatives, shared descent, and connections across generations.
Think About...
- Earlier generations on a genealogy chart.
- The next generation arriving in the nursery.
- Collective terms for relatives gathered at a reunion.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 10 letters
Starting Zone: Row 1, letter 1
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think about connections between people that can stretch across generations.
Hint 2 (Warmer): You're after a phrase for the bonds linking parents, children, and other relatives.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is F, last letter is S
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FAMILYTIES
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: People who came before you in your line of descent.
Closer: Your grandparents, great-grandparents, and the generations before them.
Letter Clue: Starts with A, 9 letters total
Answer
ANCESTORS
Word 2
Vague: A physical substance that also stands for shared descent.
Closer: It circulates through your veins and completes the phrase “related by ___.”
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 5 letters total
Answer
BLOOD
Word 3
Vague: An old-fashioned collective term with a fraternal feel.
Closer: An older plural of “brother,” also used to address fellow members of a religious community.
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 8 letters total
Answer
BRETHREN
Word 4
Vague: A homey collective term for your relatives.
Closer: A down-home word for your extended family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Letter Clue: Starts with K, 7 letters total
Answer
KINFOLK
Word 5
Vague: Those who carry a line into its next generation.
Closer: A collective term for someone's children, also used for an animal's young.
Letter Clue: Starts with O, 9 letters total
Answer
OFFSPRING
Full Answers
Spangram: FAMILYTIES
Theme Words:
- ANCESTORS
- BLOOD
- BRETHREN
- KINFOLK
- OFFSPRING
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium, with a direct theme prompt and an older vocabulary choice in BRETHREN.
Trickiest Word: BRETHREN is the standout hurdle because its older plural form is less conversational than “brothers,” and its religious usage can pull attention away from relatives.
Our Take: “Any relation?” gives this puzzle a clear direction, and FAMILYTIES neatly gathers the answers under one phrase. ANCESTORS and OFFSPRING stretch the theme across generations, while BLOOD adds a figurative connection. The shift from the homey KINFOLK to the formal BRETHREN gives the vocabulary its bite.