NYT Strands December 26 2025 Answers
Puzzle #663
EDITED BY TRACY BENNETTConstructed by Nicholas DiMeglio
Today's theme
“Please hold”
The board
Hints (no spoilers)
The spangram has 9 letters and starts with B
There are 8 theme words besides the spangram
SPANGRAM
BOXINGDAY
THEME WORDS
BALLOTGIFTLUNCHMATCHPIZZASHOETACKLETOOL
Checked against the official NYT Strands solution
How Strands works
Strands is the NYT's daily word-search twist: find the theme words hidden in the 6×8 board — letters connect in any direction and every letter gets used exactly once. The spangram describes the theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. Play free at nytimes.com.