NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, October 3 (game #944)

Looking for a different day? A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers

<![CDATA[ <article> <div class="fancy-box"><div class="fancy_box-title">Looking for a different day?</div><div class="fancy_box_body"><p class="fancy-box__body-text">A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. <strong>If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead</strong> then click here: <a data-analytics-id="inline-link" href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/websites-apps/nyt-strands-today-answers-hints-2-october-2026"><strong>NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, October 2 (game #943)</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p></div></div><p>Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.</p><p>Want more word-based fun? Then check out my <a href="https://www.techradar.com/gaming/nyt-connections-today-answers-hints-3-october-2026">NYT Connections today</a> and <a href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/websites-apps/quordle-today-answers-clues-3-october-2026">Quordle today</a> pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/wordle-today">Wordle today</a> page for the original viral word game.</p><p><em>SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.</em></p><h2 class="article-body__section" id="section-nyt-strands-today-game-944-hint-1-today-s-theme"><span>NYT Strands today (game #944) - hint #1 - today's theme</span></h2><section class="article__schema-question"><h3>What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?</h3><article class="article__schema-answer"><p><strong>•</strong> Today's NYT Strands theme is… A figment of your imagination</p></article></section><h2 class="article-body__section" id="section-nyt-strands-today-game-944-hint-2-clue-words"><span>NYT Strands today (game #944) - hint #2 - clue words</span></h2><p>Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.</p><ul><li>SNOT</li><li>MONTH</li><li>HIRE</li><li>SPREE</li><li>THRILL</li><li>OTHER</li></ul><h2 class="article-body__section" id="section-nyt-strands-today-game-944-hint-3-spangram-letters"><span>NYT Strands today (game #944) - hint #3 - spangram letters</span></h2><section class="article__schema-question"><h3>How many letters are in today's spangram?</h3><article class="article__schema-answer"><p><strong>•</strong> Spangram has 12 letters</p></article></section><h2 class="article-body__section" id="section-nyt-strands-today-game-944-hint-4-spangram-position"><span>NYT Strands today (game #944) - hint #4 - spangram position</span></h2><section class="article__schema-question"><h3>What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?</h3><article class="article__schema-answer"><p>• <strong>First side: </strong>bottom, 1st column</p><p>• <strong>Last side: </strong>top, 6th column</p></article></section><p>Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.</p><div data-model-name="Dyson HushJet Mini Cool Fan,JBL Xtreme 5,LG OLED evo AI C6 55-inch TV (2026),DJI Lito X1,Dali Kupid,De'Longhi Dedica Duo" data-widget-type="multimodelreview" data-widget-title="TechRadar 5-star reviewed devices"></div><h2 class="article-body__section" id="section-nyt-strands-today-game-944-the-answers"><span>NYT Strands today (game #944) - the answers</span></h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1920px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="NR8yTgxkoYRTEACir9GqAX" name="TR_nyt_strands-answers-944" alt="NYT Strands answers for game 944 on a blue background" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NR8yTgxkoYRTEACir9GqAX-1920-80.png" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1920" height="1080" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: New York Times)</span></figcaption></figure><p>The answers to today's Strands, game #944, are…</p><ul><li>MIRAGE</li><li>ILLUSION</li><li>CHIMERA</li><li>SPECTER</li><li>PHANTASM</li><li><strong>SPANGRAM:WILLOTHEWISP</strong></li></ul><ul><li><strong>My rating: </strong> Hard</li><li><strong>My score: </strong> 1 hint</li></ul><p>WILLOTHEWISP was a spangram I didn’t see until the end of what was quite a long game featuring plenty of interesting and well hidden words.</p><p>After getting MIRAGE right away I was expecting an easy game, but far from it. Instead, I labored onwards and needed a mid-game hint, which delivered the enigmatic word CHIMERA.</p><p>Will-o-the-wisp is a ghostly flickering light seen over bogs, swamps, and marshes at night — a trick of the light that spooks and entrances, not to be confused with a 1970s British children's cartoon series called <em>Willo The Wisp,</em> about a blue ghost voiced by Kenneth Williams and a snooty cat based on Noel Coward. Yes, really.</p><iframe title="How did you do today?" description="Let me know in the comments below" minimumCommentCount="0" class="position-center" data-lazy-priority="low" data-lazy-src=""></iframe><h3 class="article-body__section" id="section-yesterday-s-nyt-strands-answers-friday-october-2-game-943"><span>Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, October 2, game #943)</span></h3><ul><li>SHIFTY</li><li>COVERT</li><li>DEVIOUS</li><li>STEALTHY</li><li>FURTIVE</li><li><strong>SPANGRAM: SNEAKINGAROUND</strong></li></ul><section class="article__schema-question"><h3>What is NYT Strands?</h3><article class="article__schema-answer"><p>Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/games/strands" target="_blank">NYT Games site</a> on desktop or mobile.</p><p>I've got a full guide to h<a href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/websites-apps/nyt-strands">ow to play NYT Strands,</a> complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.</p></article></section> </article> ]]>