Here’s your NYT Strands hint for today, plus the spangram and all of today’s Strands answers for puzzle No. 968 on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026.
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is “Who you gonna call?”
And here’s a hint: Don’t bug me.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
CANT, MIST, MINT, MINTS, KERN, TERN, RAIN, MAIN
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight, but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
ANTS, MICE, RATS, TICKS, TERMITES, COCKROACHES
Today’s Strands spangram
The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 27, 2026.NYT/Screenshot by CNET
Today’s Strands spangram is EXTERMINATOR. To find it, start with the E that’s four letters down on the first column on the left, and wind into the shape of an arrow.
Let’s talk about today’s Strands puzzle
The New York Times doesn’t normally create too many themed puzzles. But on Monday, the Times announced it would be featuring a number of Halloween-themed puzzles this week. (Not Wordle, probably because if you limit that puzzle to Halloween words, it’d be too easy to solve.) This Strands puzzle, however, pulls it off with only a Halloween reference in the theme clue, not the theme itself. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.
See full bio