NYT Strands
NYT Strands

NEW YORK — The New York Times' Strands puzzle on Monday was all about small talk, with a theme built around casual conversation.

Strands No. 981, for Nov. 9, 2026, has the theme "Idle chatter," with five theme words and one spangram to find.

Hints come first, followed by the full answers.

How Strands works

In Strands, players connect adjacent letters on a grid to find words that fit a daily theme. The spangram describes the theme and stretches across the board, and every letter is used exactly once. Finding non-theme words earns hints.

Words that can count toward hints today include SPONGE, GOTH, STORE, BARGE, TABOO and CHIN.

Theme hints

All the hidden words describe different ways of having an easygoing chat.

Spangram hints

The spangram has 14 letters across three words, with letter counts of 5, 3 and 6. It starts with S and ends with E. It is a common idiom meaning to talk casually with someone.

Position may also help. TechRadar places the spangram's start on the left side in the third row and its end on the top side in the fifth column.

Today's Strands answers

Spoiler warning: the full solutions follow.

The answers are BANTER, GOSSIP, CHINWAG, GABFEST and SCHMOOZE, and the spangram is SHOOTTHEBREEZE.

The spangram, SHOOT THE BREEZE, means to chat idly. Each theme word is another term for informal talk, from the British slang CHINWAG to the Yiddish-derived SCHMOOZE.

Strategy tips

The two Z's on the board are a key clue. TechRadar's writer said failing to spot the words connected to the two Zs set them back, and they lost confidence searching the board.

A hint revealed BANTER, which got them on their way.

Because SCHMOOZE and the spangram SHOOTTHEBREEZE each contain a Z, locating those letters early can quickly open up the board.

Yesterday's answers

Sunday's answers were KICKBOXING, JUDO, KARATE, TAEKWONDO and NINJUTSU, with the spangram MARTIALARTS.

A new Strands puzzle appears at midnight in each player's time zone. Strands No. 982 arrives Tuesday.