Yesterday's Strands Answers #959 (Oct 18) and Spangram

This is yesterday's Strands, #959 from Sun, Oct 18, kept for a day. The hints come first, then the answer, so you can check the grid you played. New to it? Our Strands game page covers where to play, the modes and our tips.

Strands hands you a grid of letters, six wide and eight tall, and a theme clue that is often a pun. Every letter belongs to exactly one answer, and one of those answers, the spangram, names the theme and stretches from one side of the board to the opposite one. The clue rarely means what it seems to on first read.

When the theme will not click, hunt the spangram: it has to touch two opposite edges, which rules out most paths. Ordinary words of four letters or more still count toward a hint, so a stuck minute is better spent tracing words than staring at the clue.