Today's NYT Strands hints and answer — solutions to game #596, October 20

Need a bit of help with NYT Strands today? No shame in that, and you've come to the right place. Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #596, as well as the answers, should it come to that.
We'll start off with some clues, before building up to the full answer for Strands #596, so read on if you need a little help.
Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #596.
Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints
The official theme for NYT Strands #596 is... "'It's in the mail'".
And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Paper money".
If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:
- SNARE
- MOST
- SERMON
- MUNCH
- TRUCKS
- DREAM
- TRUCE
- SOME
Still struggling? The spangram touches two opposite sides of the board (but can start and end anywhere), and will give you a hint about the connection between the answers. Today, it starts with 'C' and ends with 'T'.
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Scroll down to find out what it is...
It's CHECKLIST.
Today's Strands answers
So, what are today's Strands answers for game #596?
Drumroll, please...
- SIGNATURE
- ROUTING
- MEMO
- AMOUNT
- ADDRESS
- NUMBER
...and the spangram was CHECKLIST.
Strands #596
““It's in the mail””
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Hi Strands fans. I saw the word "check" right away and that, combined with the theme of "'It's in the mail'" made me think this was part of the spangram. I just wasn't quite sure how.
But it didn't take me long to figure out when I found the words SIGNATURE and ROUTING immediately below it.
Between them, I deduced that the spangram continued downwards, and sure enough I connected CHECKLIST. That left me to spell MEMO with the remaining letters to complete the half.
Three words were left to find in the top section, and they didn't take me too long to uncover. AMOUNT was just above the spangram, with ADDRESS above that. That just left NUMBER in the top-left corner to complete the puzzle.
Yesterday's Strands answers
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #595.
- JELLY
- SAUCE
- CIDER
- BUTTER
- STRUDEL
- COMPOTE
- FRITTER
...and the spangram was APPLES.
Strands #595
“For the picking”
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Hi Strands fans. How many things can you think of that are made with apples? That's essentially the puzzle today, and one I found a little tricky despite getting through it without resorting to clues.
I spotted JELLY at the top of the board, followed by SAUCE to its left. With CIDER on the right, I finally figured out that this was about APPLES, the spangram written across the middle of the board.
That isolated BUTTER to complete the top half, leaving three answers to find in the lower segment.
I'm not going to lie: I was very close to using a clue at this point, as I couldn't think of any more apple-related condiments. But then I saw the word STRUDEL in the middle, and realized that full meals were part of the equation.
Helpfully that was in the middle, making it nice and easy to get the two remaining answers on either side: COMPOTE on the left, and FRITTER on the right.
Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. He also handles all the Wordle coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game for the last several years in an effort to keep his streak forever intact.