Monday, December 22, 2025

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Saturday, December 20, 2025

NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, December 21 (game #658)

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 Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, December 20 (game #657).

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 #658) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Big bad wolf

NYT Strands today (game #658) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

  • SWOT
  • KNOW
  • FLUTE
  • SNOW
  • STACK
  • BLOCKS

NYT Strands today (game #658) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 15 letters

NYT Strands today (game #658) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: right, 3rd row

Last side: left, 4th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #658) - the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 658 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #658, are…

  • HUFF
  • PUFF
  • BRICKS
  • STICKS
  • STRAW
  • BLOW
  • DOWN
  • SPANGRAM: THREELITTLEPIGS
  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

A super long spangram today, but more than worth it for the excellent puzzle building – a Strands classic.

Firstly, top marks for having HUFF and PUFF at the top of the puzzle, and then for the house-shaped THREELITTLEPIGS spangram. These touches made it quite an easy game – just a case of remembering the nursery rhyme – but we can take the occasional break from noodling.

I’m also thrilled because I got a badge for this game for the 50th time I spotted the spangram first. I had no idea I’d done that so many times.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, December 20, game #657)

  • STAR
  • ORNAMENT
  • LIGHTS
  • RIBBON
  • TINSEL
  • ANGEL
  • SPANGRAM: CHRISTMASTREE

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.