Today’s NYT Strands Hints and Answers

NYT Strands is a popular word-guessing game where you need to connect random letters in a grid to find the words related to that day’s theme. Today’s NYT Strands theme is “Soft skills,” which is all about the tactile world, craftsmanship, and techniques of fiber arts. But if the letters are getting tangled in your head, let us help you find the loose thread. Here are the hints and answers for puzzle #686 on January 18, 2026.

NYT Strands Hints Today

Finding the words in a Strands puzzle can be quite tricky sometimes, and even if you know how to play NYT Strands, you may have trouble finding that last word to complete the game.

NYT Strands Theme Today

While the hint for today’s theme should be enough to connect the dots and figure out the answer to the Strands game, we have included additional hints for your ease here:

If the hints above still didn’t help you discover the words for today’s Strands game, here are the first two letters of each word to help you out.

• KN
• QU
• WE
• EM
• CR
• AP
• TE

Looking for more NYT puzzle games to play after Strands? Maybe try today’s Connections puzzle

NYT Strands Spangram Hint: Is It Vertical or Horizontal?

The Spangram hint for today’s Strands, January 18, 2026, is Diagonal, and starts from the left and ends at the right. Here’s another hint for the Spangram: it begins with the letters “TE”.

Today’s Strands Spangram

Couldn’t figure out the puzzle answer even after looking at today’s strands hint shared above? No problem, we have the answers for you. The Spangram answer for January 18, 2026, Strands is:

Do you like word-guessing games? Then check out today’s Wordle and see if you can solve that one?

Spoiler Warning!

Scroll past this AT YOUR OWN RISK. The theme word answers for today’s Strands below.

NYT Strands Answer Today

Still looking for the theme words to complete today’s NYT Strands puzzle? Well, I won’t keep you waiting anymore. Here are the answers: 

• KNIT
• QUILT
• WEAVE
• EMBROIDER
• CROCHET
• APPLIQUE

You can also check out yesterday’s NYT Strands puzzle, whose theme was ‘That’s putting it mildly!’, which will remind you of your favorite childhood cartoon villains and the profanities they used to spew. If that is not a big enough hint, then the Spangram, ‘FOILEDAGAIN’ should be enough.

Difficulty Level for Strands Today

As a veteran player of NYT Strands and based on my experience with the game, I would rank today’s game 3 out of 5. Here, 1 is the easiest and 5 is the hardest, in terms of difficulty.

Today’s Strands puzzle was difficult to grasp at first, but the theme is a double entendre as it means extra skills, and the ‘soft’ doubles for the fiber used in these techniques. So, it only took me a couple of hints to get the gist of the grid and finally solve it as well as the Spangram.

What is NYT Strands Spangram and How Does It Work?

Unlike your typical word-finding puzzle, Strands feature a unique twist called “Spangram”. This is a special word that runs along the entire length of the grid, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. But that does not mean the first letter of Spangram starts at the edge of the grid. 

This is considered a key hint to solving the Strands puzzle, and that’s for a good reason. Figuring out the Spangram early not only offers another clue for today’s theme. It also splits up the grid, making some of the words in Strands easier to figure out. 

Tips and Tricks for Mastering NYT Strands Puzzles

If you want to master every day’s Strands puzzle, then here are some quick tips to become a pro at solving the game: 

• Look up ‘Today’s Strand Hint’: One thing I always do before starting a puzzle is to look up the theme on Google. This helps me get a clear idea of the words I need to search for in the game. Sometimes, it can even help me find the words I am looking for. 
• Pay close attention to corners: Another good strategy I practice is to check the corners, as it becomes easy to find words there and provides a starting point. 
• Try to get Strands Hints: The puzzle can be quite tricky on some days, so rather than giving up, I suggest you try to connect random words to get hints. Please don’t be ashamed to get a clue, as even one could be the key to solving the entire puzzle. 
• Go for the Spangram first: The Strand Spangram takes up the entire height or width of the puzzle grid, so solving it gives you another clue to find the rest of the words, and also divides the grid, which makes it easy to solve the puzzle.

That is it for today! We will meet again for another NYT Strands game tomorrow. In the meantime, you could check out some of the other New York Times puzzles.