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Today’s NYT Strands puzzle could be tough, if you haven’t been tuned in to popular music this year. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: 2025 Top Twenty.
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Turn on the radio.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- RAID, DATA, GOLD, CHILD, HORN, DIARY, BRAS, BRAID, CHILD, CATS, SCAT, BAGS
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- GOLDEN, DAISIES, MANCHILD, ORDINARY, ABRACADABRA
Today’s Strands spangram
The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Dec. 30, 2025.
Today’s Strands spangram is HITSONGS. To find it, look for the H that’s the first letter on the far left of the top row, and wind down.
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Toughest Strands puzzles
Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.
#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.
#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.
#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.