NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, September 18 (game #929)

(Image credit: New York Times) 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, September 17 (game #928).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 #929) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Shake on itNYT Strands today (game #929) - hint #2 - clue wordsPlay any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.LETTERSTEAMPATEGEARPOETTONALNYT Strands today (game #929) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?• Spangram has 13 lettersNYT Strands today (game #929) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?• First side: top, 2nd column• Last side: bottom, 4th columnRight, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.NYT Strands today (game #929) - the answers (Image credit: New York Times)The answers to today's Strands, game #929, are…COVENANTPACTTREATYCONTRACTAGREEMENTSPANGRAM: LETSMAKEADEALMy rating: EasyMy score: PerfectCOVENANT is a pretty unusual word to begin a word search with, but that's how my game played out today, because I was stumped and looking for non-game words; I was in the process of bagging “coven” when I saw the much longer word.Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.From here, though, after my slow start, I roared through the remainder of the search at an agreeable pace.I cannot remember deals ever really being in the news at all, but in 2026 the making of them, or indeed the failure to make them, seems to be the only news there is. Frankly, I missed the days when we muddled along.Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, September 17, game #928)PEANUTSZIPPYMUTTSPICKLESZITSBLONDIESPANGRAM: THEFUNNYPAGESWhat 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.