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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Need a nudge for NYT Strands game #581, from Sunday, October 5, 2025? The theme is “Don’t take the bait.” Start with the low-spoiler hints below; the spangram and complete word list are farther down, behind a spoiler warning.
Low-spoiler hint
Think of a trick designed to mislead someone—or something that looks tempting but should make you cautious. Parade’s additional nudge is “Wile E. Coyote.”
More revealing hints
- The theme words are terms for traps, tricks, or schemes.
- The spangram is an eight-letter phrase. It runs horizontally across the fourth row, from the board’s left edge to its right edge.
- Parade’s first-letter clues, in answer order, are DE, LU, TR, DE, RU, ST, PL, and IT. The last pair begins the spangram.
In Strands, the spangram describes the theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. Parade also explains that finding every three non-theme words earns a hint that reveals letters in a theme word.
Spoiler warning: spangram and answers
The following reveals the spangram and the proposed full answer list for game #581.
#1 Best Overall
Spangram
ITSATRAP
Theme words
- DECOY
- LURE
- TRICK
- DECEPTION
- RUSE
- STRATAGEM
- PLOY
Why answer lists differ
DECOY appears in the lists published by Try Hard Guides, Parade, and Forbes, but is absent from the lists at AllThingsHow and TechRadar. The list above follows the majority-supported version. Forbes also prints “STRATEGEM”; the spelling used by the other cited answer lists is STRATAGEM.
For the puzzle’s date and solution details, see AllThingsHow, TechRadar, Try Hard Guides, Parade, and Forbes.
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