Strands Hints November 21 Answers and Spangram Guide Today

The New York Times Strands puzzle for November 21, 2025 leans hard into office jargon, with a theme that may remind many solvers of long meetings and buzzword-heavy presentations. The main theme for Strands No. 628 is “Heard at the board meeting,” with “MBA lingo” as the extra clue. If you need help with today’s grid, this breakdown of Strands hints November 21 will walk you through the answers and the spangram.

The puzzle mixes short corporate buzzwords with one long spangram that stretches across the board. If you struggled to spot the theme or got stuck on tricky words like “LIAISE” or “IDEATE,” you are not alone. Below, you will find the full list of themed answers for November 21, plus how the spangram hides in the grid and some quick strategy tips for future Strands puzzles.

Key details for Strands hints November 21 puzzle

Today’s Strands theme, “Heard at the board meeting,” points directly to corporate and management language. The extra clue “MBA lingo” confirms the vibe: these are words you might hear in a strategy session, PowerPoint presentation, or quarterly review. The answers are all common in modern business-speak, which can make them feel obvious in context but surprisingly hard to see in a scrambled grid.

Before the theme words reveal themselves, you can unlock in-game hints by finding any valid four-letter words or longer. Some example clue words that work in today’s grid include PORT, PORTS, RATE, SORE, SORES, SPENT, PANT, PANTS, DATA, SATE, CIDE, and PART. Any similar words you find will also count and can gradually light up the theme entries for you.

Here are the core theme answers for Strands No. 628 (non-spangram):

ALIGN, PIVOT, SCALE, IDEATE, LIAISE, DISRUPT.

Each of these fits comfortably into corporate speech. Teams ALIGN on a plan. Companies PIVOT to a new strategy. Startups SCALE their product. Managers IDEATE in brainstorming sessions. Colleagues LIAISE between departments. Disruptive businesses DISRUPT established markets. Once you spot one or two of these, the rest of the board meeting vocabulary becomes easier to recognize.

The spangram for November 21 is CORPORATESPEAK. This long word ties the entire theme together. To trace it in the grid, you start from the C located five letters down on the far-left column and then wind up and around. As always in Strands, the spangram snakes through the board, changing direction as needed but reusing no squares.

When you have found ALIGN, PIVOT, SCALE, IDEATE, LIAISE, DISRUPT and the spangram CORPORATESPEAK, every letter in the puzzle should be used. That is the signal that Strands No. 628 is complete.

How today’s Strands answers fit the theme

Today’s Strands grid is a neat snapshot of modern office language. It is the kind of vocabulary that shows up in management books, slide decks, and corporate emails. That is part of why some players find this theme fun while others find it slightly painful: it mirrors how often these words appear in real workplaces.

Words like ALIGN and SCALE reflect planning and growth. They suggest teams trying to move in the same direction and organizations looking to expand. PIVOT and DISRUPT are classic startup buzzwords, often used in tech circles and business media. IDEATE captures the brainstorming stage that many MBA programs emphasize. LIAISE represents communication and coordination across teams or departments.

All of these naturally roll up into the idea of CORPORATESPEAK. That spangram is a wink to players who recognize how often these terms get overused. The puzzle leans into that idea by packing a small board with maximum buzzword density.

If you got stuck today, the tricky words were likely IDEATE and LIAISE. Both can be hard to spell under pressure, and their letters do not always jump out from the grid. In those moments, it can help to focus on broad business concepts first. Think about what you would hear in a board meeting, then try to trace those words letter by letter. Recalling the theme, “Heard at the board meeting,” is the key to unlocking the whole puzzle.

In short, Strands hints November 21 revolve around one clear idea: the language of the corporate world. Once you see that the answers are all forms of corporate-speak, from ALIGN and PIVOT to the spangram CORPORATESPEAK, the puzzle becomes much more manageable and a lot more satisfying to finish.

FYI (keeping you in the loop)-

Q1: What is today’s Strands theme for November 21?

Today’s Strands theme is “Heard at the board meeting.” The extra clue given in the game is “MBA lingo,” which points to corporate and business jargon.

Q2: What are the Strands hints November 21 answers?

The main themed answers are ALIGN, PIVOT, SCALE, IDEATE, LIAISE, and DISRUPT. The spangram that ties them together is CORPORATESPEAK, which runs across the board.

Q3: Where does the spangram start in today’s Strands puzzle?

The spangram CORPORATESPEAK begins on the C located five letters down in the far-left column of the grid. From there, it winds up and around until it spells the full word.

Q4: How can I get more hints in Strands without spoilers?

To earn more hints, focus on finding any real words with four or more letters, even if they are not related to the theme. Every three valid words you find will unlock another theme word as a hint inside the puzzle.

Q5: Why did today’s Strands feel harder than usual?

Many players find business jargon and abstract corporate terms harder to visualize in a letter grid. Unusual spellings like IDEATE and LIAISE also increase difficulty, especially if you are not used to seeing them in everyday conversation.