The New York Times’ Strands puzzle for December 7, #644, centers around a theme of beauty and grooming. The puzzle requires players to identify hidden words within a grid, ultimately leading to a “spangram” – a theme word that spans the entire board.
Unlocking the Theme
The core concept of Strands involves finding words of four letters or more to trigger in-game hints revealing the overarching theme. Today’s hint is: “You’re styling!” with a secondary clue: “Big hairy deal.”
Key Words and Solution
To solve, begin by identifying any four-letter words within the grid. Some example words to get started include: GATE, BEAT, HATE, HAIR, and SONS. Once three such words are found, the puzzle will reveal a theme-related word.
The non-spangram answers for today’s puzzle are:
- FACIAL
- WAXING
- HAIRCUT
- BRAIDING
- EXTENSIONS
The spangram, which stretches across the board, is BEAUTYSALON. Locate the initial “B” four rows down on the left side, then trace the letters across and down to complete the word.
Puzzle Difficulty and Trends
Strands puzzles vary in difficulty. Some recent challenging themes include dated slang (January 21, with “PHAT” as the toughest word) and nautical terms (January 15, with “BALEEN” or “RIGHT” being particularly difficult). The game’s design ensures that no matter the number of words to find, every letter in the grid will be used when all solutions are discovered.
Strands relies on both vocabulary and pattern recognition. The difficulty lies not only in finding individual words but in understanding the thematic connection between them.
