The NYT Strands puzzle for July 31, 2026, revolves around a clever animal-inspired theme that becomes easier to recognize as more words are uncovered.
Today's challenge focuses on traits commonly associated with the lion, encouraging players to connect descriptive words before identifying the spangram.
If you need a helping hand, this guide includes spoiler-free hints, the complete answer list, and today's spangram to help you solve the puzzle.
Today's NYT Strands puzzle brings a recognizable human-nature-based challenge; the only catch is that the theme is all about the jungle. Once a few words appear, the overall theme becomes much easier to identify. Unlike the other theme words, the Spangram stretches across the grid, connecting two opposite sides. It can change direction as it winds through adjacent letters, making it one of the puzzle's defining features.
Today's NYT Strands is ‘Summer sign.’ It sounds like it’s about weather or nature, but that’s not the thing. Today’s puzzle is all about a specific animal from a jungle kingdom. This animal is royal and considered the king of the jungle. Today’s non-spangram words are all related to the features a lion generally has.
Most of the words are easy to identify, although a few may be slightly trickier depending on familiarity with lions’ characteristics. The solution offers complete satisfaction since the theme remains unchanged from the start to the conclusion.
Here are the clues for each word in today’s puzzle:
First word: a four-letter word starting with BO
Second word: a five-letter word starting with BO
Third word: a five-letter word starting with LO
Fourth word: an eight-letter word starting with CH
Fifth word: an eight-letter word starting with DR
Sixth word: an eight-letter word starting with GE
Also Read: NYT Connections Hints, Answers for July 30, 2026 (Puzzle #1145)
The non-spangram answers for the July 31 NYT Strands Answer are:
BOLD
BOSSY
LOYAL
CHARMING
DRAMATIC
GENEROUS
Each answer perfectly fits with a lion’s behavior and appearance.
Spangram Explained
Spangram: LEOTHELION.
Today's puzzle provides a simple yet enjoyable challenge that features terms that indicate one of the most royal animals in the world. The NYT Strands Today puzzle combines entertaining wordplay with established categories to produce daily puzzles that provide satisfying gameplay to all players.