NYT Strands Answer: CRITTER – September 5, 2026 (#916)

The NYT Strands #916 answer for September 5, 2026 is CRITTER – today’s spangram. The theme is “Informally known as,” and every theme word is an informal nickname for an animal.

Spoiler-free hints are below, with first-letter clues for each word. Scroll past the divider for the full solution.

– ANSWERS BELOW –

Strands #916 Spangram: CRITTER

CRITTER runs mostly horizontally across the board. A critter is informal American English for any living creature – an affectionate, slightly rural-inflected word derived from a dialectal pronunciation of “creature” documented in print since the early 19th century. The word is the connective tissue of today’s puzzle: the theme words are all informal names for specific animals, and CRITTER is the informal catch-all for animals in general.

Hints for Strands #916 – First Two Letters Only

NYT Strands #916 – Full Answers, September 5, 2026

What Each Word Means

GATOR is standard American English for “alligator,” in common use since the 19th century. The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is native to the southeastern United States. Gator appears in print by the 1840s and has been the default shortening ever since – surviving into sporting mascots, footwear brands, and Florida license plates alike.

HIPPO trims “hippopotamus” to its first two syllables. The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is the third-largest land animal by mass, after the elephant and white rhinoceros. The full name comes from ancient Greek: hippos (horse) + potamos (river) – river horse. The abbreviation has been standard in English since at least the 1870s.

RHINO clips “rhinoceros” at its second syllable. Five rhinoceros species survive today; all are threatened or critically endangered, with the northern white rhinoceros functionally extinct. The white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is the largest, reaching 2,300 kilograms. The word rhino has been in English use since the 17th century.

CHIMP has been the informal name for chimpanzee since at least the 1870s. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) share approximately 98.7 percent of their DNA with humans and are the closest living relatives to Homo sapiens. They are the only non-human animals with documented tool manufacture and use in the wild, and the only animals besides humans known to wage organized, lethal group conflict.

RATTLER is the everyday name for any rattlesnake, the venomous pit vipers in genera Crotalus and Sistrurus, found primarily across the Americas. The rattle is built from interlocking segments of keratin; a new segment forms with each molt. Snakes molt multiple times per year, so the rattle count does not reliably indicate age – a common misconception.

BUDGIE is the British and Australian informal shortening of “budgerigar” (Melopsittacus undulatus), the small green-and-yellow parakeet native to semi-arid Australia. Budgies are among the most popular pet birds in the world. The word budgerigar derives from a Gamilaraay language word, though the exact etymology remains disputed among linguists.

PEKE is the pet-owner shorthand for Pekingese, the ancient toy breed developed in imperial China. Pekingese were kept exclusively by the Chinese imperial court for centuries; Western access to the breed came only after the sacking of the Summer Palace in 1860, when British and French troops brought several dogs to Europe. The breed takes its English name from Peking, the former romanization of Beijing.

Strands #916 – At a Glance

For more Saturday, September 5 puzzle answers, see the Wordle #1904 answer – SOUPY and the NYT Connections #1182 answers for September 5, 2026.