{"id":670801,"date":"2026-10-31T11:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T11:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/670801\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T11:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T11:08:13","slug":"strands-hint-today-answers-for-oct-31-no-972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/670801\/","title":{"rendered":"Strands Hint Today: Answers for Oct. 31, No. 972"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"How<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s your NYT Strands hint for today, plus the spangram and all of today\u2019s Strands answers for puzzle No. 972 on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

Hint for today\u2019s Strands puzzle<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Strands theme is \u201cIt\u2019s in the bag.\u201d<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s a hint: Charlie Brown always got a rock.<\/p>\n

Clue words to unlock in-game hints<\/p>\n

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle\u2019s theme. If you\u2019re 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:<\/p>\n

SCAN, KALE, RICE, TREAT, READ, HOOT, TOOT, CITY, REST, TOOTH, LEAP, SKIT<\/p>\n

Answers for today\u2019s Strands puzzle<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

TOOTHBRUSH, RING, FANGS, APPLE, CANDY, STICKER<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Strands spangram<\/p>\n

\"TheThe completed NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 31, 2026.NYT\/Screenshot by CNET<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Strands spangram is TRICKORTREAT. To find it, look for the T that\u2019s three letters down on the far-left column, and wind around and across.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about today\u2019s Strands puzzle<\/p>\n

Happy Halloween! I admit, I don\u2019t want all the New York Times puzzles to be seasonal or relate to the date they\u2019re published. But I didn\u2019t mind this one. It even took me a minute to figure out what they were going for, because does anyone other than your local dentist give out toothbrushes in trick-or-treat bags? We\u2019re giving out full-size Nerd Ropes at my house. Don\u2019t tell my dentist.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Gael\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCNET 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.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee full bio\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s your NYT Strands hint for today, plus the spangram and all of today\u2019s Strands answers for puzzle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80],"class_list":["post-670801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}