Looking for a different day?A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, November 8 (game #980).Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.NYT Strands today (game #981) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Idle chatterNYT Strands today (game #981) - hint #2 - clue wordsPlay any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.SPONGEGOTHSTOREBARGETABOOCHINNYT Strands today (game #981) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?• Spangram has 14 lettersNYT Strands today (game #981) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?• First side: left, 3rd row• Last side: top, 5th columnRight, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.NYT Strands today (game #981) - the answers(Image credit: New York Times)The answers to today's Strands, game #981, are…BANTERGOSSIPCHINWAGGABFESTSCHMOOZESPANGRAM: SHOOTTHEBREEZEMy rating: HardMy score: 1 hintFailing to spot the words connected to the two letter Zs today set me back and I lost confidence as I searched the board, finding nothing but non-game words.Fortunately there were quite a few of those and a hint gave me BANTER, which set me on my way.Back in the day I used to be a GOSSIP editor on a music magazine, but I was so bad at it that I had to invent stories — something that, rather oddly, the people involved didn’t seem very worried about after I realized that if I merely had to keep the stories silly and obviously fake (each week, Madonna would be spotted in a supermarket in a British town she had never visited or likely heard of, for instance).Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, November 8, game #980)KICKBOXINGJUDOKARATETAEKWONDONINJUTSUSPANGRAM: MARTIALARTSWhat is NYT Strands?Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.