Strands
Strands

The New York Times' Strands puzzle for Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, asks players to think about the people on the other side of the stage. The theme is "Facing the music."

The puzzle is Strands game No. 984. Players must find hidden theme words in a grid of letters. They also must find a special word called the "spangram," which describes the puzzle's theme and stretches from one side of the board to another.

When a puzzle is complete, every letter on the board has been used exactly once.

How Strands works

Players drag or tap across adjacent letters to form words. The letters can connect in any direction, including diagonally.

Theme words are highlighted in blue, and the spangram appears in yellow. Players who find three valid words that are not part of the theme earn a hint, which highlights the letters of one theme word.

Hints for Strands No. 984

Thursday's puzzle has six answers: five theme words and the spangram. For players who want help without spoiling the answers:

Theme: "Facing the music" Hint 1: The theme words describe people, not instruments or songs. Hint 2: All the answers relate to people who watch or listen to a performance, broadcast or event. Hint 3: The spangram has eight letters. Hint 4: The spangram starts with the letter A and ends with the letter E. Hint 5: The spangram runs from the right side of the board on the seventh row to the left side on the seventh row.

Spoiler warning: The answers are below.

Today's Strands answers

The spangram for Strands No. 984 is AUDIENCE.

The theme words are:

CONCERTGOER LISTENER PATRON SPECTATOR VIEWER

Each theme word describes a type of audience member. Concertgoers and listeners take in music, spectators watch sporting events and shows, viewers watch television or film, and patrons support performances, venues or the arts.

The theme "Facing the music" plays on a common phrase that normally means accepting the consequences of one's actions. In Thursday's puzzle, it refers literally to the people facing a stage while music is performed.

At 11 letters, CONCERTGOER is the longest word in the puzzle. PATRON is the shortest at six letters.

Why the puzzle was tricky

The theme clue may lead players to search for musical terms such as instruments, genres or song parts. Those searches would not help on Thursday, because the answers describe the people listening rather than the music.

The long word CONCERTGOER also takes up a large part of the board, and finding it early can open up space to locate the remaining words.

Because the spangram runs horizontally across the seventh row, players who spot the letters A, U and D near the bottom of the grid may find it quickly.

Tips for solving Strands

Puzzle experts recommend several strategies:

Find the spangram early. Because the spangram describes the theme, finding it first can make the other words easier to identify. Check the edges. The spangram always touches two different sides of the board, though not necessarily opposite sides. Use the hint system. Finding three non-theme words earns a hint, so players should not hesitate to enter common words they spot in the grid. Think beyond the obvious. Strands themes often rely on wordplay, so the clue may not mean what it first appears to.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Wednesday's Strands puzzle, No. 983, had the theme "Work it out." The spangram was MUSCLEGROUP, and the theme words were BICEPS, HAMSTRINGS, LATS, OBLIQUES, PECS and QUADS.

About Strands

The New York Times introduced Strands as a word-search style game in which players uncover a hidden theme. It joined Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee and the Mini Crossword in The New York Times Games lineup.

A new puzzle is released each day at midnight local time, offering a shared daily challenge for players around the world.

Strands game No. 985 will be released on Friday, Nov. 13.