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NYT Strands Answer & Hints — “Shaking things up”, January 19, 2026

Stuck on the January 19, 2026 NYT Strands puzzle? Here are progressive hints and the full answer for the “Shaking things up” puzzle (Strands #380 of 508 in our archive). Every reveal is hidden by default — click to open the ones you need.

Spoiler warning. The answers below are for the January 19, 2026 NYT Strands puzzle. Scroll past this section if you want to solve it yourself first.
Hint 1: The themeReveal

The theme for the January 19, 2026 NYT Strands puzzle is “Shaking things up”. Every theme word and the spangram connects back to this phrase, so think about what related words might fit a 6×8 grid of 48 letters before you start scanning.

Hint 2: Spangram length and first letterReveal

The spangram for the “Shaking things up” puzzle is 8 letters long and starts with the letter L. It touches two opposite edges of the grid, as every NYT Strands spangram does.

Hint 3: How many theme wordsReveal

Besides the spangram, the January 19, 2026 NYT Strands puzzle has 7 theme words. Together with the spangram, they use every letter on the 6×8 grid exactly once.

Answer: Full spangramReveal

The spangram for the January 19, 2026 NYT Strands “Shaking things up” puzzle is LETSROCK. It spans two opposite edges of the 6×8 grid and captures the theme directly.

Answer: All theme wordsReveal

Here are the 7 theme words for the January 19, 2026 NYT Strands “Shaking things up” puzzle:

  • QUAKE
  • SWAY
  • TEETER
  • TREMBLE
  • VIBRATE
  • WAVER
  • WOBBLE

Plus the spangram LETSROCK, that’s every word on the grid — all 48 letters accounted for.

Answers for the January 19, 2026 NYT Strands puzzle. Strands Unlimited is an independent fan archive — today's NYT Strands is free on nytimes.com/games/strands.

About the "Shaking things up" NYT Strands puzzle

This puzzle is themed "Shaking things up", a descriptive phrase that captures the essence of what you're searching for. In Strands, descriptive themes give you a broad direction without being too specific — the fun is in discovering exactly which general words the puzzle maker chose to represent the idea. The spangram will name the core concept, and the theme words are its supporting cast.

At 7 theme words, this is one of the denser puzzles in the archive. The grid is packed, so words will be closer together. With 8 letters, the spangram is mid-length — long enough to stand out in the grid but still requiring careful scanning to trace from edge to edge. Originally published on a Monday, Puzzle #380 is a more recent addition to the 508+ puzzle archive.

#380
Puzzle Number
7
Theme Words
8
Spangram Letters
Medium
Difficulty

How to approach "Shaking things up"

  • The theme paints a picture. Brainstorm 5-10 words that come to mind when you read it, then scan the grid for those words or close variants.
  • There are 7 theme words packed into this grid. Try to find 2-3 shorter words first to free up space and make the remaining words easier to trace.
  • If you get stuck, try finding non-theme words (any valid 4+ letter English word) to earn hints. Each hint reveals one letter of an unsolved theme word.
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Strands Unlimited is an independent fan archive of past Strands puzzles. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The New York Times Company. NYT Strands is a trademark of The New York Times Company. Today's daily puzzle is free at nytimes.com/games/strands.