Here’s your NYT Strands hint for today, plus the spangram and all of today’s Strands answers for puzzle No. 961 on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026.

Today’s Strands theme involves a game that goes by a different name in my home state of Minnesota than it does everywhere else. Read on for all the answers.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is shown in the screenshot below.

And here’s a hint: You played it in kindergarten.

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:

• DAYS, HOLD, HOLDS, HEIR, FUSS, MALTS, MUSS, MUSE

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:

• WALK, GAME, CHASE, CIRCLE, SELECT, PLAYGROUND

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is DUCKDUCKGOOSE. To find it, start with the D that’s two letters over on the top row, and two letters down, and wind around. (We Minnesotans know this game as Duck, Duck, Gray Duck!)

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.

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