The Friday, January 9, 2026, NYT Strands puzzle is game #677. Its theme, “For Cubs fans,” is about bear cubs—not the baseball team. Start with the hint below, or jump to the full answer reveal for the spangram and all six theme words.
Spoiler-light hint for Strands #677
Think of young bears and the kinds of bears they grow up to be. The puzzle’s extra clue is “Like Gentle Ben.”
Full answers for Friday, January 9
Warning: the answers are below.
- Spangram: BEAR IN MIND (the board spells it BEARSINMIND)
- Theme words: POLAR, BLACK, BROWN, GRIZZLY, PANDA, SPECTACLED
The theme wording is “For Cubs fans.” Forbes and TechRadar agree on this answer set. Parade’s answer section contains conflicting entries, including an incorrect spangram and a misspelling of GRIZZLY; those errors are not part of the solution.
How Strands works
Strands is a themed word-search puzzle. Find the theme words in the letter grid; the spangram expresses the theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. Theme words are highlighted in blue, while the spangram is highlighted in yellow. Finding three words that are not theme answers earns a hint that reveals letters in a theme word.
Where to play
TechRadar reports that Strands is available on the NYT Games website on desktop and mobile, with a new puzzle appearing at midnight in each time zone. Whether access requires a subscription is not established here.
Quick Recap
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