Skip to main content

NYT Strands today: hints, spangram and answers for Friday, October 18

Strands is a brand new daily puzzle from the New York Times. 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.

Recommended Videos

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 describe 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 “All wrapped up”

Here’s a hint that might help you: food stuffed in wrappings

Today’s Strand answers

NYT Strands logo.
NYT

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:

  • DUMPLINGS

Today’s Strands answers

  • GYOZA
  • SAMOSA
  • WONTON
  • PIEROGI
  • RAVIOLI
  • EMPANADA
Sam Hill
As Digital Trends' Gaming evergreen lead, Sam Hill is here to help you find your new favorite game and dive right in. The…
Everything announced at the October 2024 Xbox Partner Preview
Goro Majima in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

The third Xbox Partner Preview just wrapped up. This showcase, which Xbox previously held versions of in October 2023 and March 2024, put the spotlight on third-party games coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S in the future. For the third edition of this show, we got another look at some notable 2025 Xbox games, such as Wuchang: Fallen Feathers and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Several games were also revealed during the event, including Subnautica 2 and a cooperative multiplayer Control spinoff called FBC: Firebreak.

This Xbox Partner Preview is well worth watching for all Xbox console owners or Game Pass subscribers. Over a dozen games will be spotlighted, so to help you keep track of everything shown off, we've recapped every announcement made at the October 2024 Xbox Partner Preview.

Read more
Best Lego deals: Save on Star Wars, Marvel, Technic and more
legos new space shuttle set includes hubble telescope model lego discovery

It's important to take some time away from the screen, especially if you have young kids where it's not healthy for them to get addicted to an iPad or a TV. Luckily, Lego sets are a great alternative for both kids and adults, and with dozens upon dozens of various sets to pick from, there's a little something out there for everybody. As such, we've gone out and collected some of our favorite Lego set deals for you below to help save you a little extra, especially in the fancier and franchise-related sets. Also, you should check out these great board game deals as well for some off-screen alternatives.

Today's Best Lego Marvel Deals

Read more
PC hit Phasmophobia comes to consoles this month with PSVR2 support
A flashlight shines on a hallway in Phasmophobia.

Phasmophobia, a successful co-op ghost hunting game that's been in early access since 2020, is coming to consoles. It will arrive on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29 -- just in time for Halloween.

Released on PC in 2020, Phasmophobia was one of the handful of games that became a viral hit during COVID-19 thanks to its co-op multiplayer component. Since its launch, it has racked up 20 million players on Steam and won Best Debut at the 2020 Game Awards. While it's not ready to hit 1.0 just yet, the early access version is now on its way to consoles.

Read more