Strands Hint

#594Saturday, October 18, 2025

Strands answers for October 18, 2025 — “Get to work ...” (#594)

The NYT Strands spangram for October 18, 2025 (puzzle #594) is RUNNINGLATE, a 11-letter answer to the theme "Get to work ...". The 5 theme words are ALARM, CLOSURE, CONSTRUCTION, DETOUR and WEATHER.

ALARMCLOSURECONSTRUCTIONDETOURWEATHERRUNNINGLATE

Where is each answer on the October 18 Strands board?

The full answer set for puzzle #594 is 5 theme words and one spangram.

The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 6 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 #594
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
ALARM5row 7, column 4row 5, column 5diagonally across the grid
CLOSURE7row 1, column 3row 1, column 4diagonally across the grid
CONSTRUCTION12row 5, column 6row 5, column 1right to left
DETOUR6row 2, column 2row 2, column 3diagonally across the grid
WEATHER7row 5, column 4row 7, column 3diagonally across the grid
RUNNINGLATE11row 4, column 1row 3, column 6left to right

What did the October 18 Strands grid look like?

The grid below is six letters wide and eight rows deep, with every answer traced through the letters it uses.

OUCERUTDRLOSENNGLERUINATNAEWMCOTHRLOIERAANTCURTS

Spangram — 11 letters5 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-C-E-R-U, row 2 reads T-D-R-L-O-S, row 3 reads E-N-N-G-L-E, row 4 reads R-U-I-N-A-T, row 5 reads N-A-E-W-M-C, row 6 reads O-T-H-R-L-O, row 7 reads I-E-R-A-A-N, and row 8 reads T-C-U-R-T-S.

How hard was the October 18 Strands puzzle?

The difficulty index rates puzzle #594 as above average: it sits at the 64th percentile of every Strands grid to date.

Difficulty
64
percentile, above average
Path turns
24
direction changes
Decoy words
1032
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
7.4
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 October 18 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #594 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Sam Corbin. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.

Common questions about the October 18 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on October 18, 2025?

The Strands clue for October 18, 2025 is “Get to work ...”, on puzzle #594. It is answered by the spangram RUNNINGLATE, and all 5 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on October 18, 2025?

The 5 Strands theme words for October 18, 2025 are ALARM, CLOSURE, CONSTRUCTION, DETOUR and WEATHER, plus the spangram RUNNINGLATE.

What was the big word in the October 18, 2025 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for October 18, 2025 is RUNNINGLATE, 11 letters long, running from row 4, column 1 to row 3, 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 “Get to work ...” mean?

The Strands theme “Get to work ...” for October 18, 2025 means RUNNINGLATE — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 5 theme words is an example of it.

How many theme words are in Strands October 18, 2025?

Strands puzzle #594 has 5 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the October 18, 2025 Strands puzzle?

Strands #594 rates above average on a computed index, harder than 64% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on October 18, 2025?

The Strands puzzle published on Saturday, October 18, 2025 is #594, 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 October 2025, part of the full Strands archive.