Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Sept. 9, #920

NYT Strands hints, answers for August 19, 2026.mp4

Today’s Strands puzzle was a little tricky, I thought, with a somewhat unusual topic. If you need hints and answers, read on.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Over and out(side).

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Relax in the yard.

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:

GOAL, PANDA, RAND, PANDER, BRAY, SLOB, WOOL, SPAY, COPY, GAZE, PEAL, LION

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:

ARBOR, BOWER, CANOPY, PERGOLA, GAZEBO, PAVILION

Today’s Strands spangram

The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Sept. 9, 2026.NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Today’s Strands spangram is SUNANDSHADE. To find it, start with the S that’s the last letter on the far-left vertical row, and wind up and over.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest.

#1: Dated slang. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

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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