Strands · Hints and answers
Strands hints and answers for Sunday, October 4, 2026
Sunday's Strands board plugs in the classics: five theme words that are all early arcade games, plus an 11-letter spangram that names the whole category. The NYT clue asks for your tokens first.
Hints, in order
Hint 0 of 3Tap to show one hint at a time.
Hint 1 of 3
Think of a dark room full of glowing cabinets: the games that ate quarters in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Hint 2 of 3
Every theme word is a classic arcade title: a space-rock shooter, a garden-pest shooter, a frog crossing traffic, the first paddle hit, and a word-scramble cabinet from the same era.
Hint 3 of 3
The spangram is two words pushed together, 11 letters: ARCADE GAMES, which is exactly what every theme word is.
Spangram and theme words
The spangram first, then all five theme words.
SPANGRAM
ARCADEGAMES
ASTEROIDSTheme word
CENTIPEDETheme word
FROGGERTheme word
PONGTheme word
SCRAMBLETheme word
Next on the board
NYT Mini Crossword →
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