NYT Strands is the New York Times’ daily word-search–style puzzle that asks solvers to spot theme-linked words hidden in a compact grid. Today’s theme — “out, damn spotted” — leaned into stain-care vocabulary and included a spangram that tied the cleaning terms together.

13 November 2025 NYT Strands Theme: “Out, damned spot”

This theme riffed on stain removal and laundering — familiar household verbs and products centered on getting spots “out.” The puzzle felt practical and approachable, with mostly short, active words and a spangram that neatly summed the set.

13 November 2025 NYT Strands: Hints

  • Think of laundry-room actions and stain-fighting products rather than clothing types.
  • Look for short verbs (3–6 letters) that describe what you do to a stain.
  • The grid often hides pairs of letters from adjacent words; check around found words for obvious neighbors.
  • Expect both chemical (bleach, spray) and mechanical (scrub, soak) approaches.
  • Spangram ties the list together — keep the idea of the overall phrase in mind while hunting.

13 November 2025 NYT Strands: Answers

  • blot (dab at a spill to lift a stain)
  • launder (wash clothing or fabric)
  • bleach (use a whitening/brightening chemical)
  • spray (apply a stain remover or pre-treatment)
  • steam (use heat and vapor to lift stains)
  • soak (let fabric sit in water or solution)
  • scrub (rub the spot to loosen residue)

Spangram

Stain removal - The spangram “stain removal” neatly encapsulates the theme — a phrase that contains letters used across the grid and describes the full suite of actions and products aimed at removing spots.

How Strands works

Strands is a daily word search puzzle with a twist:

  • You’re given a theme.
  • The grid is packed with hidden words tied to that theme.
  • Words can run in any direction, including diagonals.
  • Once you find all the theme words, you’re done!

Each puzzle usually has around 6–8 theme words.

How to get and use hints

Hints are built right into Strands, and they’re super useful if you’re stuck:

  • To earn a hint, find any non-theme word of at least four letters in the grid.
  • Each valid extra word gives you one hint.
  • When you use a hint, one of the theme words will be revealed automatically, helping you move forward.

Pro tip: Don’t just burn hints — use them strategically when the grid feels impossible. Sometimes a single revealed word unlocks the entire board.

Tips to become a NYT Strands pro

  1. Start with obvious words. Look for clear connections to the theme first.
  2. Scan diagonals early. Strands loves to hide words at an angle.
  3. Build around found words. Once one word is cleared, the leftover letters often point to the next.
  4. Use hints wisely. Earn them steadily by spotting extra words, then save them for when you’re truly stuck.
  5. Think about synonyms. The theme clue isn’t always literal — broaden your thinking.

Final thoughts

Today’s puzzle played fair — comfortably in the easy-to-moderate range — with common cleaning terms and a satisfying spangram. The theme was clever and instantly recognizable: how many of these stain-fighters did you spot?