CNET: NYT Strands Answers and Hints for Oct. 23, Puzzle No. 964

CNET: NYT Strands Answers and Hints for Oct. 23, Puzzle No. 964

October 22, 2026 Rachel Kim – Technology Editor Technology

Puzzle Solutions for NYT Strands No. 964 on October 23, 2026

For puzzle No. 964 on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, CNET reported the daily New York Times Strands theme as “None of your beeswax!” with the clue abbreviation MYOB. Players looking to unlock in-game hints on the 6×8 grid can input four-letter or longer words such as SING, GOOP, BONG, PONG, PING, RING, DING, YETI, GOON, BEAVER, and BEAVERS, as earning three non-theme words reveals a theme word.

The Tech TL;DR:

  • NYT Strands puzzle No. 964 launched on October 23, 2026, under the theme “None of your beeswax!”
  • The 10-letter spangram for the board is BUSYBODY.
  • Players can unlock hints by entering non-theme words of four letters or more like SING or BEAVER.

Theme Answers and Spangram for Puzzle No. 964

The nonspangram answers required to clear the board comprise NOSY, PRYING, SNOOPY, INQUISITIVE, and EAVESDROPPING, according to CNET. Every letter on the grid is utilized once all solutions are found. The central connecting element, or spangram, is BUSYBODY, which spans from the first letter on the top row and winds down and right diagonally across the board.

Comparison with Previous Daily Solutions

In contrast to puzzle No. 964, the preceding day’s puzzle (No. 963 on October 22, 2026) featured the moderate-rated theme “Any relation?”, as detailed by PC Guide. That board required players to find terms like ANCESTORS, BLOOD, BRETHREN, KINFOLK, and OFFSPRING, alongside a ten-letter, two-word spangram running from the top left to the bottom right. While both boards require utilizing every tile in the 48-letter grid, puzzle No. 964 leans on behavioral traits rather than genealogical categories.

# Example helper script logic for finding 4-letter words in a grid
def check_hint_words(word_list):
    valid_hints = [w for w in word_list if len(w) >= 4]
    return len(valid_hints) >= 3

Players experiencing persistent bottlenecks with daily grid completion can utilize built-in hint mechanics or consult community puzzle solvers to maintain streak continuity without altering device configurations.

Worth a look