Strands
Strands

NEW YORK — Sunday's Strands puzzle sends players into the world of comic-book bad guys.

The New York Times word-search game, puzzle No. 987 for Nov. 15, 2026, has the theme "Foiled again!" The clue points to a famous group of characters whose schemes keep getting stopped.

Players must find five theme words and one spangram hidden in a grid of letters.

What the Theme Means

"Foiled again!" is the line a classic cartoon villain shouts after a plan falls apart. Here, it points to the recurring enemies of a well-known superhero from Gotham City. Many of them have appeared in comics, television and film for decades.

Hints for Sunday's Strands

Players who want to solve it themselves can start with these clues:

Hint 1: Think about who ends a superhero story with their plans in ruins. Hint 2: The answers are recurring enemies of a famous masked crime fighter. Hint 3: The theme words begin with the letters FI, PE, JO, SC and RI.

Spangram Hints

The spangram has 13 letters. It begins with B and ends with N. It starts on the left side of the board in the fourth row and ends on the right side in the fourth row. It crosses the grid from side to side, mostly horizontally.

Strategy Tips

Strands players can connect letters up, down, sideways or diagonally, and each letter is used only once. When the puzzle is finished, every letter on the board belongs to a theme word or the spangram.

Players who get stuck can earn hints by finding non-theme words of four letters or more. Every three such words unlocks a hint that highlights the letters of one theme word.

On Sunday, the most recognizable villains may be the easiest place to start. Finding one or two theme words early can make the spangram's path much clearer, because it has to pass through the remaining letters.

Spoiler Warning

The full answers are below.

Today's Strands Answers

The theme words for Strands No. 987 are:

FIREFLY JOKER PENGUIN RIDDLER SCARECROW

Spangram: BATMANVILLAIN

About Today's Answers

All five theme words are long-running Batman villains.

The Joker is probably the most famous of them. He has been one of DC Comics' best-known characters since the early 1940s. The Penguin and the Riddler are also longtime staples of Batman comics, cartoons and films. The Scarecrow is known for using fear toxins. Firefly is a pyromaniac villain. He is less well known than the others, so players who don't follow the comics closely may find him the hardest of the five.

The 13-letter spangram, BATMANVILLAIN, ties the set together and confirms what the "Foiled again!" theme refers to.

Yesterday's Strands

Saturday's puzzle, No. 986, had the spangram FOLLOWTHELEADER. Its theme words were SKIP, JUMP, SPIN, GALLOP, WALK and TIPTOE, all ways a leader might move in the playground game.

How Strands Works

The New York Times added Strands to its games lineup in 2024. It mixes a traditional word search with a themed clue. Each day's puzzle has a short, often punny theme prompt and a grid of letters. Players must find every theme word and the spangram, a word or phrase that describes the theme and stretches across the board from one side to the opposite side.

The spangram turns yellow when found, and theme words turn blue. Unlike in Wordle and Connections, wrong guesses don't count against players. That makes Strands a more relaxed game, built around exploration.

The Times has also introduced a Sports Edition of Strands with its own daily puzzles. Sunday's Sports Edition puzzle is separate from the main game.

Tips for Future Strands Puzzles

Experienced players suggest a few habits:

Read the theme clue for wordplay, since it is often a pun or a familiar phrase. Look for uncommon letters such as Y, W and K, which narrow down where words can go. Search near the edges of the board for the start of the spangram.

A new Strands puzzle comes out every day at midnight local time.