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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Alan Martin

NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #295 (Monday, December 23 2024)

NYT Strands on a cellphone.
Strands today: Quick menu

Need some assistance with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "Pass the eggnog" — is pretty clearly Christmas themed, but how?

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #295, as well as the answers, should it come to that. We'll start off with some clues, before building up to the full answer for Strands #295, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #295.

Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints

The official theme for NYT Strands #295 is... "Pass the eggnog".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Taste and scents of the season."

If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:

  • CRANE
  • MINER
  • BARD
  • COMA
  • MOOT
  • NINE
  • BEARD

Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with H and ends with R.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's HOLIDAYFLAVOR.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #295?

Drumroll, please...

  • GINGERBREAD
  • PEPPERMINT
  • COCOA
  • CRANBERRY
(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was HOLIDAYFLAVOR.

Strands #295

“Pass the eggnog”

🔵🔵🟡🔵

🔵

Hi Strands fans. With a theme like "Pass the eggnog", for the second day in a row, this was clearly going to be a seasonal puzzle.

At first, I thought I might have to list the ingredients of said festive drink, but when I found GINGERBREAD curled around the middle of the board, I realized this was about Christmas scents and tastes more generally.

I found PEPPERMINT next, and with 21 out of 48 letters already claimed, I cottoned on to the fact that this was set to be the smallest Strands puzzle yet, with only five answers including the spangram. Said spangram was another long one - HOLIDAYFLAVOR coiled around itself at the very top of the grid, leaving just 14 letters unclaimed

The last two answers were a bit smaller, therefore. COCOA was tucked in between my existing answers, and that just left CRANBERRY to connect in the bottom-right corner to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #294 right here.

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