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Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is pretty fun, especially if you’re a fan of its subject, which will clear up pretty quickly. If you need advice and answers, keep reading.
I go into depth about the rules of Strands in this story.
If you are looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle tips page.
Learn more: NYT Connections Celebrates Its First Anniversary: These Are the 5 Hardest Puzzles Yet
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Grape expectations
If that doesn’t help, here’s a hint: Well done!
Clue words to unlock clues in the game
Your goal is to find hidden words that match the theme of the puzzle. If you’re stuck, find all the words you can. Every time you find three words of four or more letters, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. Here are the words I used to get these clues, but any words of four letters or more that you find will work:
- DALE, DEAL, LETS, BELT, LACE, BLADE, CABLE, CLOT, BARD, NOTE, LOAN, TENT, HARD, FLAN
Answers to today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that are related to the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that extends from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have them all (originally I thought there were always eight, but I learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the non-spangram responses:
- MALBEC, ZINFANDEL, MERLOT, SHIRAZ, CHARDONNAY
Today’s Strands spangram
The NYT Strands puzzle completed by January 26, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETToday’s Strands spangram is BY THE BOTTLE. To find it, count three rows from the left and go down seven letters to B. Then go down, continue and go back up.
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