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 Thursday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, December 25 (game #662).
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 #663) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Please hold
NYT Strands today (game #663) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- CHOSE
- CAKE
- TELLING
- TOAD
- CHAT
- LUNG
NYT Strands today (game #663) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 9 letters
NYT Strands today (game #663) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 4th row
Last side: right, 7th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #663) – the answers
The answers to today’s Strands, game #663, are…
- GIFT
- MATCH
- SHOE
- LUNCH
- TACKLE
- TOOL
- BALLOT
- SPANGRAM: BOXINGDAY
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 hint
OK. I may not be at my sharpest today, but I hope I wasn’t the only person baffled by this edition of Strands.
I managed to make my way around the board OK with the help of a hint but I failed to see what the connection was to all of the search words with BOXINGDAY. Perhaps, I thought, it’s a cultural difference and there is some huge Boxing Day SHOE tradition in the US that people outside of the US have never heard of.
Finally, I got that “box” was the link, although I still don’t understand the theme “please hold”. Is it something to do with telephone boxes?
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Thursday, December 25, game #662)
- LORDS
- DRUMMERS
- MAIDS
- PIPERS
- SWANS
- LADIES
- SPANGRAM: CHRISTMASDAYS
What 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.
