Strands Hints for October 21, 2026
· No. 962
Four hints, from what the theme means to the first letter of every word. Open only as many as you need — the words stay hidden until you tap for them.
Hint 1 · The theme
Picture a room at the very top of a house, tucked up under the roof, that you only visit a few times a year. Today's clue points to that room and to everything that ends up stored there.
Hint 2 · The spangram
It's a short, everyday three-word phrase, ten letters total, that says where all these things are kept. It stretches across from left edge to right edge.
Hint 3 · Theme words
Every other word is something people put away up there and forget about until they need it again. Some are things you pack or carry, and two are easy to miss. One is a set of school volumes full of class photos, one for each year. The longest word is what comes down each holiday season to dress up the house.
Hint 4 · First letters
The five theme words start with B, D, L, T and Y. The spangram starts with I, has 10 letters and runs from the left edge to the right edge.
Show today’s answer
- Spangram: IN THE ATTIC
- LUGGAGE
- BOXES
- TRUNKS
- DECORATIONS
- YEARBOOKS
DECORATIONS was the trickiest find. At 11 letters, it is the longest word on the board, even longer than the spangram. YEARBOOKS can also hide, since it is easy to look only for bags and containers.
Strands hints, day by day
How our Strands hints work
Hint 1 explains the clue
Strands clues are short and sly. We say in plain words what today's clue is getting at.
Hint 2 points at the spangram
The long word that crosses the board. Find it, and the rest of the board gets much smaller.
Hints 3 and 4 get specific
What the theme words have in common, then the first letter of each one. That's usually enough to finish.