NYT Strands July 20 2026 Answers
Puzzle #869
EDITED BY TRACY BENNETTConstructed by Tracy Bennett
Today's theme
“Small talk”
The board
Hints (no spoilers)
The spangram has 9 letters and starts with I
There are 5 theme words besides the spangram
SPANGRAM
ITSYBITSY
THEME WORDS
LITTLEMICROSCOPICMINIATUREMINUSCULETINY
Checked against the official NYT Strands solution
How Strands works
Strands is the NYT's daily word-search twist: find the theme words hidden in the 6×8 board — letters connect in any direction and every letter gets used exactly once. The spangram describes the theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. Play free at nytimes.com.