Look, we have all been there. You open your phone, the coffee hasn't quite kicked in yet, and the NYT Strands board is just staring back at you with a chaotic mess of letters that make zero sense. On November 6, the New York Times decided to get a little bit cheeky with the theme. If you’ve spent more than ten minutes trying to find a word that isn’t "THE" or "AND," you aren't alone. It happens to the best of us.
The NYT Strands November 6 puzzle is a perfect example of why this game has exploded in popularity since its beta launch. It’s not just a word search. It is a spatial reasoning test masked as a vocabulary quiz. Honestly, some days the "Spangram" is so obvious it hurts, and other days? You're basically dragging your finger across the screen praying for a haptic vibration to tell you that you found something.
Decoding the NYT Strands November 6 Theme
The theme for the day was "Pet project." Now, usually, Strands themes are a bit metaphorical. When you see "Pet project," your brain might immediately jump to DIY crafts, home renovations, or maybe a side hustle you've been neglecting. But the New York Times editors love a good pun. Sometimes the most literal interpretation is the one that actually unlocks the board.
In this specific puzzle, "Pet project" refers to things you actually do for—or with—your domestic animals. It’s about the labor of love involved in pet ownership.
If you were looking for words like "HAMSTER" or "IGUANA," you were likely hitting a brick wall. The trick here was focusing on the actions and items associated with the animals rather than the animals themselves. This is a classic NYT move. They pivot the perspective just enough to make you feel like you’ve forgotten the English language for a second.
Why Strands Feels Different from Wordle or Connections
Strands is the "new kid on the block" in the New York Times Games suite, which includes heavy hitters like the Crossword, Spelling Bee, and the often-infuriating Connections. What makes the NYT Strands November 6 puzzle—and really any daily Strands—unique is the "Spangram."
The Spangram must touch two opposite sides of the grid. It describes the overall theme. If you find it early, the rest of the board usually collapses like a house of cards. If you don't? Well, you're stuck finding "hint" words.
Finding three words that aren't part of the theme fills up your hint meter. Once it's full, the game highlights the letters of a theme word for you. Some purists think using hints is cheating. I think it’s a sanity saver. There is no shame in getting a little nudge when the letters "G," "O," "O," and "M" are sitting in a corner and your brain refuses to see "GROOMING."
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The Anatomy of the November 6 Board
The board on November 6 was heavy on "O" and "A" vowels, which usually suggests words related to care or movement. When you looked at the grid, you might have spotted "TRAINING" snaking through the middle. That was a big one.
The words included in the solution were:
- GROOMING
- TRAINING
- WALKING
- FEEDING
- SHELTER
- ADOPTION
The Spangram for the day was ANIMALCARE.
It spanned from the left side to the right, cutting through the center and giving you the structural anchor needed to find the smaller, more obscurely placed words. Did you notice how "ADOPTION" used up that awkward corner? That's usually where the NYT likes to hide the longer words that require a bit of zig-zagging.
Common Pitfalls and Why You Might Have Struggled
Most people fail at Strands because they hunt for short words. In Wordle, five letters is the magic number. In Strands, the short words are often decoys or just there to fill your hint bar. The November 6 puzzle relied on gerunds—words ending in "-ING."
Once you see one "-ING," your brain should immediately start scanning for "I," "N," and "G" clusters elsewhere. It’s a pattern recognition game. If you found "WALKING" but missed "FEEDING," it’s likely because you weren't looking for the suffix repetition.
Another issue is the "pathing." Because you can move diaganol, vertical, or horizontal, the number of possibilities is technically massive. But the New York Times doesn't make "snake" patterns just for fun; they do it to ensure every single letter on the board is used exactly once. If you have a lone "X" or "Z" left over at the end, you’ve done something wrong.
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The Evolution of the NYT Game Suite
It is fascinating to see how the NYT has shifted its strategy. A few years ago, it was all about the Crossword. Then Wordle happened in early 2022, and the world went mad for yellow and green squares. Strands represents the third generation of this digital puzzle era. It’s more tactile. There is something satisfying about dragging your finger to "paint" the words on the screen that a keyboard just can't replicate.
By the time the NYT Strands November 6 puzzle rolled around, the community had already developed a sort of "meta-language" for the game. We talk about "edge-hugging" (finding words along the perimeter) and "core-splitting" (finding the Spangram first).
The difficulty curve of Strands is also notably different from Connections. In Connections, the difficulty is often in the "red herring" words that fit into two categories. In Strands, the difficulty is purely visual. The words are there; your eyes just haven't "rendered" them yet.
Expert Strategies for Future Puzzles
If you want to stop relying on Google searches for the daily answer, you need a system. Don't just swipe randomly.
First, look for the clusters of uncommon letters. If you see a "Q," find the "U." If you see a "K," look for an "S" or a "C." On November 6, the "G" at the end of the "ING" words was a massive giveaway.
Second, identify the "trapped" letters. These are letters in corners or tight spots that can only belong to one or two possible words. On the November 6 board, the "W" for "WALKING" was relatively isolated. Starting from the most restricted letter is a pro move that saves time.
Third, ignore the theme at first if you have to. Just find any words. Even if they aren't theme words, they charge your hint bar. Think of it as a tactical sacrifice. You’re trading three "junk" words for the location of one "real" word.
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The Cultural Impact of Daily Word Games
Why do we care so much about a puzzle from November 6? Because these games have become the new "water cooler" talk. Instead of talking about what was on TV last night, we’re texting our friends "Did you get the Strands Spangram today?" It’s a shared intellectual hurdle.
There’s also the hit of dopamine. Completing a Strands puzzle without hints feels like a genuine achievement. It tells you that your brain is still sharp, that you can see patterns in the noise. In a world of infinite scrolls and mindless content, a puzzle that requires 100% of your focus for five minutes is actually quite a luxury.
The NYT Strands November 6 puzzle wasn't the hardest one they've ever released, but it was clever. It played with our expectations of what a "pet project" is. It forced us to think about the mundane tasks of pet ownership as something worthy of a puzzle.
Practical Next Steps for Strands Players
To get better, stop looking at the board as a whole. Cover half the screen with your hand and just look at one quadrant. Your brain gets overwhelmed by 48 letters. By narrowing your field of vision, the words often "pop" out faster.
Also, try to say the theme out loud. Sometimes hearing the words "Pet project" helps you brainstorm related terms—like "leash," "bowl," or "crate"—which then makes it easier to spot them or their synonyms on the board.
For tomorrow's puzzle, remember that the Spangram is your best friend. Look for the longest word possible that touches two sides. Once that's in place, the rest of the board becomes much smaller and much easier to manage. Keep your eyes peeled for those suffixes and don't let the theme title throw you off the scent.
Go back to the NYT Games app and try to find a word starting from a corner you usually ignore. Most people start top-left; try bottom-right for a change. You'd be surprised how much a different perspective changes your ability to see the patterns. Stay sharp and happy puzzling.
Actionable Insights for Mastering NYT Strands:
- Search for Suffixes: In puzzles like November 6, identifying "-ING" or "-ED" endings early can clear out 30% of the board.
- Use the Hint Bar Strategically: Don't wait until you're frustrated; if you haven't found a word in two minutes, find three "junk" words to trigger a hint and maintain your momentum.
- Isolate Corners: Start with letters that have the fewest neighbors (the corners). These must belong to words that start or end there.
- Think Literally: If the theme is a pun, try to think of the most basic, literal definition of the words used.