NYT Strands #878 Hints and Answers for July 29

Each day, the New York Times Strands puzzle offers solvers a small meditation disguised as a word game—and today's edition, puzzle #878, asks players to contemplate the nature of fabrication itself. Centered on the theme of 'a made man,' with Barbie and Ken as its guiding icons, the puzzle invites reflection on what it means to be constructed rather than born. Six words—DOLL, DUMMY, PUPPET, STATUE, FIGURINE, MANNEQUIN—and a single unifying spangram, FABRICATED, form a closed and elegant system in which every letter finds its place.