#689Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Strands answers for January 21, 2026 — “That's not very polite” (#689)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for January 21, 2026 (puzzle #689) is DONTBERUDE, a 10-letter answer to the theme "That's not very polite". The 7 theme words are BURP, GLOAT, INTERRUPT, POINT, SHOUT, STARE and TEASE.
Where is each answer on the January 21 Strands board?
The 7 theme words for Strands on January 21, 2026 are listed below, followed by the spangram.
The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 8 answers. Every position comes from solving the grid outright — the answers have to tile all 48 letters with no overlap and no remainder, which is what makes a single arrangement provable.
| Answer | Letters | Starts | Ends | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BURP | 4 | row 4, column 1 | row 5, column 2 | diagonally across the grid |
| GLOAT | 5 | row 3, column 3 | row 1, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| INTERRUPT | 9 | row 6, column 4 | row 8, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| POINT | 5 | row 3, column 5 | row 4, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| SHOUT | 5 | row 8, column 2 | row 6, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| STARE | 5 | row 2, column 5 | row 1, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| TEASE | 5 | row 4, column 3 | row 2, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| DONTBERUDE | 10 | row 1, column 3 | row 8, column 3 | top to bottom |
What did the January 21 Strands grid look like?
The Strands board for January 21, 2026 is a six-column, eight-row grid of 48 letters.
Spangram — 10 letters7 theme words
Each line traces one answer through the letters it uses; the heavier yellow line is the spangram.
Read across the grid, row 1 reads T-A-D-O-E-R, row 2 reads E-O-L-N-S-A, row 3 reads S-E-G-T-P-T, row 4 reads B-A-T-B-O-T, row 5 reads U-P-R-E-I-N, row 6 reads T-R-U-I-R-U, row 7 reads U-H-D-N-R-P, and row 8 reads O-S-E-T-E-T.
How hard was the January 21 Strands puzzle?
Measured against the full archive, the January 21, 2026 puzzle lands in the easy range — above 16% of all Strands puzzles.
Easiest puzzle ever published on the left, hardest on the right. The formula behind the score, and the ranked list of every puzzle, are on the Strands difficulty index.
Who made the January 21 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #689 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Christina Iverson. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.
Common questions about the January 21 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on January 21, 2026?
The Strands clue for January 21, 2026 is “That's not very polite”, on puzzle #689. It is answered by the spangram DONTBERUDE, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on January 21, 2026?
The 7 Strands theme words for January 21, 2026 are BURP, GLOAT, INTERRUPT, POINT, SHOUT, STARE and TEASE, plus the spangram DONTBERUDE.
What was the big word in the January 21, 2026 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for January 21, 2026 is DONTBERUDE, 10 letters long, running from row 1, column 3 to row 8, column 3. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “That's not very polite” mean?
The Strands theme “That's not very polite” for January 21, 2026 means DONTBERUDE — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 7 theme words is an example of it.
How many theme words are in Strands January 21, 2026?
Strands puzzle #689 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the January 21, 2026 Strands puzzle?
Strands #689 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 16% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on January 21, 2026?
The Strands puzzle published on Wednesday, January 21, 2026 is #689, counting from the game's launch on March 4, 2024.
Today’s puzzle and its hint ladder are on the front page. This puzzle sits in January 2026, part of the full Strands archive.