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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchNYT Strands resets at midnight in your local time zone. When your local date changes, the previous day’s board is replaced by a new daily puzzle, so players in different parts of the world see different puzzles at the same moment.
How the reset timing works
Current reporting on the game describes one daily puzzle that appears at midnight for each player’s own time zone. A TechRadar report from October 2026 says a new Strands puzzle appears at midnight for the player’s time zone and notes that some players may be on “today’s game” while others are still on “yesterday’s.” A Strands-focused guide describes the same behavior from the device side: the board changes when the device clock reaches 12:00 AM and the previous board is replaced at that moment.
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The practical consequence is that there is no single worldwide release time. A player on the US East Coast and a friend on the US West Coast are on different puzzles for roughly three hours each day, because the West Coast’s midnight arrives three hours after the East Coast’s.
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The table below shows how the same daily rollover lands at different absolute times. It uses local midnight only; the exact UTC or clock time depends on your time zone and on whether daylight saving time is in effect where you live, so check your own device clock rather than relying on a fixed conversion.
| Player location | Puzzle changes at | Relative to US Eastern midnight |
|---|---|---|
| US Eastern Time | 12:00 AM Eastern | Same moment (reference) |
| US Central Time | 12:00 AM Central | One hour later |
| US Pacific Time | 12:00 AM Pacific | Three hours later |
| UK (London) | 12:00 AM London time | Five hours earlier during US Eastern Standard Time periods, four hours earlier during US Eastern Daylight Time periods |
Why you might see a different puzzle than someone else
If a friend posts a Strands solution that does not match yours, the most likely cause is a time-zone gap, not a different puzzle. Compare the date on each person’s device before assuming a problem. Because the reset follows the device clock, a device with an incorrect time or time zone setting may switch puzzles at the wrong moment.
Quick Recap
Rank #3
What is and is not confirmed
- Confirmed by current secondary reporting: the daily puzzle changes at local midnight.
- Not located: an official NYT Strands help page that states the reset rule in its own words. Treat the schedule as what current reporting describes, not as a published NYT policy.
- Not established by the sources used here: how streaks, archives, account syncing, or delayed updates behave around the reset. Do not assume these details from the reset timing alone.
Quick answer for common questions
- If you want the new puzzle, wait until midnight on your device’s clock.
- If your puzzle still shows yesterday’s date after midnight, check that your device’s date and time are correct and set to update automatically.
- If someone elsewhere has already solved “today’s” game, they are most likely ahead of you in local time.
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