Strands #985 Hints & Answers Today, November 13, 2026

Strands #985 falls on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, and The New York Times (NYT) prints the fitting clue “Not a good sign.” Superstition is the theme, and the answers do not stand alone. Hope Fourie constructed the grid, with Tracy Bennett editing. A ten-letter spangram names the mood; what a spangram has to reach is on our Strands page. Hints come first, and the answers wait in the spoiler section at the end.

Spangram hints

• Hint 1

  the two-word phrase for the bad fortune all these omens warn of.
• Hint 2

  the first word means spoiled or gone off; the second is fortune or chance.
• Hint 3

  ten letters across two words, starting with R and ending with K.
• Reveal the spangram

  Rottenluck
• Letter by letter: the spangram, one more letter per tap.
  Show the first letter

  r_________ (1 of 10 letters)

  Show letter 2

  ro________ (2 of 10 letters)

  Show letter 3

  rot_______ (3 of 10 letters)

  Show letter 4

  rott______ (4 of 10 letters)

  Show letter 5

  rotte_____ (5 of 10 letters)

  Show letter 6

  rotten____ (6 of 10 letters)

  Show letter 7

  rottenl___ (7 of 10 letters)

  Show letter 8

  rottenlu__ (8 of 10 letters)

  Show letter 9

  rottenluc_ (9 of 10 letters)

  Show the last letter

  rottenluck (10 of 10 letters)

Theme word hints

The six answers snap together into three two-word omens. Listed shortest to longest:

• 4 letters, starts with S

  a white seasoning you toss over a shoulder for luck.

  Show the word

  Salt
• 5 letters, starts with F

  a story of a building; superstition sometimes skips the one numbered by the next answer.

  Show the word

  Floor
• 6 letters, starts with B

  cracked into pieces.

  Show the word

  Broken
• 6 letters, starts with M

  the glass that shows your reflection.

  Show the word

  Mirror
• 7 letters, starts with S

  tipped over and scattered, as a shaker might be.

  Show the word

  Spilled
• 10 letters, starts with T

  the ordinal right after twelfth.

  Show the word

  Thirteenth

Three omens, and the spangram’s L-shape

The answers are not loners; they join into three two-word omens, so finding one half points you to its partner close by.

The spangram makes a plain L. It begins in the fourth row on the left edge, drops one row, runs straight across the fifth row to the right edge, then falls down the last column into the bottom-right corner, touching the left, bottom and right edges. The ten-letter T word, the other long answer, fills the entire top-left quarter, and the six-letter B word sits packed in the top-right. Along the bottom, the five-letter F word takes the lower-left corner while the six-letter M word and four-letter S word share the lower-right, and the seven-letter S word spans the top-right rows just under the B word. The top-right quarter is fullest, all twelve of its tiles themed.

Solving tips

Show the solving tips

Pair the words as you go: three answers are the first half of an omen and three are the second, so each find narrows the next. The two ten-letter answers sit in opposite corners, which helps you frame the grid.

Marking a Friday-the-13th streak? Use the printable weekly calendar or the November 2026 printable calendar.

Also on Nov. 13: Wordle, Connections and Pips.

Today’s Strands answers (spoilers)

Past this point everything is revealed.

• Spangram: Rotten Luck
• Theme words: Broken, Floor, Mirror, Salt, Spilled, Thirteenth

The three omens are a broken mirror, spilled salt and the thirteenth floor, and the spangram, Rotten Luck, is the bad fortune they all point to.

Yesterday's Strands answer

Strands on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026 had the theme clue "Facing the music". The spangram was Audience, and the theme words were Concertgoer, Listener, Patron, Spectator, Viewer. Yesterday's hints and full solution.