Strands Hints for October 22, 2026
· No. 963
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
The clue is the question people ask when two strangers share a last name. Today is all about the people you are connected to by birth and the bonds between them.
Hint 2 · The spangram
It names the bonds that link relatives to one another. It is two words and ten letters long, and it runs from the left edge to the right. It was also the title of a sitcom that aired in the 1980s.
Hint 3 · Theme words
The other words are all ways of naming relatives, from the people who came long before you to the children who come after. Two are tricky. One is an old-fashioned plural for brothers that you might hear from a pulpit. The other is a homey, country-style word for all your relations taken together.
Hint 4 · First letters
The five theme words start with A, B, B, K and O. The spangram starts with F, has 10 letters and runs from the left edge to the right edge.
Show today’s answer
- Spangram: FAMILY TIES
- KINFOLK
- OFFSPRING
- BLOOD
- BRETHREN
- ANCESTORS
BRETHREN is the trickiest find, since it is an old plural of brother that most of us only hear in church or in old books. KINFOLK can also hide, because the eye wants to stop at KIN.
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.