Puzzle No. 940's seemingly sentimental theme conceals a medical vocabulary lesson, with a 14-letter spangram tying together heart, blood and vessel terminology.
The New York Times published Strands puzzle No. 940 on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, presenting players with the theme "Have a heart" and a secondary clue, "It beats." Rather than pointing toward compassion or romance, the puzzle's seven total answers—six theme words plus the spangram—direct solvers toward human anatomy and physiology, according to Mashable and multiple independent puzzle guides including CNET, Forbes, Parade and TechRadar.
Why Pete Hegseth Refused to Hold Jesse Watters' Drink at Trump's Xi State Dinner Photo-Op
How the Theme Clue Misleads Before It Clarifies
Strands relies on a single spangram, a word or phrase stretching from one edge of the letter grid to the other, to define the daily theme. For puzzle No. 940, that spangram is CARDIOVASCULAR, a 14-letter term identifying the body system comprising the heart and blood vessels, as confirmed by Mashable's September 29, 2026 hint article and corroborated by the NYT's own Strands platform.
The phrase "Have a heart" is commonly understood as an idiom urging kindness or sympathy. CNET's puzzle guide notes the supplementary clue "It beats," which nudges solvers away from the emotional reading and toward a literal, physiological one. Once the spangram is uncovered, the remaining six answers snap into place as components of the circulatory system rather than expressions of feeling.
Trapped Civilians in Russian-Occupied Oleshky Boil Weeds for Food as Bodies Are Left for Dogs
The Complete Answer Set and Anatomical Logic
According to Mashable, CNET, Forbes and TechRadar's independently published solution lists, the six non-spangram answers are VEIN, BLOOD, PULSE, ARTERY, ATRIUM and PRESSURE. Each functions as a distinct anatomical or physiological reference: veins carry blood toward the heart, arteries carry it away, the atrium is one of the heart's two upper chambers, pulse reflects the rhythmic expansion of arteries during heartbeats, and pressure denotes the force blood exerts against vessel walls.
Notably, the word "heart" itself does not appear among the solutions. Instead, the puzzle requires players to infer the anatomical category from its constituent parts—vessels, chambers, fluid and measurable signs—rather than naming the organ directly. This design choice reflects a recurring Strands technique in which the spangram names the overarching concept while the theme words supply supporting vocabulary at varying levels of specificity.
Grid Mechanics and Solving Assistance
Strands differs from a conventional word search because answers can run horizontally, vertically or diagonally, connecting through adjacent letter cells rather than appearing in simple straight lines. For puzzle No. 940, CNET's guide specifies that the spangram begins with a C located five rows down on the far-left column and extends horizontally across the board, a detail echoed by Strands.today's independent solving guide describing the same starting position.
PCGuide's coverage of puzzle No. 940 notes that the NYT rated the puzzle's difficulty as "easy," though several outlets caution that perceived difficulty depends heavily on whether a player quickly recognizes the cardiovascular interpretation rather than pursuing the more intuitive emotional reading of "Have a heart." Sportskeeda's hint breakdown further detailed starting letters and word lengths for individual theme answers, including that certain entries begin with the letter A and run six letters long, corresponding to ATRIUM and ARTERY.
As in all Strands puzzles, players can locate non-theme words elsewhere on the grid to earn hints. PCGuide's guide states that identifying three such non-theme words unlocks a hint revealing letters within one of the theme answers, giving solvers a progressive path to completion without immediately consulting the full answer list.
Cross-Publication Confirmation and Editorial Consistency
The puzzle's theme, spangram and answer list were independently reported with consistent detail across at least a dozen outlets, including Mashable, Lifehacker, CNET, Forbes, Parade, TechRadar, PCGuide, Sportskeeda and Strands.today, all dated September 27–29, 2026. This uniformity across competing publications functions as cross-verification rather than evidence of any discrepancy, with each source independently confirming CARDIOVASCULAR as the spangram and VEIN, BLOOD, PULSE, ARTERY, ATRIUM and PRESSURE as the six supporting answers.
The New York Times' own game platform listed the puzzle simply as "Strands September 29, 2026," while the paper's companion "Strands Hints" page, published under the Crosswords section, invited readers to discuss the puzzle and access graduated clues without immediately revealing the solution. A parallel hints page was already live for the following day's puzzle, No. 941, reflecting the game's standard one-puzzle-per-day publishing cadence.
Why the Puzzle's Design Carries Beyond a Single Day
Strands sits within the New York Times' broader games portfolio alongside the Crossword, Wordle and Connections, each contributing to the company's subscription-driven digital strategy. Puzzle No. 940's twist—using a warm, idiomatic theme phrase to disguise a clinical anatomical category—illustrates a recurring pattern in the game's design, where surface-level wording intentionally diverges from the underlying answer logic to heighten the solving challenge.
No corporate statement, regulatory matter or dispute is attached to this story; it remains a daily puzzle-solution report with its significance confined to helping readers finish the September 29 board. The next milestone is simply the following day's Strands puzzle, No. 941, continuing the format without any announced structural changes.
