Strands Hint

#692Saturday, January 24, 2026

Strands answers for January 24, 2026 — “A work of art” (#692)

The NYT Strands spangram for January 24, 2026 (puzzle #692) is FAMOUSPAINTING, a 14-letter answer to the theme "A work of art". The 6 theme words are BOATING, LILIES, NIGHT, PARTY, STARRY and WATER.

BOATINGLILIESNIGHTPARTYSTARRYWATERFAMOUSPAINTING

Where is each answer on the January 24 Strands board?

The 6 theme words for Strands on January 24, 2026 are listed below, followed by the spangram.

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.

Verified board positions, Strands puzzle #692
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
BOATING7row 7, column 4row 8, column 3diagonally across the grid
LILIES6row 3, column 3row 5, column 2diagonally across the grid
NIGHT5row 4, column 2row 8, column 1top to bottom
PARTY5row 8, column 2row 6, column 2diagonally across the grid
STARRY6row 3, column 5row 3, column 2right to left
WATER5row 6, column 6row 4, column 5diagonally across the grid
FAMOUSPAINTING14row 4, column 1row 5, column 5left to right

What did the January 24 Strands grid look like?

The Strands board for January 24, 2026 is a six-column, eight-row grid of 48 letters.

OUSPAIMRRATNAYLISTFNILRIISEEGNGYTTAWHARBOATPGNIT

Spangram — 14 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 O-U-S-P-A-I, row 2 reads M-R-R-A-T-N, row 3 reads A-Y-L-I-S-T, row 4 reads F-N-I-L-R-I, row 5 reads I-S-E-E-G-N, row 6 reads G-Y-T-T-A-W, row 7 reads H-A-R-B-O-A, and row 8 reads T-P-G-N-I-T.

How hard was the January 24 Strands puzzle?

Measured against the full archive, the January 24, 2026 puzzle lands in the easy range — above 3% of all Strands puzzles.

Difficulty
3
percentile, easy
Path turns
17
direction changes
Decoy words
1494
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
5.7
letters per theme word

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 January 24 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #692 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 January 24 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on January 24, 2026?

The Strands clue for January 24, 2026 is “A work of art”, on puzzle #692. It is answered by the spangram FAMOUSPAINTING, and all 6 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on January 24, 2026?

The 6 Strands theme words for January 24, 2026 are BOATING, LILIES, NIGHT, PARTY, STARRY and WATER, plus the spangram FAMOUSPAINTING.

What was the big word in the January 24, 2026 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for January 24, 2026 is FAMOUSPAINTING, 14 letters long, running from row 4, column 1 to row 5, column 5. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.

What did the Strands theme “A work of art” mean?

The Strands theme “A work of art” for January 24, 2026 means FAMOUSPAINTING — 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 January 24, 2026?

Strands puzzle #692 has 6 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the January 24, 2026 Strands puzzle?

Strands #692 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 3% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on January 24, 2026?

The Strands puzzle published on Saturday, January 24, 2026 is #692, 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 January 2026, part of the full Strands archive.