#781Thursday, April 23, 2026
Strands answers for April 23, 2026 — “Provinces of the pantheon” (#781)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for April 23, 2026 (puzzle #781) is DOMAIN, a 6-letter answer to the theme "Provinces of the pantheon". The 6 theme words are HARVEST, LOVE, MARRIAGE, THUNDER, UNDERWORLD and WISDOM.
Where is each answer on the April 23 Strands board?
Strands #781 resolves to these 6 theme words plus the spangram DOMAIN.
The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 7 answers. Every position comes from solving the grid outright — the answers have to tile all 48 letters with no overlap and no remainder, which is what makes a single arrangement provable.
| Answer | Letters | Starts | Ends | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HARVEST | 7 | row 2, column 3 | row 3, column 6 | left to right |
| LOVE | 4 | row 5, column 5 | row 5, column 2 | right to left |
| MARRIAGE | 8 | row 7, column 3 | row 7, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| THUNDER | 7 | row 1, column 1 | row 4, column 1 | top to bottom |
| UNDERWORLD | 10 | row 6, column 1 | row 6, column 6 | left to right |
| WISDOM | 6 | row 1, column 3 | row 1, column 6 | left to right |
| DOMAIN | 6 | row 5, column 1 | row 5, column 6 | left to right |
What did the April 23 Strands grid look like?
The grid below is six letters wide and eight rows deep, with every answer traced through the letters it uses.
Spangram — 6 letters6 theme words
Each line traces one answer through the letters it uses; the heavier yellow line is the spangram.
Read across the grid, row 1 reads T-H-W-I-S-M, row 2 reads U-D-H-R-D-O, row 3 reads N-E-A-V-E-T, row 4 reads R-O-M-A-I-S, row 5 reads D-E-V-O-L-N, row 6 reads U-R-R-I-G-D, row 7 reads N-A-M-A-E-L, and row 8 reads D-E-R-W-O-R.
How hard was the April 23 Strands puzzle?
The difficulty index rates puzzle #781 as easy: it sits at the 8th percentile of every Strands grid to date.
Easiest puzzle ever published on the left, hardest on the right. The formula behind the score, and the ranked list of every puzzle, are on the Strands difficulty index.
Who made the April 23 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #781 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Christina Iverson. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.
Common questions about the April 23 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on April 23, 2026?
The Strands clue for April 23, 2026 is “Provinces of the pantheon”, on puzzle #781. It is answered by the spangram DOMAIN, and all 6 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on April 23, 2026?
The 6 Strands theme words for April 23, 2026 are HARVEST, LOVE, MARRIAGE, THUNDER, UNDERWORLD and WISDOM, plus the spangram DOMAIN.
What was the big word in the April 23, 2026 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for April 23, 2026 is DOMAIN, 6 letters long, running from row 5, column 1 to row 5, column 6. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “Provinces of the pantheon” mean?
The Strands theme “Provinces of the pantheon” for April 23, 2026 means DOMAIN — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 6 theme words is an example of it.
How many theme words are in Strands April 23, 2026?
Strands puzzle #781 has 6 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the April 23, 2026 Strands puzzle?
Strands #781 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 8% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on April 23, 2026?
The Strands puzzle published on Thursday, April 23, 2026 is #781, counting from the game's launch on March 4, 2024.
Today’s puzzle and its hint ladder are on the front page. This puzzle sits in April 2026, part of the full Strands archive.