Players tackling the New York Times Strands puzzle on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, were treated to a seasonal challenge as part of a lineup of Halloween-themed games featured across the week. Puzzle No. 968 brought a creepy-crawly twist to the grid, testing players' vocabulary and thematic puzzle-solving skills.
If you find yourself stuck on today's grid, having a few strategic hints or the complete solution list can help you clear the board without losing your streak.
Theme Clues and Strategy
Today’s Strands theme is framed by the classic movie question: “Who you gonna call?” To narrow down your focus, keep a secondary hint in mind: “Don’t bug me.”
If you are struggling to spot the official theme words, you can use the game's built-in hint mechanic. By finding any three un-themed words that are at least four letters long, Strands will automatically reveal one of the actual theme answers. Any valid four-letter-or-more words will count toward unlocking these hints.
The Spangram and Answers
The main objective of Strands is to uncover all themed words, culminating in the spangram—a special theme word that stretches completely from one side of the board to the other. Once every theme word and the spangram are found, every single letter on the board will be utilized.
Today’s spangram is EXTERMINATOR. To trace it, you begin with the letter "E" located four spaces down in the first column on the far left, winding your way across the board into the shape of an arrow.
While the puzzle's theme clue carries a playful Halloween nod evoking Ghostbusters, the actual solution set focuses squarely on the pests an exterminator deals with rather than ghosts or ghouls.
Seasonal Puzzle Lineup
The New York Times does not typically run themed collections across its games frequently, but it announced a special slate of Halloween-themed puzzles for the week. While games like Wordle are generally excluded from strict thematic limits—as restricting answers to holiday vocabulary would make the game far too easy—Strands successfully pulls off the seasonal atmosphere through clever cluing.
