NYT Strands Hints and Answers for Friday, June 12, 2026

The New York Times’ Strands puzzle for Friday, June 12, 2026, carries the theme “Something to talk about,” and every word on the board is built from the parts of a speech. Puzzle #831 asks solvers to find PARTSOFSPEECH as the spangram, plus six theme words tied to presenting and arguing: HOOK, BODY, CONCLUSION, PROBLEM, PITCH, and POINT.

The day’s theme clue nudges solvers toward the world of TED Talks and Shark Tank pitches. The Times’ hint for the theme words: “What someone giving a TED Talk or participating in Shark Tank might write or rehearse.” The hint for the spangram: “Nouns, adjectives, or verbs, for example.” A new puzzle lands every day on the official Strands game page at midnight Eastern.

The Spangram and Its Hint

The spangram is the word or phrase that most directly names the puzzle’s theme, and today’s is PARTSOFSPEECH. It runs across the full width or height of the game board, and finding it is usually the first task. The Times’ hint for the spangram was “Nouns, adjectives, or verbs, for example,” pointing solvers toward grammar categories rather than toward a specific word.

A spangram almost always uses two of the four sides of the board, either running left-to-right or top-to-bottom, and it can bend, turning corners as it moves. In today’s board, SPEECH appeared in the bottom left as a fragment that was not a valid standalone word, but it turned out to be the tail end of PARTSOFSPEECH. Once a player finds the spangram, the board highlights it in yellow, and the remaining theme words usually fall into place faster.

The spangram concept borrows from crossword tradition, where a long answer often carries the theme and the shorter answers fill in around it. Strands keeps the same idea but stretches it across a word-search-style grid of letters, with each letter used exactly once across the full solution.

The Six Theme Words

Six theme words share the board with the spangram, and each one belongs to the same family: pieces of a persuasive speech or business pitch. They are:

• HOOK
• BODY
• CONCLUSION
• PROBLEM
• PITCH
• POINT

Each theme word is highlighted in blue when correctly identified. Together with PARTSOFSPEECH, they fill every letter on the board. A player wins the day when all six theme words and the spangram have been found.

The Times’ hint for the theme words was “What someone giving a TED Talk or participating in Shark Tank might write or rehearse,” a clear steer toward the structure of a spoken argument. TED Talks follow a familiar arc: open with a hook, define the problem, make the point, close with a conclusion. Shark Tank pitches follow the same bones, compressed into a few minutes in front of investors. BODY and PITCH round out the set, one the middle of the speech and one the act of giving it.

Walking Through the Board

The solver’s path ran from corner to corner. PROBLEM landed in the upper right, and the chain of words led downward to POINT. HOOK anchored the upper left. CONCLUSION and BODY filled the bottom row alongside the spangram, completing Strands #831 with PITCH.

The board’s first clue was SPEECH in the bottom left, which by itself was not a valid word. The solver worked out that SPEECH was the tail of the spangram, then built outward from there. PROBLEM came next, confirming the speech-and-debate direction, and the remaining words fell into place across the grid. The shareable card at the end of the solve shows a yellow dot for the spangram and six blue dots for the theme words.

How Strands Works

Strands is available on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app. Each puzzle opens a board of letters with a one-line theme clue. The first job is finding the spangram, a word or phrase that runs the full width or height of the board and that more directly states the theme. Spangrams are highlighted in yellow; theme words turn blue.

Words can travel in any direction, including diagonally, and each letter is used only once per solution. There is only one correct answer for every word. Players who struggle can submit any non-theme word of four letters or more for credit toward a single hint. Three non-theme submissions unlock the Hint button, which highlights the letters of one theme word in order. The player still has to connect those letters in the right order to form the word.

Unlike Connections and Wordle, Strands cannot be failed. Guesses either land a word, earn hint credit, or shake back and forth as too short or invalid. There is no guess limit and no time limit. The day is won when every letter on the board is used, meaning the spangram and all theme words are found. The shareable card that follows shows blue dots for theme words found without help, a yellow dot for the spangram, and a lightbulb for any word solved with a hint.

Where Strands Fits in the Daily Games Lineup

Strands sits in the New York Times’ daily games rotation alongside Wordle, Connections, and the daily crossword. Wordle asks players to guess a five-letter word in six tries. Connections sorts sixteen words into four hidden categories. The crossword fills a grid with across and down answers. Strands is the newest of the four, and it blends a word search with a crossword-style theme clue.

For players who want a daily rotation, the order is straightforward: Wordle for a quick vocabulary test, Connections for lateral thinking, the crossword for a longer solve, and Strands to close the day. Each game resets at midnight Eastern, and a new Strands puzzle lands at the same moment as the rest of the lineup.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the spangram in Strands?

The spangram is the word or phrase that most directly names the puzzle’s theme. It spans the entire game board, either left-to-right or top-to-bottom, and is highlighted in yellow when found. Solving the spangram usually unlocks the rest of the puzzle.

What is today’s Strands theme?

Today’s theme is “Something to talk about.” The spangram is PARTSOFSPEECH, and the six theme words are HOOK, BODY, CONCLUSION, PROBLEM, PITCH, and POINT, all tied to building a speech or pitch.

How many theme words are in each Strands puzzle?

Each Strands puzzle contains a single spangram plus a set of theme words that share a connection to the spangram and the theme clue. The theme-word count varies by puzzle.

Can you fail Strands?

No. Strands has no guess limit and no timer, and a wrong guess simply shakes the board. A non-theme word of at least four letters earns hint credit. The puzzle is solved only when every letter has been used.

When is the next Strands puzzle available?

A new Strands puzzle releases every day at midnight Eastern in the NYT Games app and on the New York Times website, alongside Connections, Wordle, and the rest of the daily games lineup.