If you are looking for tips and answers for Strands for Saturday October 3, 2026, read on: I will share some clues and tips, and finally the solution to the puzzle on the theme “A figment of your imagination”.
To easily return to our Strands tips each day, add this page to my favorites. You can also find our past clues there, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle. (If you play Word Or Relationshipsalso check out our tips for these games.)
Below I’ll give you some oblique clues about today’s Strands answers. And further down the page I will reveal the spangram and the answers. Scroll slowly and only follow the clues you need!
Credit: Brins/NYT
Clue for spangram in today’s Strands puzzle
A type of ghost described as a floating light.
Clue for today’s Strands puzzle theme words
Ghostly words.
WARNING: Spoilers follow for today’s Strands puzzle!
We’re about to give the answers to today’s Strands riddle.
What’s the spangram in today’s Strands?
Today’s spangram is WILLOTHEWISP.
What are the theme words of today’s Strands?
Today’s theme words are SPECTRE, CHIMERA, MIRAGE, PHANTASM, ILLUSION.
This is what the board looks like once the puzzle is solved:
Credit: Brins/NYT
How I Solved Today’s Strands
I see SPECTER at the top left. 🔵 It makes sense: it’s a term for a vision or a ghost.
I see WILLOTHEWISP starting in the bottom left corner. 🟡 It’s the spangram!
CHIMERA is below SPECTRE. 🔵 I know this word as a type of mythological beast, but I guess it can also refer to an illusion.
MIRAGE is to the right of CHIMERA. 🔵
ILLUSION is at the bottom right. 🔵
What do you think of it so far?
Finally, PHANTASY. 🔵
Strands #944 “A figment of your imagination” 🔵🟡🔵🔵 🔵🔵
How to play Strands
You can find the Strands game on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app.
When you start playing, you’ll see a game board with an assortment of letters, flanked by a clue that gives an idea of the board’s theme: it will be a phrase, like “Better with Age.” Your job is to find the hidden words in the board that reflect the theme of the puzzle.
A crossword puzzle with a word search
The most important word to find is “spangram”, a word that more explicitly states the theme of the puzzle. (For example, the spangram for the puzzle themed “Better with Age” is FERMENTED, which describes products that, you guessed it, get better with age.) The spangram will extend across the entire game board, either from left to right or top to bottom (hence the name). When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Solving the spangram usually makes the rest of the puzzle much easier to complete.
In Strands, words can travel in any direction (up, down, left, right and diagonal) and you will only use each letter once. There is only one right solution. When you correctly identify one of the words in the puzzle (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue.
If you’re having trouble solving the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words you see (as long as they have four or more letters) to receive credit for a single clue. If you submit three off-theme words, the “Hint” button will be clickable; If you click on it, all the letters of any of the theme words will be highlighted for you. You will still need to link these highlighted letters in the correct order to form one of the theme words. If there is already a clue on the board and you use another one before solving that word, the letter order of that word will be revealed.
How to earn strands
Unlike Connections and Wordle, you can’t fail with Strands. When you submit guesses, you either correctly identify an answer, receive credit for a clue, or the text shakes back and forth, indicating that the word you submitted is too short or invalid. You cannot run out of guesses and there is no time limit.
You win when you have correctly used all the letters on the board, that is, you have identified the spangram and all the topic words. Like other NYT games, once the puzzle is solved, you’ll see a shareable card showing your performance that day: blue dots 🔵 indicate the theme words you found, yellow dot 🟡 indicates when you found the spangram, and a light bulb 💡 indicates the words you received a hint for.
Not the day you are looking for? Here is the solution to today’s Strands.
Gn tech
