Today’s Strands theme celebrates classic reference sources that guide you to accurate information.
LOOK IT UP spangram ties together every tool used for finding meanings and facts.
Theme words form a knowledge network from vocabulary help to subject deep dives.
The Strands puzzle for today, with the theme of ‘Like Wikipedia’, is one that relies on the instinct to look things up. Though the puzzle seems disorganized at first glance, the idea of reference books like dictionaries and encyclopedias helps make sense of it.
The spangram, LOOKITUP, is diagonal for Tuesday, February 24, 2026, and once you find it, your whole perspective changes.
There is a certain satisfaction in solving this puzzle, one that reflects the actual process of searching for an answer on the Internet, from confusion to clarity, and finally to having everything organized and understood.
LIKE WIKIPEDIA: Today’s Spangram is mostly diagonal. The Spangram answer for Tuesday, February 24, 2026, is ‘LOOKITUP.’
THESAURUS: A book that helps you find better, similar words easily.
ENCYCLOPEDIA: A detailed collection of articles explaining topics across many subjects.
DICTIONARY: A guide that tells you what words mean and how.
DIRECTORY: A structured list that helps you locate people or services.
LOOKITUP: A prompt telling you to search for the answer yourself.
The NYT Strands puzzle of the day, like Wikipedia, clicks as soon as you think of reference materials, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and directories. The puzzle looks like a mess at first, but the diagonal spangram LOOKITUP in it changes everything, as it points you in the direction of the rest of the words.
Once you get past that, the rest of the solution is easy and quick. The pleasure is in that familiar sensation of knowing something after not knowing it, like looking up one thing on the internet and suddenly understanding the whole subject.