#745Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Strands answers for March 18, 2026 — “It follows” (#745)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for March 18, 2026 (puzzle #745) is AFTERLIFE, a 9-letter answer to the theme "It follows". The 7 theme words are BLOOD, COACH, CYCLE, HACK, LESSON, PRESERVER and STYLE.
Where is each answer on the March 18 Strands board?
Strands #745 resolves to these 7 theme words plus the spangram AFTERLIFE.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLOOD | 5 | row 6, column 5 | row 7, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| COACH | 5 | row 3, column 4 | row 3, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| CYCLE | 5 | row 5, column 3 | row 2, column 2 | bottom to top |
| HACK | 4 | row 7, column 3 | row 8, column 3 | diagonally across the grid |
| LESSON | 6 | row 4, column 6 | row 4, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
| PRESERVER | 9 | row 3, column 1 | row 8, column 2 | top to bottom |
| STYLE | 5 | row 1, column 3 | row 2, column 6 | left to right |
| AFTERLIFE | 9 | row 1, column 1 | row 8, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
What did the March 18 Strands grid look like?
Puzzle #745 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.
Spangram — 9 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 A-F-S-T-Y-L, row 2 reads L-E-T-O-A-E, row 3 reads P-C-E-C-C-H, row 4 reads R-Y-R-N-O-L, row 5 reads E-S-C-L-S-E, row 6 reads R-E-A-I-B-S, row 7 reads V-C-H-F-L-D, and row 8 reads E-R-K-E-O-O.
How hard was the March 18 Strands puzzle?
The difficulty index rates puzzle #745 as easy: it sits at the 29th percentile of every Strands grid to date.
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 March 18 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #745 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 March 18 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on March 18, 2026?
The Strands clue for March 18, 2026 is “It follows”, on puzzle #745. It is answered by the spangram AFTERLIFE, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on March 18, 2026?
The 7 Strands theme words for March 18, 2026 are BLOOD, COACH, CYCLE, HACK, LESSON, PRESERVER and STYLE, plus the spangram AFTERLIFE.
What was the big word in the March 18, 2026 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for March 18, 2026 is AFTERLIFE, 9 letters long, running from row 1, column 1 to row 8, column 4. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “It follows” mean?
The Strands theme “It follows” for March 18, 2026 means AFTERLIFE — 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 March 18, 2026?
Strands puzzle #745 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the March 18, 2026 Strands puzzle?
Strands #745 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 29% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on March 18, 2026?
The Strands puzzle published on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 is #745, 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 March 2026, part of the full Strands archive.