NYT Strands #919 is out for September 8, 2026, and today’s puzzle leans into the back-to-school season. The theme phrase is “It’s elementary!” – a hint that the six strand words are all things you’d find in an elementary school classroom.
Hints for Strands #919
Three nudges before the full reveal:
- Every theme word is something a teacher or student would interact with physically in a classroom – think supplies and furniture, not concepts.
- One of the words is something that hangs on the wall and shows geography. Another is the object that fixes mistakes.
- The spangram connects the theme directly to the school calendar – two common words that belong together.
NYT Strands Answers – September 8, 2026
Theme: “It’s elementary!”
Spangram: BACKTOSCHOOL
Theme Words:
GLOBE
PENCIL
RULER
ERASER
NOTEBOOK
LOCKER
Every word fits cleanly: a globe on the classroom wall, pencils and erasers at every desk, a ruler for math and measuring, a notebook for notes, and a locker waiting in the hallway. BACKTOSCHOOL spans the board as the unifying phrase, connecting the school-supply theme.
Today’s grid should be approachable for most solvers once BACKTOSCHOOL locks in – it acts as a structural anchor that narrows the remaining letter territory considerably. LOCKER is the one that tends to trip people: it fits the school setting but doesn’t feel as immediately “classroom” as the rest, which clusters solvers toward desk supplies first.
Yesterday’s Strands (#918) theme was “On the wings of a dove.” See the full September 7, 2026 Strands answers for yesterday’s full word list. Find the NYT Connections answer for September 8, 2026 and the NYT Mini Crossword answers for September 8.
The NYT Strands puzzle resets at midnight Eastern Time.
