NYT Strands Reveals Game #972 Answers With 12-Letter TRICKORTREAT Spangram

Q: How did Strands No. 972 turn a simple 6-by-8 grid into an easy Halloween word hunt?

Strands No. 972 made the 6-by-8 grid feel like an easy Halloween word hunt by pairing a very date-specific theme with a highly revealing spangram. The clue, “It’s in the bag,” pointed solvers toward trick-or-treat loot, and once the 12-letter spangram TRICK OR TREAT was found stretching from the left side of the board to the right, the rest of the puzzle’s logic became clear. The remaining theme words all fit that Halloween haul: CANDY, APPLE, STICKER, FANGS, RING and TOOTHBRUSH. Together they read like items children might bring home after going door to door, mixing classic treats with novelty giveaways and a humorous outlier in TOOTHBRUSH, the kind of unexpected handout often associated with dentists or health-conscious neighbors. Its ease also came from familiar Strands mechanics working in the player’s favor. Words could be traced through adjacent letters in any direction, and every theme answer used up the full board. Players who got stuck could unlock hints by spotting ordinary four-letter-plus words such as PACK, PALE, PLEA, RICE, SHIN and TOOT. The New York Times rated the puzzle easy, and the seasonal timing helped explain why: Halloween made the theme instantly recognizable, the spangram directly named the tradition, and the answer set was built from objects people readily associate with a trick-or-treat bag.

Q: Why did the Times’ Halloween Strands puzzle hide an unexpected item like TOOTHBRUSH alongside TRICK OR TREAT?

The Times hid TOOTHBRUSH in the Halloween Strands because the puzzle’s theme was not just candy, but anything that might end up in a trick-or-treat bag — including odd or unpopular handouts. The Oct. 31 puzzle, themed “It’s in the bag,” used TRICK OR TREAT as its spangram and grouped together items a child might bring home on Halloween night. Alongside expected answers like CANDY and APPLE, it included FANGS, RING, STICKER and TOOTHBRUSH to reflect the broader mix of treats and novelty items people sometimes receive at the door. Outside solvers’ write-ups made the same point, describing the set as “stuff — both good and cringeworthy — that a neighbor might hand out tonight.” Several commentators specifically noted that a toothbrush felt unusual but still fit because some adults, especially dentists or health-conscious households, do hand them out on Halloween. So TOOTHBRUSH was the joke and the twist: an unexpected but plausible trick-or-treat giveaway, included to make the Halloween theme wider and more playful than a simple candy list.

3 articles · Updated · TechRadar · Oct 30

Game #972’s solution set centers on the 12-letter spangram TRICKORTREAT, with TOOTHBRUSH, FANGS, RING, CANDY APPLE and STICKER among the answers.
The October 31 puzzle carried the theme “It’s in the bag,” and the writer rated it easy after the Halloween date and FANGS quickly clarified the word set.
The spangram runs from the left side in the 3rd row to the right side in the 4th row, while clue words included STEAK, FISH, CITY, SANDY, PLAICE, TRICK and RICE.
Strands refreshes at midnight in each player’s time zone, so game numbering and what counts as “today’s” puzzle can differ by location.