The NYT Strands answer for Tuesday, August 11, 2026 is SUMMER HARVEST (puzzle #891). The theme is “Fresh from the market,” and the six strand words are TOMATO, ZUCCHINI, PEPPER, MELON, CORN, and CARROT. Three hints come first for players still solving, followed by the full answer and a breakdown of the grid.
NYT Strands Hints – August 11, 2026
Hint 1 (Theme): Today’s puzzle celebrates produce you would find at a summer farmers market or in a peak-season garden.
Hint 2 (Spangram): The spangram is two words and describes the season and the act of gathering what has grown. It spans the full grid from one edge to the other.
Hint 3 (Difficulty): Today’s puzzle is rated easy. All six strand words are common summer vegetables and fruits. If you have the theme, the answers come quickly.
NYT Strands #891 Answer – SUMMER HARVEST
The spangram for August 11, 2026 is SUMMER HARVEST, a 13-letter phrase that crosses the entire grid. It anchors the theme: each of the six strand words names a vegetable or fruit associated with summer growing season in North America, the kind of produce that peaks at farmers markets in July and August before the first frost.
TOMATO is the most searched summer produce word in the English language and a classic puzzle answer for exactly that reason. ZUCCHINI is the session’s longest strand word at eight letters, borrowed from Italian (zucchina, a small gourd) and fully naturalized into English by the mid-20th century. PEPPER covers a broad genus that includes sweet bells and fiery chilies alike, which is why it fits the market theme without pinning a specific variety. MELON spans watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew, all of which peak in August. CORN is the grid’s shortest strand word at four letters and likely the first one most solvers find. CARROT rounds out the six, technically a cool-season root that extends into summer harvests and appears year-round at farm stands.
The puzzle is one of the more accessible Strands editions of the month. The theme declares itself early, the strand words are all high-frequency vocabulary, and the spangram reads naturally once the produce category is identified. Players who open with CORN and TOMATO will have SUMMER HARVEST within a few moves.
For yesterday’s puzzle, see the NYT Strands answer for August 10, 2026 (#890), where the theme was “Back it up,” the spangram was PROOF POSITIVE, and the strand words were DATA, FACTS, FIGURES, SPECIFICS, and STATISTICS.
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