Strands answer for Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Today's Strands theme is "That's not very polite."

Today's puzzle has 7 theme words to find, ranging from 4 to 9 letters long, plus the spangram.

Today's spangram is 10 letters long and runs top to bottom across the grid.

A spangram is the one theme word or phrase that touches two opposite sides of the 6-by-8 letter grid, summarizing the puzzle's theme. Every other theme word is a regular theme answer.

Yes. A word's path can move in any of the eight directions between letters, including diagonally, so it can turn corners as it winds through the grid.

The nudge is an optional editorial hint pointing toward one theme word. Not every puzzle includes one, since some themes are solvable without extra help.

No. Every letter cell belongs to exactly one word's path, whether it's the spangram or a theme word, so the 48 cells are split among the answers with nothing left over and nothing reused.

A valid word that isn't part of the theme still counts as a non-theme find and can unlock a hint toward the spangram, though it earns no points of its own.