Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

NYT Strands today: hints, spangram and answers for Tuesday, September 30

Add as a preferred source on Google

Strands is yet another daily puzzle from the New York Times that you can add to your routine to flex your brain muscles. A trickier take on the classic word search, you’ll need a keen eye to solve this puzzle.

Like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword, Strands can be a bit difficult to solve some days. There’s no shame in needing a little help from time to time. If you’re stuck and need to know the answers to today’s Strands puzzle, check out the solved puzzle below.

How to play Strands

You start every Strands puzzle with the goal of finding the “theme words” hidden in the grid of letters. Manipulate letters by dragging or tapping to craft words; double-tap the final letter to confirm. If you find the correct word, the letters will be highlighted blue and will no longer be selectable.

If you find a word that isn’t a theme word, it still helps! For every three non-theme words you find that are at least four letters long, you’ll get a hint — the letters of one of the theme words will be revealed and you’ll just have to unscramble it.

Every single letter on the grid is used to spell out the theme words and there is no overlap. Every letter will be used once, and only once.

Each puzzle contains one “spangram,” a special theme word (or words) that describes the puzzle’s theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted yellow.

The goal should be to complete the puzzle quickly without using too many hints.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s theme is “For goodness’ sake.”

Here’s a hint that might help you: positive traits

Today’s Strand answers

Today’s spanagram

We’ll start by giving you the spangram, which might help you figure out the theme and solve the rest of the puzzle on your own:

  • VALUES

Today’s Strands answers

  • DISCIPLINE
  • HONESTY
  • COOPERATION
  • EMPATHY
  • RESPECT
Jesse Lennox
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jesse Lennox covers all things gaming but has a specific interest in all things PlayStation, JRPGs, and experimental indies…
MSI launches a white 16-inch gaming laptop with a 12GB RTX 5070 and a pile of matching accessories
MSI bundles a mouse, headset, and extended mouse pad with its new white Crosshair gaming laptop
Adult, Female, Person

MSI has launched the Crosshair A16 HX MLG Edition globally, giving one of its upper mid-range gaming laptops a white-and-red makeover alongside a full set of matching accessories. MLG here stands for Mo-Loong-Gi, meaning “Dragon Princess,” and refers to an original character created by MSI rather than Major League Gaming.

What are you getting with this special edition laptop?

Read more
The next official Palworld mobile game comes from an unexpected studio
Pocketpair's newly announced Palworld Online is a mobile MMORPG built by Garena.
Palworld mobile

I'll be honest: my first reaction to Palworld's mobile game was that it could be a cheap copy nobody asked for. However, I was wrong. This one's actually worth paying attention to for multiple reasons.

So what exactly is Palworld Online?

Read more
The ROG Gjallar packs Dolby Atmos in a compact form factor, but its US debut is still under wraps
Asus' new ROG Gjallar gaming soundbar brings Dolby Atmos and a wireless subwoofer to your desk.
Electronics, Speaker

Asus unveiled the ROG Gjallar back in early July 2026, as the first speaker system under the ROG brand. However, at the time, the company stayed quiet on pricing and availability. That's changed now. 

So what's actually inside the ROG Gjallar?

Read more