Each morning a puzzle arrives with its small riddle, and on this day it asked, in the words of a famous old song, who you are going to call. The answer is the exterminator, the person summoned when cockroaches, rats, mice, ants, ticks or termites have taken up residence where people sleep and eat. Mashable, keeping its daily vigil over the New York Times' word game Strands, offers its readers the answer in stages, so that each may take only as much help as the moment requires. The grid itself is a quiet reminder that the small unwelcome creatures of the household are as old as shelter, and tha
NYT Strands Hints and Answers for October 27, 2026: Pests Theme, Spangram 'Exterminator'
Who ya gonna call? The spangram answers: Exterminator.
Mark
So what's today's Strands about?
Mimi
Pests. The clue is "Who ya gonna call?" and the words are rodents and bugs you'd find in a house.
Mark
And the spangram?
Mimi
Exterminator. It runs horizontally across the grid, which is one of the hints Mashable gives before revealing it.
Mark
Why does the spangram matter so much?
Mimi
It sums up the theme and spans the whole board, so once you find it, the rest of the letters start to make sense.
Luke
Before we go on, there's a wrinkle. The word list is headed October 26, not 27.
Mimi
Right. Cockroaches, ants, rats, mice, ticks and termites.
Luke
Those fit the theme, but the date label means I can't say for certain it's today's list. The article doesn't explain the mismatch.
Mark
So it could be a typo?
Luke
Possibly, but that's a guess. What's confirmed is the theme, the spangram and its orientation, all described as today's.
Mimi
Which is enough to get someone unstuck, even if you check the list against your own grid.
Luke
Fair. Just verify it as you play.
Der Puls
- A famous movie theme's question sets the puzzle's riddle: who ya gonna call?
- Stuck players are guided through staged hints, from theme to orientation to the full answer.
- The spangram Exterminator runs horizontally across the grid, the hidden answer tying the pests together.
- The word list of cockroaches, ants, rats, mice, ticks and termites is labeled for October 26, leaving its match to today's grid uncertain.
- The story lands softly: a daily puzzle, finished at each reader's own pace, with no wider consequence.
Each morning a puzzle arrives with its small riddle, and on this day it asked, in the words of a famous old song, who you are going to call. The answer is the exterminator, the person summoned when cockroaches, rats, mice, ants, ticks or termites have taken up residence where people sleep and eat. Mashable, keeping its daily vigil over the New York Times' word game Strands, offers its readers the answer in stages, so that each may take only as much help as the moment requires. The grid itself is a quiet reminder that the small unwelcome creatures of the household are as old as shelter, and that the human habit of calling for help is older still.
The clue for the October 27, 2026 NYT Strands puzzle borrows a line from a famous movie theme song: who ya gonna call? Mashable's daily hint column answers it plainly, and the grid turns out to be about pests, the rodents and bugs that might turn up in a home.
Strands, for those who haven't played, is the Times' take on the word search. Letters link in any direction, including bends, and every letter belongs to some answer. There is no word list and only an opaque clue, which makes it slower going than Wordle or Connections.
Mashable's column helps in stages. The first offers the theme, the second names the household rodents and bugs, and the third notes that the spangram runs horizontally. The final stage gives the answer: Exterminator, the professional you would call about the problems the other words describe.
The six listed words are cockroaches, ants, rats, mice, ticks and termites. The article labels that list as the October 26 one, though it covers the 27th, so readers should treat it as likely rather than certain. Beyond the puzzle, the column points to other games coverage, and there is no wider news here.
The clue for the October 27, 2026 NYT Strands puzzle is a question borrowed from a famous movie theme song: who ya gonna call? Mashable's daily hint column answers it plainly. The words in the grid describe pests, specifically the rodents and bugs you might find in your home.
For anyone who hasn't played, Strands is the New York Times' twist on the classic word search. Words are built from linked letters that can run up, down, left, right or diagonally, and they can also bend and change direction as they go, which produces odd shapes across the grid. Every letter on the board belongs to an answer. The game gives no word list and offers only an opaque clue, so it tends to take longer than the Times' other word games, Wordle and Connections.
Every puzzle has a theme tying the answers together, along with the spangram, a special word or phrase that sums up the theme and stretches across the entire grid, either horizontally or vertically. Mashable's column is aimed at players who are stuck or don't have ten or more minutes to spare, and it offers help in stages so readers can take only as much as they want.
The first stage is the theme hint, the Ghostbusters-flavored question above. The second is a plain explanation: these are rodents and bugs found in homes. The third concerns the spangram's orientation, and today's runs horizontally.
The last stage is the answer itself. Today's spangram is Exterminator, the person you would actually call about the problem the other words describe.
The word list Mashable prints comprises six entries: cockroaches, ants, rats, mice, ticks and termites. One discrepancy is worth noting. The article labels this list as the one for October 26, even though the piece is about the October 27 puzzle and was published on the night of October 27, UTC. The theme and spangram are described as today's, so the heading may be a labeling slip, but the article does not say so. Players should treat the list as likely, not certain, to match today's grid.
The column also points readers toward more of Mashable's games coverage, including other daily puzzle hints and a games hub with Mahjong, Sudoku and a free crossword. It links a solution page for those who want the full answer set. There is no wider news here, only a daily puzzle and a few ways to finish it at your own pace.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal, and the answer is Exterminator.— Mashable
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