Hey there! I trust you had a wonderful weekend and are all set to embrace the week ahead. Today, we're here to bring you the NYT Strands hints, spangram, and answers for Monday, December 9. Let's dive in!

Unlock the Secrets of Sunday's Strands Puzzle

How To Play Strands

The New York Times' Strands puzzle is a delightful twist on the classic word search. It's readily accessible on the NYT website and within the NYT Games app, alongside popular games like Wordle and Connections. Every day, a new game of Strands awaits. You'll be presented with a six by eight grid of letters. The goal is to identify a group of words that share a common theme, and you'll be given a clue to help you figure it out. Once you find a theme word, it will be highlighted in blue. Additionally, there's a special word called a spangram. This reveals what the words have in common. The spangram connects at least two sides of the board and may not start or end there. While theme words won't be proper names, the spangram can be. When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Every letter is used exactly once in either a theme word or the spangram. You can connect letters vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, and it's possible to change directions mid-word. On a touchscreen, simply double-tap the last letter to submit your guess. If you manage to find three valid words of at least four letters that aren't part of the theme, the Hint button will unlock. Clicking it will highlight the letters that make up one of the theme words. Be prepared! The difficulty varies from day to day, and the puzzle creators love to surprise you.

What Is Today’s Strands Hint?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hint for today's Strands puzzle, we'll reveal the answer words. The official theme hint for today's Strand puzzle is... Quiet at first. Need some extra help? Here's another hint... No noise at the beginning. There are seven theme words to find today, including the spangram.

What Are Today’s NYT Strands Hints?

Spoiler alert! Don't scroll any further down the page until you're ready to find out today's Strands hints. Here are the first two letters of every theme word in today's puzzle. They're ordered from left to right, then top to bottom by any letter of the word appearing for the first time:MNKNSIHOGNWRPS

What Are Today’s NYT Strands Answers?

Before revealing the full word list, let's first tell you the spangram and show you where it is on the grid. This is your final spoiler warning! Today's Strands spangram is... SILENT LETTER. Here's where you'll find it on the grid:New York Times Strands screenshot, showing the highlighted term WATCH WORDSNew York TimesToday's Strands theme words are...MNEMONICKNUCKLESILENT LETTERHONESTYGNOMEWRAPPSALMHere's what the completed grid looks like:Completed Strands grid for December 9 featuring the words MNEMONIC, KNUCKLE, SILENT LETTER, HONESTY, … [+] GNOME, WRAP and PSALMNew York TimesI initially thought STEW toward the bottom right might be a theme word, but alas. Then, I got WRAP in the same corner and figured out what was going on - the first letter is silent. GNOME in the bottom left confirmed that. "Silent" seemed like the start of the spangram, but "silent one" wasn't it, and I couldn't see another option at that point - the solution was right there! After PSALM, I used a whole lot of guesses because I wasn't seeing anything. I used three hints, and the spangram was the final theme word I found.That's all there is to it for today's Strands clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog for hints and the solution for Tuesday's game if you need them. If you're inclined, please do follow my blog for more coverage of Strands and other word games, as well as video game news, insights, and analysis. It means a lot to me! Also, follow me on Bluesky! It's a lot of fun.