The New York Times Strands puzzle for December 23rd, #660, features a cold-weather theme. The objective is to locate hidden words that fit the puzzle’s central topic, including a “spangram” – a theme word that spans the entire grid.
Hints and Clues
The overarching theme for today’s puzzle is cold temperatures. A helpful clue is: “Hand me my jacket!” To unlock in-game hints, focus on finding words with four or more letters. Some example words to start with include: COLA, CHIP, CHILL, HILL, SONG, RIGID, PILL, and CARL. Each time you discover three qualifying words, Strands will reveal one of the theme words.
Answers
The full list of theme words is:
- CHILLY
- POLAR
- COLD
- COOL
- FREEZING
- FRIGID
- GLACIAL
The spangram for today’s puzzle – the word that stretches across the board – is NOTSOHOT. Locate the “N” on the top row, four letters from the right, and follow the path.
Difficulty Trends
Strands puzzles can vary in difficulty. Past challenging themes include dated slang (January 21st, with “PHAT” as the toughest word) and nautical terms (January 15th, with “BALEEN” or “RIGHT” being particularly hard to spot). The puzzle’s difficulty depends on familiarity with the topic and quick pattern recognition.
