Stuck on the grid and in need of NYT Strands hints for September 29? Good news. Today’s puzzle is a walk through the vegetable aisle, and you do not need a green thumb to finish it. You just need to know which crops the calendar drags out of the soil once the leaves start turning.
The theme clue reads “Weed ’em and reap,” which is the New York Times politely telling you to think about harvest time. If you are new here, our guide on how to play NYT Strands covers the basics. The short version is that every letter on the board belongs to an answer, and words can bend in any direction.
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What is today’s NYT Strands theme?
The answers are all autumn crops. Think of what a farmer in the Northern Hemisphere would be hauling out of the field between late September and the first frost. Readers in Australia may want to flip the calendar on this one, since their autumn harvest lands in March to May. The puzzle, however, is firmly set in the northern fall.
Also Read: NYT Strands Answers Today, September 21: The 90s Called and They Want Their Neon Back
Is the spangram vertical or horizontal?
Vertical. It runs top to bottom, so if you have been scanning left to right like a stubborn word-search purist, change your habits. It is also the longest word on the board, and its name is a summary of the whole theme.
Gentle nudges before the full list
Six of the seven answers are short, common words. One is not. Kohlrabi is the odd one out, and it will probably cost you a few minutes. Remember that finding three non-theme words of four letters or more earns you an in-game hint, which is handy if the board is being stubborn.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
The spangram is Fallharvest, all eleven letters of it, snaking down the grid.
Read Also: NYT Strands Hints And Answers For August 31: Bring Out The Elbow Grease
NYT Strands word list today (puzzle #940)
- Squash (6 letters)
- Kohlrabi (8 letters)
- Radish (6 letters)
- Onion (5 letters)
- Pumpkin (7 letters)
- Apple (5 letters)
- Fallharvest (spangram, 11 letters)
That is seven answers in total, including the spangram, which matches the usual Strands layout.
A little context on the autumn crops NYT Strands theme
Kohlrabi is the star of the show. It is a brassica whose name comes from German words for cabbage and turnip, and it looks like a pale green alien pod sprouting stalks. Most players will hunt for it last. Squash and pumpkin are close cousins that ripen in the cooler months, which is why they end up on every porch in October. Onions are typically lifted once their tops flop over, radishes are speedy growers that happily take a chilly snap, and apples are the classic orchard crop of the season.
The puzzle deserves credit for keeping things friendly. There are no tricky homophones or cryptic wordplay here, just produce. It is a nice change from earlier this week, when the September 26 puzzle had everyone chasing gusts and whiffs, or the September 25 square numbers board that made mathematicians of us all.
