Strands #978, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026: Hints for Seven Theme Words and the Spangram

Today’s Strands from The New York Times (NYT) is puzzle #978, for Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, and its theme clue is “Autumn walk in the woods.” Think of a trail in October, looking down at what crunches and snaps under your boots. It was constructed by Christina Iverson and edited by Tracy Bennett. Hints for the spangram and each theme word come first; the answers wait in a marked spoiler section at the end.

With 7 theme words and a 11-letter spangram filling all 48 tiles, today’s board follows the usual rules, which are on our Strands page.

Spangram hints

• Hint 1

  The leafy, mossy surface you walk on in a wood.
• Hint 2

  Two words: a large tract of trees, then the part you stand on.
• Hint 3

  Eleven letters, opening with F.
• Reveal the spangram

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

  f__________ (1 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 2

  fo_________ (2 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 3

  for________ (3 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 4

  fore_______ (4 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 5

  fores______ (5 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 6

  forest_____ (6 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 7

  forestf____ (7 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 8

  forestfl___ (8 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 9

  forestflo__ (9 of 11 letters)

  Show letter 10

  forestfloo_ (10 of 11 letters)

  Show the last letter

  forestfloor (11 of 11 letters)

Theme word hints

Seven theme words, all things you might spot on the ground or underfoot in the trees:

• Starts with H, 4 letters

  a dry outer covering, as on an ear of corn.
• Starts with M, 4 letters

  soft green growth on stones and logs.
• Starts with T, 4 letters

  a small thin stick that snaps underfoot.
• Starts with A, 5 letters

  an oak’s nut, a squirrel favorite.
• Starts with B, 6 letters

  a limb that grows out from a trunk.
• Starts with L, 6 letters

  autumn foliage that drops, or what a train does at its station.
• Starts with P, 8 letters

  the woody seed holder a conifer drops.

Where today’s spangram and theme words sit

Trace the spangram from row 1, column 1 to row 8, column 3. It touches the top, bottom, left and right edges of the board, spans rows 1 to 8 and columns 1 to 6, and changes direction 2 times, with 6 tiles in its longest straight run.

Look at the top-right quarter (rows 1 to 4, columns 4 to 6) first. 11 of its 12 tiles are theme tiles, 1 are spangram tiles. Whole theme words that fit inside it: the 6-letter B word.

The longest theme word is the 8-letter P word, at 8 letters; the 4-letter H word, the 4-letter M word and the 4-letter T word tie for shortest at 4 letters. The spangram, at 11 letters, is 3 longer than the longest theme word. Theme tiles per quarter: top-left 9, top-right 11, bottom-left 11, bottom-right 6.

Theme word	Rows	Columns	Where it sits
5-letter A word	1 to 5	2 to 6	mostly top-right (2 of 5 tiles)
6-letter B word	1 to 3	4 to 6	entirely top-right
4-letter H word	3 to 5	2 to 4	mostly top-left (2 of 4 tiles)
6-letter L word	6 to 7	3 to 5	mostly bottom-right (4 of 6 tiles)
4-letter M word	2 to 4	1 to 2	entirely top-left
8-letter P word	5 to 8	1 to 2	entirely bottom-left
4-letter T word	1 to 4	3 to 6	mostly top-right (3 of 4 tiles)

Solving tips

Three of the seven theme words have four letters, so try those short ones before the long ones. Our November 2026 printable calendar and printable weekly calendar are handy for a daily log.

Other games for Nov. 6: Pips, Connections and Wordle.

Today’s Strands answers (spoilers)

Last chance to turn back before the answers.

• Spangram: Forest Floor
• Theme words: Acorn, Branch, Husk, Leaves, Moss, Pinecone, Twig

Every theme word is something you could pick up on a woodland walk, and the spangram names the layer they all lie on.

Yesterday's Strands answer

Strands on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026 had the theme clue "Handle with care". The spangram was Givemeabreak, and the theme words were Bread, Character, Dancing, Faith, Ground, Wind. Yesterday's hints and full solution.