Strands hints and answers for Monday, November 9, 2026
Today's Strands board is a coffee shop at full volume: every theme word is a name for idle talk, from a quick exchange of BANTER to a full-session GABFEST, and the five of them together are all talk and no work at all. The spangram names the whole activity in fourteen letters stretched across the board from edge to edge. Three hints first, then the spangram and all five theme words waiting behind the tap below it for you whenever you are ready to play.
Hints, in order
Hint 0 of 3Tap to show one hint at a time.
Stay literal about the theme: the clue is about talk. Every theme word names a way of chatting idly, from quick teasing exchanges to long sessions of pure conversation.
The five words are BANTER, CHINWAG, GABFEST, GOSSIP and SCHMOOZE. Between them they cover the coffee shop: playful teasing, a long chat, a session of nonstop talk, talk about other people, and friendly working-the-room conversation.
The spangram is fourteen letters and reads as three everyday words joined together: what you do when you chat idly with no agenda at all.
Spangram and theme words
The spangram first, then all five theme words.