  We discuss string spectra in the low-tension limit using the BRST formalism,
with emphasis on the role of triplets of totally symmetric tensors and
spinor-tensors and their generalizations to cases with mixed symmetry and to
(A)dS backgrounds. We also present simple compensator forms of the field
equations for individual higher-spin gauge fields that display the
{unconstrained} gauge symmetry of a previous non-local construction and reduce
upon partial gauge fixing to the (Fang-)Fronsdal equations. For Bose fields we
also show how a local Lagrangian formulation with {unconstrained} gauge
symmetry is determined by a previous BRST construction.
