NYT Strands hints today for #568: Clues and answers for Monday, Sept. 22, 2025

Start the work week off right with today’s New York Times Strands. If you need a few extra clues, I’m here to give some hints (and spoilers) to get you through Monday’s puzzle: #568. I don’t consider peeking at one or two hints to be cheating. The game is supposed to be challenging.

Since I’m a daily Strands player, I’ll also share how I did each day. Today’s puzzle is a bit more difficult than yesterday’s.

If you’re new to NYT Strands, we’ll show you how to get started. Also, check out today’s Wordle hints and answer.

How to play NYT Strands

NYT Strands is similar to a word search. The player is presented with a grid of seemingly random letters, 6 across and 8 down. There are around 7 words hidden within the board, and the goal is to hunt them down. Letters to the right, left, below, above or diagonal can be connected, so be prepared to see some funky shapes. Every single letter will be used in the puzzle.

Your job is to find all the hidden words and the final “spangram,” which refers to the overall theme connecting all the words. For instance, in one recent puzzle, the theme was “That’s so sweet!” and the spanagram was “sugary.” Each of the hidden words had to do with a type of sugar.

If you get stuck, Strands lets you unlock in-game hints. For each four-letter word that you find that is not an answer to the puzzle, you earn progress towards a clue. Every three words you find illuminates a Hint icon in the bottom left corner of your screen. Click on it, and the puzzle will highlight which letters make up the next answer — just not how they connect. Still stuck? Unlock another hint, and the game will walk you through the word letter by letter. However, be aware that the number of hints you use will be reflected in your final score.

Even if you find yourself obsessed with this game after just one puzzle, you can only play once a day. Just like Wordle and Connections, the timer resets each night at midnight.

Today’s NYT Strands theme: Find an opening

The theme for today’s puzzle is find an opening.

If that doesn’t help, here’s another clue: watch your head.

In-game words for clues

If you need a few extra hints for hidden words, you can always find other four-letter words within the puzzle. The game will give you a hint for every three words with four or more letters. Here are some you can use:

• CHIP, LOOK, CONE, DALE, COVE, COLE, INCH, RICH, HOLE

How many letters are in today’s spangram?

Another helpful hint is knowing the length of the spangram. Today’s spangram is 10 letters.

Today’s NYT Strands answers (spoilers)

Here are the words you can find in today’s puzzle:

• NOOK, ALCOVE, CRANNY, NICHE, CREVICE, PIGEONHOLE

Today’s NYT Strands spangram (spoilers)

Today’s Strands spangram is MINDTHEGAP. You can find the M in the fifth row, first letter on the left. It snakes up towards the first row, finishing with the P all the way on the right.

My results today

I found the spangram first today, which is something I haven’t done in a while. Unfortunately, I still needed two hints. I can’t say I’ve ever used ALCOVE in a sentence before.

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How did you do? Let me know in the comments.

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