Today's NYT Strands is live for Sunday, January 18, 2026 (Puzzle #686). 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: "Soft skills”
What It Really Means
This theme is about textile crafts and fabric arts - specifically, various techniques for working with textiles and creating fabric-based art.
Think About...
- Traditional fabric crafts and needlework techniques
- Methods for joining or decorating textiles
- Handmade fabric art forms and textile manipulation
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to Right then downwards and across
Letter Count: 9 letters
Starting Zone: First letter of third row
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think about the broader category that encompasses all the theme words - it's about working with fabrics and textiles.
Hint 2 (Warmer): This is a compound word that combines "textile" with "art" - it describes the creative practice of working with fabrics.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is T, last letter is T
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TEXTILEART
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: A decorative technique where fabric pieces are sewn onto a background
Closer: Often involves cutting shapes from fabric and attaching them to create patterns
Letter Clue: Starts with A, 8 letters total
Answer
APPLIQUE
Word 2
Vague: A needlework technique using a hooked needle
Closer: Creates fabric by interlocking loops of yarn or thread
Letter Clue: Starts with C, 7 letters total
Answer
CROCHET
Word 3
Vague: Decorative needlework on fabric
Closer: Uses needle and thread to create patterns or pictures on cloth
Letter Clue: Starts with E, 9 letters total
Answer
EMBROIDER
Word 4
Vague: Creating fabric by interlocking loops
Closer: Uses two needles to create fabric from yarn
Letter Clue: Starts with K, 4 letters total
Answer
KNIT
Word 5
Vague: Creating fabric by interlacing threads
Closer: Done on a loom with warp and weft threads
Letter Clue: Starts with W, 5 letters total
Answer
WEAVE
Word 6
Vague: A layered textile with stitching
Closer: Made by sewing together layers of fabric with padding in between
Letter Clue: Starts with Q, 5 letters total
Answer
QUILT
Full Answers
Spangram: TEXTILEART
Theme Words:
- APPLIQUE
- CROCHET
- EMBROIDER
- KNIT
- WEAVE
- QUILT
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Moderate
Trickiest Word: APPLIQUE (The French spelling and specific textile technique might not be immediately obvious to all solvers)
Our Take: A clever textile-themed puzzle that plays with the phrase "soft skills" in a literal sense. The theme words cover a solid range of fabric arts, from knitting and crochet to quilting and embroidery. The spangram "TEXTILEART" neatly ties everything together, though the compound word format might trip up some solvers.
