NYT Strands game #977, released Thursday, November 5, uses the theme “Handle with care.” The puzzle’s spangram is GIVEMEABREAK, which has 12 letters and runs from the third column at the top of the board to the third column at the bottom.
The theme words are WIND, BREAD, FAITH, GROUND, DANCING and CHARACTER. The clue words listed to unlock in-game hints are MERGE, DIME, BRINK, ROUND, CAGE, DIVE and CHAIR.
The puzzle’s reviewer rated it Moderate and said they used three hints. They only recognized “break” as the connecting idea after completing the game.
A new Strands puzzle appears at midnight in each player’s time zone. The previous puzzle, game #976, had the spangram HUMANRESOURCES and included LABOR, STAFF, WORKFORCE, PEOPLE and PERSONNEL.
Sources: TechRadar.