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Wednesday, September 30, 2026  ·  Your daily stash of puzzle hints. Answers stay hidden until you ask for them.
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Strands · Hints and answers

Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, September 30, 2026

NYT theme clue: "An instrumental destination" · Edited by Tracy Bennett

Wednesday's Strands board is stocked like a shop: seven theme words naming instruments and the gear that goes with them, plus a 10-letter spangram for the place you would go to buy them all. The NYT clue calls it an instrumental destination.

Hints, in order

Hint 0 of 3

Tap to show one hint at a time.

Hint 1 of 3

Think of a shop floor full of sound: instruments to play, and the smaller gear a player picks up on the way out.

Hint 2 of 3

Every theme word is music gear: an amplifier, a capo, drums, a guitar, a piano, a pick, and a synth, short for synthesizer.

Hint 3 of 3

The spangram is two words pushed together, 10 letters: MUSIC STORE, exactly the destination the clue points at.

Spangram and theme words

The spangram first, then all seven theme words.

SPANGRAM
MUSICSTORE
AMPLIFIERTheme word
CAPOTheme word
DRUMSTheme word
GUITARTheme word
PIANOTheme word
PICKTheme word
SYNTHTheme word
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