NYT Strands game #850 for Wednesday, July 1, 2026, has the theme “Not a red herring.” Start with the hints below and stop before the spoiler break if you want to solve it yourself. Strands refreshes at midnight in each time zone, so some players may still be on the previous day’s puzzle.
Hints for July 1’s NYT Strands
Theme hint
Not a red herring.
A more revealing nudge
The proof is in the pudding.
Spoilers: July 1 Strands answers and spangram
The five theme words are HINT, INDICATION, CLUE, EVIDENCE, and INTIMATION.
The spangram is TELL-TALE SIGN (also written TELLTALESIGN). Together, the five theme words and spangram make six answers.
How NYT Strands works
Strands is a daily, word-search-style puzzle on the New York Times website and NYT Games app. Players connect letters horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to find words related to a theme clue. The spangram captures the theme’s connection and stretches across at least two sides of the board. The board is described as a six-by-eight grid.
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Because a new puzzle appears at midnight in each time zone, the date shown here refers to Wednesday, July 1, 2026; depending on where you play, “today” may refer to a different puzzle.
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