You're staring at a grid of letters and your brain feels like mush. We've all been there. It is Friday, the week is winding down, and the New York Times Strands puzzle is just sitting there, mocking you. Honestly, the Strands hint September 20 is one of those that feels incredibly obvious once you see it, but until that "aha!" moment hits, you might as well be trying to read hieroglyphics.
Today’s theme is a bit of a curveball. It isn't just about a specific category like "types of fruit" or "brands of cars." It’s more about a concept. Specifically, it is about things that are meant to be kept close to the vest. Or, you know, things that aren't exactly public knowledge.
What is the Theme for the Strands Hint September 20?
The official theme provided by the NYT for September 20 is "Top secret."
When you see "Top secret," your mind probably goes straight to James Bond or the CIA. That’s a good instinct. But Strands likes to play with synonyms and related concepts. Think about what people do when they have a secret. They hide things. They keep things under wraps. They might even use a specific type of language or code.
If you are struggling to find the first word, try looking for things that are intentionally obscured.
The Spangram—that yellow word that touches two opposite sides of the grid—is the glue holding this whole thing together. For September 20, the Spangram is CLASSIFIED. It runs somewhat diagonally across the board, and once you highlight it, the remaining words start to stand out like a sore thumb.
Breaking Down the Word List
Once you have CLASSIFIED out of the way, you are looking for types of secrets or ways things are kept private. Here is what you are searching for in that jumble of letters:
First, look for HIDDEN. It’s a foundational word for this puzzle. If something is top secret, it is inherently hidden from view. Then, look for PRIVATE. This one is often found near the edges. It’s a common word, but in the context of this grid, the letter placement can be tricky because of how the "V" and "I" interact with surrounding consonants.
Then we have COVERT. This is a bit more of a "spy" word. It fits that "Top secret" theme perfectly. If you've played enough Call of Duty or watched enough Mission Impossible, this word probably jumped out at you faster than the others.
Don't forget BURIED. This is a more metaphorical take on the theme. You bury a secret. You bury the lead. In the September 20 grid, it’s tucked away in a corner, making it one of the harder ones to spot if you are only thinking about digital or spoken secrets.
There is also UNDERGROUND. This is the longest word in the puzzle besides the Spangram. It’s a beast. Finding it requires you to snake through a significant portion of the grid. If you are stuck, look for that "U-N-D-E-R" prefix and see where it leads you.
Finally, we have MYSTERY. While a mystery isn't always a secret, a secret is almost always a mystery to those who don't know it. It’s a nice thematic inclusion that rounds out the list.
Why This Specific Puzzle is Tripping People Up
The layout for the Strands hint September 20 is particularly devious because of the letter density. Usually, Strands puzzles have a few "anchor" letters—like Z, X, or Q—that help you narrow down possibilities. Today's grid is full of very common letters: E, S, T, R, and N.
When every letter could seemingly belong to five different words, the cognitive load goes through the roof.
Plus, the word UNDERGROUND is a physical challenge to swipe. If you miss one turn on that long string of letters, the game tells you it's not a word, and you might abandon the correct path thinking you were wrong about the word itself.
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Strategies for Solving Strands Without Spoiling Everything
If you’re reading this because you’re stuck but you don't want the full answer key yet, try these three things.
Look for the "Y." There aren't many "Y"s on the board today. If you find one, think about what words end in Y. MYSTERY is the big one here. Once you isolate that, a whole section of the grid clears up.
Focus on the corners. In the September 20 puzzle, the corners are occupied by relatively short words. Clearing the corners gives you more "breathing room" to see the longer words like CLASSIFIED and UNDERGROUND that dominate the center of the board.
If you find three words that aren't on the list, use the hint! There is no shame in it. The game is designed to be a relaxing morning ritual, not a high-stakes intelligence test. The hint will highlight the letters of one of the theme words, but it won't tell you the order. It’s the perfect nudge.
The Evolution of Strands in the NYT Games Suite
Strands is still technically in its "beta" feel, even though it has a massive daily following. It fills a specific niche between the logic-heavy Sudoku and the vocabulary-centric Crossword. Unlike Wordle, where you have six tries to guess one word, Strands is about spatial awareness.
The Strands hint September 20 reflects a trend in the game's development where themes are becoming more abstract. Early on, themes were very literal. Now, we are seeing more wordplay. "Top secret" could have easily been about kitchen "secret ingredients," but the editors chose to go with a more "espionage" vibe.
This shift keeps the game fresh. If it were always literal, we'd eventually get bored. By making us think about the nature of a secret—that it is HIDDEN, COVERT, or BURIED—the NYT forces us to use a different part of our brain.
Actionable Tips for Your Next Puzzle
To get better at Strands, you have to stop looking for words and start looking for patterns.
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- Scan for Common Suffixes: Look for "ING," "ED," or "TION." Even if those aren't part of the theme words, identifying them helps you rule out certain clusters of letters.
- Work Backwards from the Spangram: If you can find the Spangram first, the rest of the puzzle usually falls like dominoes. The Spangram always describes the relationship between all the other words.
- Say the Theme Out Loud: Sometimes hearing the words "Top secret" helps your brain trigger synonyms that your eyes aren't seeing on the grid.
Today's puzzle is a reminder that the simplest themes can be the most complex to execute. You've got this. Take a breath, look for the UNDERGROUND, and the rest will follow.
The next time you're stuck, remember that the grid is finite. There are only so many combinations. If you've found PRIVATE, HIDDEN, COVERT, BURIED, MYSTERY, and UNDERGROUND, you've mastered the Strands hint September 20 and can move on with your day, feeling just a little bit smarter than you did ten minutes ago.
Go finish that grid and claim your victory.