NYT Strands Hints and Answers for November 21, 2025 (#628)
Spoiler-safe hints for the NYT Strands puzzle of November 21, 2025: the theme clue first, then first letters, word lengths, the spangram, and the full grid.
Stuck on the Strands puzzle of November 21, 2025? Start with the theme, take one rung at a time, and stop as soon as the grid opens up. Nothing below is revealed until you tap it.
Hints for November 21, 2025, one rung at a time
ThemeToday’s theme
Heard at the board meeting
Start from the clue “Heard at the board meeting”. Once you see what the 6 theme words have in common, the grid opens up quickly.
Hint 2First letters
Sorted alphabetically, the first letters are A, D, I, L, P, S.
Hint 3Word lengths
The theme words are 5, 5, 5, 6, 6 and 7 letters long. The shortest is 5 letters, the longest 7.
SpangramThe spangram
CORPORATESPEAK
It is a single word of 14 letters and it touches two opposite sides of the board.
Starts with C, ends with K.
AnswersAll theme words
- ALIGN5 letters
- PIVOT5 letters
- SCALE5 letters
- IDEATE6 letters
- LIAISE6 letters
- DISRUPT7 letters
BoardThe completed grid
Theme wordSpangramEach line follows one word; the small number is that letter’s place in it.