South African human rights lawyer Navi Pillay wins the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her lifelong defense of human rights and international law.
South African human rights lawyer Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize
Friday, October 9, 2026
Trump says U.S. to get diesel from Russia, relaxing pressure on Moscow to ease prices before midterms
Trump says the U.S. will obtain diesel from Russia, relaxing years of U.S. pressure on Moscow, to combat prices before midterms. He said he struck the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call.
(Image credit: David Zalubowski)
Norwegian Nobel Committee awards this year's Peace Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee have announced that XXX has won this years Nobel Peace Prize.
Thursday, October 8, 2026
The long-deployed USS Lincoln returns home to San Diego Bay
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has returned home after a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea supporting the Iran war. The extended deployment drew attention following reports of crew stress and supply shortages.
(Image credit: Gregory Bull)
NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, October 9 (game #950)
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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, October 8 (game #949).
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.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #950) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… That can't be right
NYT Strands today (game #950) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- VIRILE
- SHAVE
- BREAD
- BUILDER
- DERAIL
- BEAVER
NYT Strands today (game #950) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 12 letters
NYT Strands today (game #950) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
• First side: bottom, 3rd column
• Last side: top, 4th column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #950) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #950, are…
- BALDERDASH
- RUBBISH
- HOOEY
- DRIVEL
- NONSENSE
- SPANGRAM: UNBELIEVABLE
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
Sometimes the most obvious answer is the right one, so I spent a few seconds looking for the word “wrong” before abandoning the search and looking for non-game words.
Along the way I stumbled across BALDERDASH, which is a ridiculous word to begin with, but which focused me on words that meant that something was a sham and untrustworthy.
After getting RUBBISH I was on a roll, and finished without needing any hints — a shame, as there were an amazing amount of long non-game words lurking between the bunkum and piffle.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, October 8, game #949)
- FAME
- CELEBRITY
- REPUTE
- ACCLAIM
- RENOWN
- EMINENCE
- SPANGRAM: LUMINARY
What is NYT Strands?
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 NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction shook Spain, has died
María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her Madrid home sparked nationwide protests across Spain and unleashed a political crisis, died on Wednesday while hospitalized.
(Image credit: Bernat Armangue)
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, October 8 (game #949)
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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, October 7 (game #948).
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.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #949) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… A star is born
NYT Strands today (game #949) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- MACE
- CREATE
- MINCE
- BRAIL
- CLUE
- WINNER
- TUNA
NYT Strands today (game #949) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 8 letters
NYT Strands today (game #949) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
• First side: left, 5th row
• Last side: right, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #949) - the answers
The answers to today's Strands, game #949, are…
- FAME
- CELEBRITY
- REPUTE
- ACCLAIM
- RENOWN
- EMINENCE
- SPANGRAM: LUMINARY
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
After the Lady Gaga movie, the first thing today’s theme made me think of was FAME, so I immediately went searching for it in the game and found it lurking on the right-hand edge.
CELEBRITY was the next most obvious word, but from here the synonyms were less obvious — although, thankfully, easy to spot, along with a spangram that was unfashionably short at just eight letters..
Later in my search I found the word ”winner” and was shocked that it wasn’t featured in the game, because, let's face it, the talented folk who can be described as achieving ACCLAIM, RENOWN and EMINENCE are winning at life.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, October 7, game #948)
- BUBBLEGUM
- BARBIE
- SHOCKING
- QUARTZ
- FLAMINGO
- SPANGRAM: TICKLEDPINK
What is NYT Strands?
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 NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.