Today's Strands clue is "I've seen better". Use the hints below to find the theme words and the spangram.
Welcome back, puzzle pals. Take your time and let the board reveal its quiet little trick.
Theme nudge: What to look for
Look for words that describe something neither bad nor impressive, just sitting in the middle.
Hint 1: How many words to find
There are 5 theme words plus one spangram.
Hint 2: The spangram
The spangram has 14 letters, starts with N, and runs from the top of the board to the bottom.
Hint 3: Theme word lengths and first letters
- 8 letters, starts with A
- 7 letters, starts with A
- 7 letters, starts with A
- 8 letters, starts with M
- 4 letters, starts with O
Show the spangram
NOTHINGSPECIAL
Show all theme words
ADEQUATE, ALRIGHT, AVERAGE, MEDIOCRE, OKAY
About this puzzle
- Made by Christina Iverson
- Edited by Tracy Bennett
Strands deep dive
More about today's puzzle. Everything in this section can include the answer.
The solved board
Gold squares are the spangram, green squares are theme words.
What the theme words mean
- ADEQUATE: Equal to or fulfilling some requirement.
- ALRIGHT: (sometimes proscribed) Alternative form of all right; satisfactory; okay; in acceptable order. [Good; in acceptable, ...
- AVERAGE: (statistics) Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
- MEDIOCRE: Not excellent or outstanding, usually disappointingly so.
- OKAY: Alternative spelling of OK. [All right, acceptable, permitted.]
Play today's Strands at The New York Times
More hints for September 6, 2026
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